{"id":707,"date":"2026-04-08T14:42:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T14:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yachtersworld.com\/?p=707"},"modified":"2026-04-08T14:42:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T14:42:58","slug":"how-the-famous-project-set-a-new-benchmark-for-all-female-circumnavigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yachtersworld.com\/?p=707","title":{"rendered":"How the Famous Project set a new benchmark for all-female circumnavigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Famous Project became the first all-female team to sail non-stop around the world in a maxi multihull, in 57d 22h 20m<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The Famous Project crew. Photo: Mark Lloyd\/Jmliot Images\/CIC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The mast on the trimaran The Famous Project CIC<\/a> towers as high as a 10-story building. At 110ft, or 33.5m, it is a carbon skyscraper that carries the power of this massive yacht, the 250m2 mainsail. And this engine is suspended on a chunk of metal, a mainsail hook, which by a system of levers locks the sail in position onto the rig.<\/p>\n

Two weeks after the crew of the 103ft tri set out on their Jules Verne Trophy<\/a> bid, this vital component broke. The locking mechanism failed, the hook at times stubbornly sticking in position.<\/p>\n

Deep in the South Atlantic, crew Bex Gm\u00fcr Hornell climbed the giant mast \u2013 first inside the tube, as if scaling a pitch black bell tower, then outside to diagnose the problem.<\/p>\n

\"The\n

A weather window opportunity meant a lumpy departure for The Famous Project CIC Jules Verne Trophy attempt. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot\/The Famous Project CIC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

But the hook could not be reliably fixed, instead requiring coaxing, fiddling and force at every mainsail adjustment. And so the crew faced an impossible decision: continue into the Southern Ocean with a compromised boat, knowing record pace had almost certainly slipped from their grasp? Or stop in Cape Town, return to France, and pray that they could start again.<\/p>\n

They continued, pointing south, pushing on and on until they arrived back at Ushant on 26 January. In doing so they did not set a Jules Verne Trophy record, but they did something else altogether.<\/p>\n

The pioneering Famous Project<\/h2>\n

The Famous Project is the brainchild of French former Vend\u00e9e Globe skipper Alexia Barrier. In 2022 Barrier announced plans for an all-female tilt at the non-stop, around the world record.<\/p>\n

No all-female crew had ever completed a Jules Verne Trophy bid. In 1998 Tracy Edwards attempted it with Royal & SunAlliance, but dismasted in the Southern Ocean. Only a handful of women have crewed on the world-girdling multihulls alongside men: Dona Bertarelli completed the course with her team on Spindrift, but never claimed the record.<\/p>\n

\"Dee\n

Photo: Mark Lloyd\/Jmliot Images\/CIC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Adrienne Cahalan navigated Steve Fossett\u2019s 125ft cat Cheyenne to what was a record time of 58 days in 2004, but Fossett\u2019s campaign was ineligible for the Trophy. Ellen MacArthur skippered a Jules Verne attempt which ended with a broken mast, before setting her solo record.<\/p>\n

Barrier\u2019s project to plug this glaring gap in sailing history swiftly gained momentum. The campaign attracted hundreds of applications, the crew training on a MOD 70 before taking delivery of IDEC Sport, at the time the boat that held the Jules Verne. They worked with coaches including Brian Thompson, who set the record in 2012. And Barrier locked in enough budget \u2013 just \u2013 to make an attempt in the winter of 2025\/26.<\/p>\n

One of Barrier\u2019s first appointments was co-skipper Dee Caffari. Caffari brought experience not only of six previous circumnavigations, but skippering teams with very diverse levels of experience, from the Global Challenge to the Volvo Ocean Race.<\/p>\n

\"Off\n

Off Terceira Island in the Azores. Photo: Deborah Blair\/The Famous Project CIC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cMy job was to make life easier for Alexia,\u201d Caffari explains. \u201cThis was her project, her brainchild, and I was to help facilitate it to happen. She asked my opinion. I challenged her a few times, but eventually we would be on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time autumn arrived in Brittany, the crew had settled into eight. Joining Barrier and Caffari were offshore racers Annemieke Bes (NED) and Stacey Jackson (AUS); former Olympian and Ocean Race crew T\u00e1mara Echegoyen (ESP); Rebecca Gm\u00fcr Hornell (NZL) and Deborah Blair (GBR), both in their early 20s; and boat captain Molly Lambert LaPointe (USA), who had worked on everything from classic superyachts to the Maiden Project.<\/p>\n

Accolades were less important than personality: so few women had maxi multihull experience. \u201cI made the selection with Dee to get people who are able to be nice to each other, whatever the level of stress or fatigue, and also able to learn from each other,\u201d recalls Barrier.<\/p>\n

\"Layered\n

Layered up against the South Pacific cold \u2013 unlike modern Ultims, IDEC Sport\u2019s cockpit is totally exposed. Photo: Deborah Blair\/The Famous Project CIC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When to go<\/h2>\n

