Invited to Europe 1 this Sunday, skippers Clarisse Crémer and Alexia Barrier comment on their performances during the Vendée Globe 2021. While the first has clearly improved the women's record and the second is still off, they are returning to their places as women, in a historically masculine competition. 

INTERVIEW

This year, 33 skippers took part in the most beautiful sailing race in the world: the Vendée Globe.

Among all the athletes, six women participated in the edition in 2021, a record.

By finishing twelfth in the general classification and completing her round the world trip in 87 days, two hours and 24 minutes, Clarisse Crémer exploded the female record held by Ellen MacArthur.

In 2001, the Briton completed the race in 94 days, four hours and 25 minutes.

At the microphone of Europe 1, the French champion returns with Alexia Barrier, skipper still in the Atlantic Ocean, on their performances. 

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Clarisse Crémer: "Being the first in the Vendée Globe was not the objective in itself"

"We discover the strength of the mind"

"I really have a lot more self-confidence now than three months ago," explains Clarisse Crémer, a week after having set foot on solid ground.

"We are gradually discovering our limits and we realize that they are much further than what we would have imagined. And we also discover the strength of the mind", she says.

Alone on her sailboat, she says she had to climb up her mast to repair a sail, despite a serious leg injury.

"You realize the almost magical power of the mind. These are things that, afterwards, are used in everyday life to feel stronger. And that is very precious." 

"We also have our places in men's circles"

Asked about her place as a woman in a competition historically dominated by men, Clarisse Crémer replied that when female skippers are at sea, "we consider ourselves above all as sailors."

"We don't say to ourselves 'in front of us, it's a man or a woman', and that's what makes offshore racing so rich for me," she explains at the microphone of Europe 1 "Afterwards, if it can help show women that we also have our places in men's circles and that we can manage to deal with our weaknesses, then that's good," she continues. 

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Privileged witnesses of ocean pollution

If Clarisse Crémer has returned to France well, Alexia Barrier is still in the race and hopes to reach Sables-d'Olonne by February 28, she confided to Europe 1. Like Clarisse Crémer, she was during her journey a privileged witness of the impact of ocean pollution.

"I have sensors that allow data to be fed back to scientists, and not the ocean is not doing well," she laments.

Alexia Barrier stresses, however, that it is possible to act.

"We must act today. Otherwise, in 30 years, there will be only jellyfish and plastic in the water," she warns. 

Vendée Globe 2021, an epic finale 

Yannick Bestaven won the famous solo round the world trip, although he came third in Les Sables-d'Olonne at the end of January, behind Charlie Dalin and Louis Burton.

But the navigator was able to benefit from a compensatory time of ten hours for having rescued at the end of November to another participant, Kevin Escoffier.

On

this link 

you can find the complete Vendée Globe classification, and the geographical position of the skippers still in the running.