In extremis. Sailor Clarisse Crémer completed The Transat solo race on Saturday, crossing the line in New York a day before it closed to accumulate essential miles for her participation in the 2024 Vendée Globe.
Off the coast of the Big Apple, the skipper of the Imoca L’Occitane en Provence crossed the finishing mark at 8:04 p.m. local time (2:04 a.m. in France) after 20 days at sea, finishing her journey in 26th position in the monohull fleet engaged in the race.
Halfway through, she suffered a serious crack in the bulkhead of her sailboat and headed to the Azores to repair it. After several days on land, she returned to sea to try to finish before the line was closed on May 20. Yoann Richomme won on May 6 at the helm of his boat Peprec Arkéa.
By succeeding in her bet, the 34-year-old sailor has accumulated an additional 2,950 nautical miles for her qualification for the 2024 Vendée Globe, which will start on November 10 from Les Sables-d’Olonne.
Pregnant in 2022, she was unable to participate in the first qualifying races and, at the start of 2023, she was excluded by her former sponsor Banque Populaire, who feared that she would not be able to validate her ticket in time for the Everest of the seas.
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With the exception of 13 new boats built for the famous solo round-the-world race, the other sailors wishing to participate in the Vendée Globe are decided by the number of miles accumulated at sea since 2021, up to 40 competitors.
Clarisse Crémer is now 38th. If she finishes the New York-Vendée at the beginning of June – the final solo transatlantic race planned before the Vendée Globe – she will therefore be qualified for her 2nd world tour after the 2020/2021 edition. On this occasion, she became the fastest woman in the history of the Vendée Globe by completing her circumnavigation in 87 days 2 hours 24 minutes, in 12th position in the fleet.