The Famous Project CIC Jules Verne Trophy record attempt - Day 33
by Agence TB Press 2 Jan 11:04 GMT
2 January 2026
Sailors, who, as everyone knows, love to use colorful expressions, often use the term "knitting" to describe the delicate tack changes necessary to round or negotiate a rapid change in weather systems ahead of their boats.
Last night, the women of The Famous Projects CIC successfully navigated around the north side of an active low-pressure system. Without a hitch, precise in their timing and efficient in their trajectories, Alexia (Barrier), Dee (Caffari), Annemieke (Bes), Rebecca (Gmür Hornell), Deborah (Blair), Molly (LaPointe), Támara (Echegoyen), and Stacey (Jackson) used a series of gybes to move from the south wind to the north-northwest flow ahead of this low-pressure center, which will now propel them in a straight line towards the Chilean coast and, in the short term, Cape Horn.
This morning, they left Point Nemo, the "maritime pole of inaccessibility," on their port side. This geographical location, situated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, marks the point furthest from any land. They have also passed the precise location where, 27 years ago, the first all-female crew, led by British sailor Tracy Edwards, saw their dreams of a historic round-the-world voyage collapse as their their catamaran Royal & Sun Alliance dismasted. The girls from The Famous Project CIC are now the only female sailors to have come this far in a Jules Verne Trophy race.
There is no glory in this fact, just a reminder of what Dee and Alexia keep hammering home: their presence here is only tolerated, and despite the harsh living conditions and the now omnipresent fatigue, it is at this point in the race that all their indomitable energy is more than ever focused on vigilance and care of the boat.
1 900 miles, or at their current speed, less than four days of sailing, now separate them from the famous Cape Horn, synonymous with a return to the Atlantic and a departure from the land of shadows. Four days of rough and disorderly seas, strong winds, cold, and even snow. But four days of desire, determination, and conviction, to forever mark the history of their sport.
Alexia Barrier
"The Pacific we experiment is very physical. The wind is stronger, sometimes very irregular, with violent gusts of up to 50 knots, and above all a cross sea that shakes constantly. The waves are high, 5 meters, powerful, not always well organized, and the boat moves a lot. It requires constant vigilance, reducing speed, re-accelerating, anticipating.
We are no longer in contemplation, we are in commitment. Although it remains majestic, mystical, hypnotic.
The strategy is quite simple to say, but much more complex to maintain: we have to stay on the right pace.
We must not get trapped by high pressure systems, we must catch the right systems without going too far south, and above all, we must preserve the boat and the crew.
We still have a few very difficult hours ahead of us, then it will calm down as we approach Cape Horn. And then we'll see. It's too early to know how it will turn out.
Cape Horn is not conquered by a frontal attack, but by consistency. We are playing the long game.
The movement of the boat is the most difficult thing to deal with. We can equip ourselves for the cold. We can cope with the humidity.
But the constant movement, the acceleration, the shocks, it never stops. The body is always adapting, even at rest. It is as mentally exhausting as it is physically.
Nothing too extravagant for our New Year's Eve. We ate together, simply, with what we had on hand.
Here, the real celebration is keeping up the pace, keeping the boat moving, and wishing each other a good maneuver rather than a happy new year at the stroke of midnight.
My wish for 2026 is that we continue to be daring. Daring to take on ambitious projects, committed teams, and collective adventures.
And that we take the time to do things right, staying true to who we are, at sea and on land.
Quick Links: