On this International Women’s Day, we aren’t just celebrating progress in boardrooms or ballot boxes. We are looking toward the horizon, specifically, the finish line at Ushant—where eight women recently did what many in the sailing world whispered was impossible.
They didn’t just sail around the world. They conquered it, non-stop and unassisted, becoming the first all-female crew in history to complete a Jules Verne Trophy circumnavigation.
The Arena of the Great South
When Alexia Barrier and British sailing legend Dee Caffari led their crew out of the harbour back in November, they weren’t just chasing a clock; they were chasing a ghost. For decades, the quest for an all-female non-stop lap of the planet remained the "unfinished business" of offshore racing, ever since Tracy Edwards’ Royal & Sun Alliance was tragically dismasted in the Southern Ocean years ago.
For 57 days, 22 hours, and 20 minutes, the crew of The Famous Project lived in "the arena." They didn't have the luxury of a smooth ride. This wasn't a PR stunt; it was a battle.
Resilience in the Face of Ruin
The beauty of this story isn't in the speed; it’s in the grit. Halfway through the voyage, a collision with ghost fishing gear didn't just slow them down; it delaminated their foil. Imagine driving a Formula 1 car with a broken wheel through a mountain pass in a blizzard. That was their reality.
Then came the storms. In the final stretch, while battling the ferocious Storm Ingrid, their mainsail, the very heart of the boat, was shredded to ribbons by 45-knot winds. Most crews would have pulled into the nearest port, heads bowed. Instead, Barrier, Caffari, and their international team of six other specialists dug in. They limped across the finish line under a fragment of a sail, proving that while technology can fail, human will is unsinkable.
The New Benchmark
"It is not the critic who counts," Dee Caffari posted as they neared the end, quoting Roosevelt. "The credit belongs to the woman who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood."
As we celebrate International Women’s Day today, The Famous Project stands as the ultimate metaphor for the modern woman. They faced scepticism, mechanical failure, and the most violent weather on Earth. They didn't ask for permission to enter the male-dominated world of maxi-multihulls; they simply took the helm and steered.
They didn't break the outright world record this time, that went to Thomas Coville on Sodebo just a day earlier. But they did something perhaps more lasting: they set the benchmark. They proved that the Southern Ocean doesn’t care about gender, it only cares about competence, courage, and the refusal to quit.
Meet the History Makers:
The crew represents a "Who’s Who" of global talent: Alexia Barrier (FRA), Dee Caffari (GBR), Annemieke Bes (NED), Támara Echegoyen (ESP), Stacey Jackson (AUS), Rebecca Gmür Hornell (NZL), Deborah Blair (GBR), and Molly LaPointe (USA).
Today, we salute them. Not just as female sailors, but as world-class athletes who looked at the wildest corners of our planet and said, "Watch us."
