The record for sailing around the globe as quickly as possible is one that has inspired sailors for many decades. Sailing a multihull at the edge of control day after day requires more than usual drive and toughness. Now The Famous Project, led by sailors Alexia Barrier and co-skipper Dee Caffari, has announced that it aims to break the record for the fastest circumnavigation, and set a world-first record for an all-female crew.
From the press release: Alexia Barrier has unveiled her ambition to break the Jules Verne Trophy with an all-female crew. At a VIP event at UNESCO in Paris on Tuesday 13 June, the French yachtswoman announced her crew pre-selection, confirmed her boats for the 3 year campaign and record attempt, and unveiled two founding partners to the campaign, CIC and IDEC.
Considered one of the toughest ocean challenges in the world, no woman has so far been part of any crew to conquer the legendary
Jules Verne Trophy, the prestigious prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the planet. Twenty five years ago Tracy Edwards and the team of Royal & SunAlliance first attempted to break one of the last records left standing for an all-female crew. Now Barrier has created ‘The Famous Project’, bringing together the best female professional sailors from around the world, and with the boat that holds the current record, is aiming to make history and disrupt this all-male legacy. On standby from October 2025, Barrier and co-skipper Dee Caffari, with a crew drawn from around the globe, will race the 100-foot Ultime trimaran IDEC Sport on a timed circumnavigation of the planet. The current record, set in 2017 by Francis Joyon on the same boat, stands at 40 days 23 hours 30 minutes and 30 seconds.
