JULES VERNE TROPHY
ALEXIA BARRIER PLANS RECORD WITH ALL-FEMALE CREW
At a VIP event at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris in June 2023, the French yachtswoman Alexia Barrier (right) announced her intention to take the Jules Verne Trophy.
Considered one of the toughest ocean challenges in the world, no woman has so far been part of any crew to conquer the legendary trophy, the prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the planet under sail.
25 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 (left), 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.
Alexia Barrier, known to many for her Vendée Globe circumnavigation three years ago, said: “We want to make the women of the planet ‘famous’! We want to shine a light on those who dare and to inspire others to realise their dreams and ambitions.
Over the next three years, the Famous Project will highlight inspiring projects, both large and small. Ultimately we not only want to be the first ever all-female team to complete the Jules Verne Trophy route, we want to break the record at the same time.”