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Saturday December 13, 2025: It feels like the south...
On their 14th day of racing around the world, the female crew of The Famous Project CIC is negotiating its first major southern depression. The international crew led by Alexia Barrier and Dee Caffari is racing ahead of a vigorous low-pressure system coming from South America in the north of the Tristan da Cunha archipelago*, heading straight for the southern tip of the African continent. Alexia Barrier, Dee Caffari, Annemieke Bes, Rebecca Gmür Hornell, Deborah Blair, Molly LaPointe, Támara Echegoyen, and Stacey Jackson are putting a lot of energy into not getting caught up and subjected to violent gusts of over 30 knots blowing at the heart of the depression. The damage to the mainsail hook suffered and dealt with yesterday has not only slowed them down but also prevented them from sailing with anything other than a mainsail with two reefs and a staysail at the bow. The priority now is to avoid the worst of the bad weather and to reach less windy areas off South Africa, where the ship's technicians, led by Molly LaPointe, will be able to consolidate the repairs carried out yesterday and regain full use of the various reefs on the mainsail. Suddenly halted yesterday by this damage during their impressive run at over 30 knots, the eight women of The Famous Project CIC, despite their fatigue, remain undeterred in their determination to continue the adventure and complete this unprecedented round-the-world voyage for a female crew aboard a maxi multihull.
Alexia's journal:
"Yesterday, w've had a problem with an important technical part of the boat. Nothing visible. Nothing obvious. Everything seems to be working. And yet… it's a key component. A bit like in a car: the engine runs perfectly, the wheels are there, but the engine isn't running at the right speed…
The mainsail is speed.
It's acceleration. And the mainsail hook is a bit like the boat's gearbox. It is what holds the mainsail on the mast and manages the enormous power of this huge, powerful sail without crushing the mast.
Today, this hook is no longer working properly. In practical terms, it's as if, on the highway, every time you wanted to change gears, you had to stop, open the gearbox by hand, change the ratio… and start again.
Or, in the bicycle version, you stop, take the chain in your hand, put it on the next sprocket, and start again.
Needless to say, this does not promote performance.
We spent 10 hours trying to understand. Taking things apart. Searching. Eliminating hypotheses one by one.
We found a temporary solution. It's not perfect. But it allows us to continue moving forward safely.
Tonight, quite literally, we drove on the highway… in second gear. Uphill. Downhill. Wind variations.
We stay in second gear.
The result: an average speed loss of 30 to 40% over the distance remaining to the Cape of Good Hope.
And meanwhile, the weather is also advancing. A low-pressure system is coming our way.
More wind. More sea. Less margin for error. With a slightly damaged boat, every decision has to be thought through more carefully.
Of course there is frustration.
Because we were on a roll.
Because we had found our rhythm.
Because the boat was doing well.
Because the crew was in the flow.
And then… everything stops.
But this kind of difficulty is an integral part of the adventure. It's often where it really begins.
And then there's the team. And there… they have been remarkable.
Bex, first of all. Incredible determination. Raw talent. She climbed inside the mast, more than fifteen meters high,
in rough seas, to check the part on which the hook is attached.
We could hear her through the microphone. With every jolt, a groan. It's violent up there. And we, down below, felt her pain.
Molly, always ready to tinker. Debs and Annemieke, searching, digging, finding the right equipment. Stacey, with her ideas, her experience, her insight. Meanwhile, Tamara is at the helm. Dee listens, coordinates, keeps an eye on the big picture. And I contribute to the discussion,
while staying in constant contact with the shore team to receive, cross-check, and relay information.
That's what this adventure is all about. Human mechanics. Our motivation hasn't changed. We're still here. United. Determined.
We're here to finish this round-the-world trip. And to make history by becoming the first all-female crew to complete a round-the-world trip in a maxi multihull.
And I mentionned yesterday that stress and problems would prevent us from singing at night during our watches… I was wrong.
It did exactly the opposite. It redoubled our heart. Our commitment. Our desire. And this quiet certainty: we're moving on.
And we're taking you with us.
*The Tristan da Cunha archipelago, discovered in 1506 by Tristan da Cunha, is an archipelago located in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha. It is the most isolated inhabited archipelago in the world, with a population of 242.