One of six women in the race, Clarisse Cremer was the first woman to cross the finish line of the Vendée Globe, taking twelfth place on Banque Populaire X in her second ever solo race in an IMOCA.
Clarisse’s elapsed time of 87 days 02 hours and 24 minutes broke Dame Ellen MacArthur’s 21-year monohull solo non-stop record for a female skipper of 94 days 4 hours, which she set when she took second in the 2000-2001 Vendée Globe.
Ellen MacArthur sent a message of congratulations: “Hi Clarisse, just a little message to say a big bravo for your race around the world. It is great to see you at the finish line. It is truly an exceptional lap. Well done for everything you have done!”
Clarisse, who only sailed her IMOCA 15 months ago for the first time, said: “For me, yes we know that being a woman in ocean racing becomes a differentiator on land. But this is a mixed race and a mixed sport. There is no female classification. At sea, I am a sailor, and I do not tell myself that the sailor in front is a man or a woman, I do not think about that at all.”
