The 10th edition of the Vendée Globe, which starts from Les Sables d’Olonne on November 10th, features a record-equalling entry of six female skippers to match the last race in 2020-’21.

This time the female contingent is led by the British veteran Sam Davies on Initiatives-Coeur 4, who will be starting her fourth Vendée Globe. 

There are three skippers on their second race – the Franco-German sailor Isabelle Joschke on MACSF, Britain’s Pip Hare on Medallia and Clarisse Crémer of France on L’Occitane En Provence. Two more will be starting the race for the first time in Violette Dorange of France on Devenir, who at 23 is the youngest skipper ever to attempt the Vendée Globe, man or woman, and Justine Mettraux of Switzerland on Teamwork-Team SNEF.

No woman has ever won this toughest of all single-handed marathons. The closest to that prize was Britain’s Ellen MacArthur in 2000-2001, who finished in second place behind Michel Desjoyeaux of France, and is the only woman to have made it to the podium. Of the 11 other women who have attempted the race so far, three have finished in the top-10.

However, in this edition another place on the podium for a woman is a possibility, with both Sam Davies and Justine Mettraux showing the sort of pre-race form that make them credible contenders for an historic finish in the New Year. Davies is also a contender for overall honours, having finished third in The Transat CIC this year.

So who are the six women preparing to take on the world this winter?

Sam Davies (Initiatives-Cœur 4), British Sailor

Image: Jean-Louis Carli

At the helm of her new Initiatives-Coeur 4, Sam Davies is enjoying some of the best form of her career. With third place in the Transat CIC and sixth in the New York Vendée-Les Sables d’Olonne, she will be looking for the podium in this Vendée Globe. The France-based British racer has a remarkable record in IMOCA having taken part in 41 single and double-handed races in a career that started in 2003. In that time she has finished in the top-10 no less than 37 times. A tenacious and competitive individual, Davies is driven by her desire to match, or better, her first Vendée Globe in 2008-’09 when she finished fourth. In her last two races she did not finish under the rules – in the 2020-’21 race she had a big crash with an object in the water off South Africa. But after making repairs, she faced down the after-effects of that frightening event and elected to sail the remainder of the course largely behind the fleet. Over the years Davies has proven a powerful ambassador for the heart charity whose name she carries on her boat. 

Justine Mettraux (TeamWork-Team SNEF), Swiss Sailor

Image: Jean-Louis Carli

Meticulous, hard working and from a Swiss sailing dynasty, with brothers and sisters all sailing at the highest level, Justine Mettraux is a mainstay of the top-10 in IMOCA and could make the podium in the Vendée Globe. She has unrivalled experience in The Ocean Race which she won as part of 11th Hour Racing in 2023, having won its forerunner, the Volvo Ocean Race with Dongfeng Race Team in 2018. A modest character, Mettraux doubted her abilities as a soloist at first but her consistent record speaks for itself in the VPLP-designed former Charal 1 from 2018. Determined to do well in her first Vendée Globe, Mettraux is capable of finishing in the top-five.

Clarisse Crémer (L’Occitane en Provence), French Sailor

Image: Jean-Louis Carli / IMOCA

The fastest woman to sail around the world solo and non-stop when finishing 10th in the last VG in 87 days, Clarisse Crémer captured hearts and minds during a race that made her a star in her native France. Since then she has had a headline grabbing build-up to this campaign. She is now back on the startline with a fantastic boat – the former Apivia designed by Guillaume Verdier – and has benefited from working two-handed with Alan Roberts and being managed by Alex Thomson. Crémer will be racing around the world in the same race as her husband  – Tanguy Le Turquais (Lazare) – and looking to use all her experience to improve on last time out. But after a challenging season in 2024, a top-10 finish will be a major achievement.

Isabelle Joschke (MACSF), French-German sailor

Image: Jean-Louis Carli

Isabelle Joschke has an IMOCA career behind her that stretches back to 2017. She sailed a heroic and competitive Vendée Globe last time out, only to be undone by a keel ram failure that forced her to stop in Brazil while in 11th position and leading female skipper. Sailing a VPLP-Verdier design from 2007 fitted with foils in a campaign managed by Alain Gaautier, reaching the top-10 will be a tall order with so many new boats in the fleet. But Joshke, an outspoken campaigner for more female skippers in IMOCA, is another gritty and determined soloist who knows how to pace herself on the global course and she will be pushing hard from the gun. Look for her to outsail her boat’s theoretical potential.

Pip Hare (Medallia), British Sailor

Image: Jean-Louis Carli

Pip Hare is another British skipper with bags of experience having finished her first Vendée Globe last time out in 19th position. She then purchased Louis Burton’s 2015-vintage VPLP-Verdier foiler Bureau Vallee 2 (formerly Banque Populaire VIII). Working with technical director Joff Brown, the boat has undergone a major refit with new, much bigger, foils as Hare plots a course to remain competitive among the older foiling boats. A great communicator who loves to share her adventures, Hare proved just how tough and capable she is when changing a broken rudder in the Southern Ocean in the last Vendée Globe. Desperate to do even better this time Hare – who has based her team at Poole on the English south coast – will be pushing hard for a competitive finish.

Violette Dorange (DeVenir), French Sailor

Image: Jean-Louis Carli

Making history as the youngest competitor ever to start the Vendée Globe, Violette Dorange is a bright light who radiates positivity from the cockpit. She is also a serious racer, who has shown she can be competitive against boats of her generation. A protege of Jean Le Cam, Dorange is using the boat Michel Desjoyeaux sailed to victory in 2001 and Le Cam sailed to a remarkable fourth place in 2021. A former 420 and Mini Transat sailor from La Rochelle, Dorange has been short of funds, but has worked hard to learn her trade and understand the systems on board. Expect her to finish the course and keep us entertained on the way. You sense this is only the beginning of what could be a long career in IMOCA for Dorange.

By: Ed Gorman 

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