News
A crew of seven female sailors for the Jules Verne Trophy
Today, Tuesday, September 16, skipper Alexia Barrier presented the six female sailors selected to accompany her this fall in an attempt to break the record for sailing around the world, crewed, unassisted, and nonstop, the famous Jules Verne Trophy, at the French National Maritime Museum in Paris.
For the occasion, partners represented by Daniel Baal, President of CIC, Patrice Lafargue, President of the IDEC Group, and Eric Pasquier, Vice-President of the Board of Directors of Sopra Steria, gathered around Alexia Barrier for the announcement of the international crew of the Famous Project CIC.
Six sailors were selected, with a wide range of experience, from the Olympics to The Ocean Race. No fewer than six nationalities will be represented on IDEC SPORT: Britons Dee Caffari and Deborah Blair, Dutchwoman Annemieke Bes, Swiss-New Zealander Rebecca Gmür Hornell, Spaniard Támara Echegoyen, American-Italian Molly LaPointe, and Frenchwoman Alexia Barrier, founder of the project. English will be the official language on board!
A long and meticulous crew selection process
The selection process was long and exciting for Alexia and Dee, who drew up a shortlist of 15 names, some of whom had sailed aboard The Famous Project CIC's MOD 70. The selection process focused on versatility, knowledge of life at sea, friendliness, and individual responsibility (eagerness to learn, kindness, and performance).
"It is rightly said that ocean racing is very French. Here too, The Famous Project CIC bucks the trend, revealing talents worthy of the best French sailors. These women come from all walks of life, from the Olympics to IMOCA, and have a very broad maritime culture, with very diverse but also very rich experience both offshore and inshore. In addition to their sailing skills, we are looking for a desire to learn and share all their nautical experiences. This need to pass on knowledge is essential in our eyes. And all of this must be imbued with a constant spirit of kindness," explains Alexia.
A multicultural international crew!
Alexia Barrier - France - Captain
Born in Paris on November 26, 1979, Alexia Barrier grew up in Nice where, at the age of 3, she discovered sailing aboard her parents' sailboat. She sails single-handed, double-handed, crewed... Mini 6.50, Figaro, Class40, IMOCA, Maxi-yachts, but also multihulls and with renowned skippers such as Florence Arthaud, Peter Holmberg, Andy Beadworth, and Dennis Conner. Alexia has sailed more than 200,000 nautical miles and crossed the Atlantic Ocean 18 times in races, including five solo transatlantics.
On November 8, 2020, Alexia Barrier set sail in the 2020-2021 Vendée Globe. She finished in 24th place after 111 days of solitude. She was named Knight of the Order of Maritime Merit in 2024.
Dee Caffari - United Kingdom - Co-Skipper
Dee Caffari, MBE, was born on January 23, 1973, in Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. In 2006, she became the first woman to sail solo, non-stop, and most notably “backwards” around the world, in a west-east direction, against the prevailing winds and currents. In 2009, she completed the Vendée Globe, becoming the first woman to have sailed non-stop around the world in both directions. She was appointed MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2007 for her outstanding service to sailing. In 2011, together with Anna Corbella, she completed the Barcelona World Race, becoming the only woman to have sailed around the world three times non-stop. She has also taken part in several editions of the Volvo Ocean Race.
Annemieke Bes - Netherlands
Annemieke Bes, born on March 16, 1978, in Groningen (Netherlands), is an accomplished sailor with a background in Olympic sailing and offshore racing. She has competed in three Olympic Games: Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 where she won a Silver medal, and London 2012. After her Olympic career, she turned to offshore racing and competed in the 2017-2018 Volvo Ocean Race with Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag. Since 2022, she has been sailing on IMOCAs, notably with Team Holcim-PRB in the IMOCA Globe Series.
Rebecca Gmür Hornell - New Zealand & Switzerland
Rebecca Gmür is a young Kiwi-Swiss sailor and professional rigger. Born on December 21, 1999. She has competed in major races such as Sydney-Hobart, the Caribbean 600, and the Fastnet Race, and took part in the first all-female transatlantic crossing in 2024 aboard the MOD 70 Limosa. In 2025, she is sailed with Team Amaala in The Ocean Race Europe.
Deborah Blair - United Kingdom
Deborah, 23, is a member of Weymouth Sailing Club and holds a degree in computer science from the University of Southampton. She started sailing at the age of 8 on a Pico with Andrew Simpson Centres Portland. She is now hooked on keelboat racing.
Molly LaPointe - United States - Italy - Boat Captain
Molly is the boat captain and works closely with Clément Surtel. She was part of the Maiden Factor team that won The Ocean Globe race. It was Tracy Edwards who strongly recommended her to Dee Caffari and Alexia.
Támara Echegoyen - Spain
Támara Echegoyen is a Spanish sailor born on February 17, 1984, in Orense, Galicia. She is the 2012 Elliott 6m Olympic champion, 2013 match racing world champion, and two-time 49er FX world champion, in 2016 and 2020. In June 2024, she was named flag bearer for the Spanish delegation at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
An already legendary boat...
"IDEC SPORT, the large multihull designed by VPLP and built in 2006 for Groupama and Franck Cammas is the boat we wanted. Curiously enough, it is a simple, streamlined boat that is very stable at sea, reliable, and naturally very fast, even in light winds. It sits high in the water, which makes it very reassuring. We took delivery of the boat in June 2023 and set about getting it back into shape, step by step, until its launch in June 2024. We took it step by step, changing everything that needed to be changed, including the running gear, pulleys, furling system, batteries, etc," continues Alexia.
The prior purchase of a MOD 70 served as a platform to test the crew's ability to handle a large multihull and to encourage the best sailors to come and sail in this very demanding multihull challenge. But the boat we always wanted for the round-the-world race was IDEC SPORT. “I met Patrice Lafargue, the CEO of IDEC Group, who offered to lend me the boat after the 2022 Route du Rhum. For the record, my meeting with Patrice took place on Rue Pierre 1er in Paris, a nod to Florence Arthaud.”
They said:
Alexia Barrier: "Since completing the Vendée Globe in 2020, I have been constantly wondering not only about the nature of my next sailing project, but above all about how to give meaning to this new adventure. Before setting off on the 2020 Vendée Globe, I knew that I wanted to sail around the world in a multihull. So I knew what my next sporting project would be. And I wanted to give meaning to this new adventure. When I took a closer look at the number of women who had taken part in the Jules Verne Trophy over the past 30 years, it became clear to me that I was going to put together an all-female crew, aiming for the ultimate challenge: sailing around the world without assistance or stopovers. All that remained was to seek out and convince talented women who were motivated by such a challenge. To my surprise, this was not a problem and applications flooded in."
Dee Caffari: "I've known Alexia for a long time, but I've gotten to know her better since she asked me to join this project. We were immediately on the same page. We connect. She's offering us an incredible opportunity! A huge challenge! This challenge is more than just a sporting event. It's a chance to make history. We've found the right people, and for this challenge, their personalities are more important than their talents. They are asked to broaden their usual fields of investigation. Everyone must be able to do everything on board. This boat is legendary, and that imposes certain responsibilities on us in terms of how we sail it. We never stop learning on board. It's exciting."