The Famous Project CIC goes on standby...

Skipper Alexia Barrier and his crew training onboard the Maxi-Trimaran The Famous Project CIC, off Groix island, on July 8, 2025, Photo © Jean-Marie LIOT / The Famous Project CIC

The Famous Project-CIC, this impressive challenge set by Alexia Barrier for her all-female crew to break the Jules Verne Trophy record, (a crewed, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the globe), begins today, Monday November 17, its weather watch, or standby, awaiting the establishment of the best, if not ideal, wind and sea conditions to embark on their round-the-world adventure. Unlike an ocean race, where the date and time of departure are, barring exceptional circumstances, established long in advance, a record attempt offers its protagonists the privilege to freely choose their “ideal” weather window to sail off in the best possible conditions, in order to put the challenge on a solid footing against the reference times along the course. Alexia and her seven-strong international crew, assisted by the shore-based routing team led by Christian Dumard, will now start scrutinizing the evolution of major weather systems almost hour by hour, not only in the near North Atlantic, but also beyond the equator. Discussions between meteorologists and sailors will eventually lead to a fateful date and time for setting off to conquer the ocean and beat the reference time set in 2017 by their own  Maxi trimaran, IDEC SPORT, at 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes, and 30 seconds.

Like at the casino
“Looking for the ideal window to set off on a record attempt is like trying to line up all the images on a slot machine at the casino. It never happens!” jokes Alexia Barrier. This view is shared by Christian Dumard, a routing expert: "The planets never really align. With the improvement of weather analysis tools, sailors are becoming increasingly demanding, seeking forecasts and possible route choices over increasingly longer time frames. We are actually entering a phase of discussion between the routing team and the crew to decide on the best compromise. Because the final decision will inevitably be a compromise between the short, medium, and long term, quick route estimates for the short, medium, and long term, sea conditions, changes in nearby and distant systems, and so on. A choice dictated by the quest for performance, of course, but also by the imperatives of safety for the women and the boat. We will define in advance what Alexia and her girls consider to be their ideal weather window, taking into account the necessary time to become seafaring and the absolute necessity of not breaking anything!"

Patience and foresight
“The standby moment is new to me,” admits Alexia, despite having more than 20 years of offshore racing experience on all types of ocean-going vessels. "This is the first time I've attempted a record. We'll have to be patient. It's reassuring to have Christian Dumard on our side. I've known him since my Transat Jacques Vabre in 2007. Every day, he'll give us a detailed analysis of the different short- and long-term scenarios. We'll discuss them as a team, weighing up the pros and cons of the wind and sea conditions and the proposed routes, looking as far ahead as possible, to the equator and beyond. Ideally, we would naturally like to have downwind conditions, generated by a North Atlantic low and its northwesterly rotation, which would not yet have stirred up the sea too much, or a high-pressure system and its easterly winds, or even a very southerly low that we could skirt around on its northern edge. We set off with the idea, the desire, and the ambition to cross an ocean, (the Atlantic, the Indian, the Pacific, and then the Atlantic again), every 10 days, for a total of 40 days at sea! Whatever happens, we want above all to make our mark, enjoy every mile, and set a benchmark time for a female crew."

Closing the last files...
“We are closing all the technical files this week,” continues Alexia. "We are going to sail one last time for final checks. But the entire shore team, led by Clément Surtel, is in operational mode. A phenomenal amount of work has been accomplished since the beginning of the summer, within the allotted time and budget. The crew is incredibly motivated and involved in managing this standby period. With the help of the health and nutrition committee we have set up, we are now taking care to look after ourselves so that we can set off in the best possible shape."

Noteworthy...
The current record between Ushant and the equator in the Jules Verne Trophy is 4 days, 19 hours, and 57 minutes, set by the trimaran Spindrift 2 (skippered by Yann Guichard) in January 2019. IDEC SPORT (skipper Francis Joyon) took 5 days, 18 hours, and 59 minutes during its triumphant attempt in 2017, covering a distance of 3,556.3 miles at an average speed of 25.6 knots on this segment.