The decision on when to start a Jules Verne passage is critical. High budget campaigns will spend countless hours analysing polars against weather systems, running theoretical route after route to find the optimal time to go. Barrier\u2019s team benefitted from the services of Christian Dumard \u2013 one of the very best in the business, who had worked with Joyon and IDEC Sport previously.<\/p>\n

The crew, however, had just a fraction of time on the boat compared to most teams. \u201cWe\u2019d probably done 10 days max training, which is ridiculous. But as Christian said, how else do you learn to sail a multihull around the world, but by sailing a multihull around the world? So we did,\u201d recalls Caffari.<\/p>\n

\u201cI [worked] from what I knew of the boat before, because I\u2019ve been routing this boat quite often in the past. And then we see what speed they really go, and we adapt it on a daily basis,\u201d explains Dumard.<\/p>\n

\"up\n

Up the mast for rig checks on Day 10 of the attempt. Photo: Deborah Blair\/The Famous Project CIC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cSo at the beginning, they were quite a bit slower than the potential of the boat. But later they sailed very fast, so they were using all the potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team identified a window at the very end of November. But it wasn\u2019t a totally clear road \u2013 with high pressure systems in the North Atlantic which could cause speed bumps. Pre-departure, Barrier hinted that if they didn\u2019t get past these systems, they could always return to Brest and restart. In reality, that wasn\u2019t an option.<\/p>\n

\u201cObjectively, I knew we didn\u2019t have a chance to come back and try again,\u201d Barrier told me after the finish. \u201cJust because we didn\u2019t have the money. Coming back could have meant never going again. So it was the only chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe weather window is never going to be perfect,\u201d says Caffari, \u201cBut actually, we weren\u2019t looking for perfect. We were looking for an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dee\n

Dee Caffari at the nav station. Photo: Deborah Blair\/The Famous Project CIC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

So, on 29 November, they set off. Initially the crew were still learning the boat, building confidence in the autopilot. They didn\u2019t push too hard, and inevitably, hit some speed bumps. But they were on their way.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then everyone comes good. You do the miserable bit, and suddenly you can take a few layers off, and it gets a little bit easier,\u201d recalls Caffari.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut actually, the tradewinds were strong. There were quite big waves, and the boat is a big beast to manage that we weren\u2019t used to. Then the Doldrums just seemed to go on forever.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t until the South Atlantic that we were like, \u2018Oh, this is what Brian told us about.\u2019 Flat water and easy miles. Suddenly we had the set up right. We were confident with the pilot. We were starting to increase our mileage each day. We were within a day [of the record] in the South Atlantic, and everyone was thinking, actually, we can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Steering\n

Steering repairs on Day 5. Photo: Photos: Deborah Blair\/The Famous Project CIC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Heavy responsibility<\/h2>\n

Then, 13 days into their challenge, the hook failed. \u201cI think anyone else would have stopped, because to go into the south not at 100% \u2013 that\u2019s a big decision to make. I said to Alexia, \u2018I\u2019ll support you on anything,\u2019\u201d says Caffari.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took time to think it through and see all possible solutions that we could have,\u201d recalls Barrier. \u201cI said to the crew, there are other spots. We go and we\u2019ll see. And if it\u2019s a disaster, we will stop in Australia or in New Zealand. But we won\u2019t stop now.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Caffari, the decision to continue was the right one, though she admits the process was difficult: \u201cI think I was a bit disappointed that it took us so long to make that decision, because I felt like we\u2019d waited three days. But it was what it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caffari \u2013 who has never not completed a circumnavigation \u2013 was also of the opinion that they weren\u2019t looking for alternative ports. \u201cIt helps nobody for us to stop on the other side of the world. If we\u2019re going, we\u2019re going all the way around. I will make this happen!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Alexia\n

The Famous Project was the brainchild of Alexia Barrier, who was also skipper and CEO of the campaign. Photo: Alex Champy-McLean\/The Famous Project CIC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

She explained their decision to the crew, and initially everyone seemed in agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I could see Tamara really struggling. She\u2019s got 20 years of Olympic campaigning behind her. For her, if we\u2019re not at 100%, what\u2019s the point? So we had to re-address it. And I was like, \u2018Right, we\u2019ve been doing 650-mile days easily. So 500 miles a day. We can get around in sub-50 days\u2019. You could see everybody shift their mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I felt the pressure of the decision. Is this the most sensible thing to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

In the boat\u2019s blog Barrier mused on the decision: \u201cBecause no one will remember a number\u2026 but everyone will remember an achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Famous Project becomes first all-female crew to sail non-stop around the world<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
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Today, Monday 26 January 2026, the eight-person crew aboard The Famous Project became the first all-female team to sail non-stop\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n