There have never been so many participants since the creation of the race in 1989. For the participants, there are as many participants taking the start of the Vendée Globe as during the last edition, in 2020-2021. In terms of diversity, however, there is still a way to go.
Six female sailors are on the starting line for the 2024 Vendée Globe. They set off, with the 34 other male competitors, on Sunday November 10, at 1:02 p.m., for a solo round-the-world trip, non-stop and without assistance. This year, there are as many participants as in the previous edition, but as there are more people in 2024, they are less represented.
With 15% women for this 10th edition, the competitors are much more numerous than during the first Vendée Globe, in 1989-1990 and in 1992-1993, and even than during the 8th edition in 2016-2017, when it was not there were no participants. In terms of diversity, however, there is still a way to go, according to those concerned. Franceinfo was able to speak with three of them before they set sail. Cross-interviews with Justine Mettraux, 38 years old, for which this is the first participation, Sam Davies, 50 years old, who is participating for the fourth time, and Isabelle Joschkle, 47 years old, for which this is the second participation.
Six women in 2024, “it's not enough”, immediately believe the Franco-German Isabelle Joschke and the Swiss Justine Mettraux who emphasizes that “it’s more than some editions, but less than the last one in proportion.” But for the British Sam Davies,“there is an evolution. In 2020, the sailors' projects were not funded enough, that had nothing to do with it. In 2024, the competitors are performing well, very well funded”she emphasizes.
Even less numerous than their male competitors, “Women deserve to fight on equal terms”pleads Sam Davies. For the first time in her long career, she is setting off on a new boat, built just for her : “That's what was missing. The last editions, there were women and competitive women. Except that we all had second-hand boats. And that's actually the next step.”
“It’s been a long time since a girl had a new boat in the Vendée Globe.”
Sam Davies, British sailorat franceinfo
And even if progress is significant, “this should not obscure the fact that there are still plenty of things that can be improved for women in our sport, underlines the Swiss Justine Mettraux, in terms of participation, in terms of resources, in terms of salaries”. “There is still a way to go, even if professional sailing is becoming more feminine, it takes time.”
However, none of the three sailors shows sexism in the sailing world. And more precisely on the Vendée Globe, according to Justine Mettraux, the preparation “takes place in the same way for a woman as for a man, whether for endurance, risk of injury, but also mental preparation”. She admits that“there is indeed a power deficit, but that doesn't make any real difference“, assures the one who also indicates that she has a larger size than other of her competitors.
For Isabelle Joschke, this question of physical strength occupies even more space than it should. Even if the environment “is open to women, women still think that there is only one way to succeed. And this way of succeeding is modeled on the way men do things.” Isabelle Joschke refers to her own experience, which she also relates in her autobiographical story published on October 2, To cross. “At the beginning, I did a lot of weight training and I went to the point of overtraining, she explains, to the point of exhaustion because in fact it didn't correspond to my size. In fact, I tried to make up for a physical deficit that I thought I had and I think that was a big mistake.”
“Offshore racing is a very physical profession and it leads women to think that they will never be strong enough to, for example, sail an 18 meter boat weighing around nine tonnes.”
Isabelle Joschke, Franco-German sailorat franceinfo
“Paradoxically, continues Isabelle Joschke, while it is an ultra-physical profession, women succeed very well because there are many other parameters: there is the management of combativeness on a mental level, the management of solitude, the choice of weather “We're going to do, the ability to move your boat quickly, resistance to stress and discomfort.”
Sam Davies, for her part, had a completely different experience. She was able to benefit from a form of positive discrimination for her first participation in the Vendée Globe in 2008-2009, where a sponsor, Roxy, came to pick her up because he wanted a wife. “So I had an opportunity because I'm a woman“, she emphasizes.
In an environment that is still predominantly male, there is still little room for specifically feminine issues such as motherhood. Clarisse Cremer, also at the start of this Vendée Globe, is well placed to know this, after having been disembarked by her sponsor in February 2023, when she had just given birth to her daughter. “If we want to aspire to a mixed sport where we highlight this equity between men and women in terms of resources on the water, we must also take into account the specificities of each, and in particular maternity. is that which is not necessarily obvious”, she confided to franceinfo.
“It’s complex because the years of peak of our career coincides with those of having children”explains Justine Mettraux who herself does not have children. “But more and more examples show that we can reconcile the two”she said, referring to other high-level athletes like Charline Picon, windsurfer, multi-medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and mother of a 6-year-old daughter. ans.
“I have a 13-year-old son today who was born between two Vendée Globes”agrees Sam Davies. Today for him “it's normal for his mother to do an ocean race. More “It’s a huge logistics to prepare for the absence and to leave with peace of mind”she emphasizes. “He experiences it well, and so do we, thanks to those around him” whose role is very important, greets the British sailor.
“Of the six participants, there are two who are mothers of a child and that is already exceptional. Four years ago, there was only one who was a mother of a child,” underlines Isabelle Joschke who also has no children and has “made the choice to commit fully to this profession”. It is “a long-term job that requires travel and prolonged absences”. In more than 20 years of navigation, she has observed that “Most women either didn't have children or didn't have many. Because concretely in our society, it is women who manage the family and family constraints. It's really disabling and it traps a lot of women“, she concludes.
The three sailors note the developments they have experienced during their careers and the value of the example set by their elders. For Sam Davies, who already has three Vendée Globes and a son aged 13 years embodies a form of reference, “it's super important to be an example when I didn't really have one. Apart from Anne Liardet who had three children, there was no one. It's important for the other girls, for the entourage and also for the sponsors. Today, I am available to other girls: I answer their questions and advise them with pleasure.”
“Women who are starting out today have more prospects, completes Justine Mettraux, When I started, there were no women on a crewed round-the-world trip.”.
“There were many pioneers before us, like Isabelle Autissier, Catherine Chabaud, Ellen MacArthur, we are part of their continuity.”
Justine Mettraux, Swiss sailorat franceinfo
Isabelle Joschke would also have liked to have more examples of female sailors to refer to. “I felt like I was spending an incredible amount of energy to overcome my beliefs, my lack of self-confidence and understand that I was in my place. And if I had had examples, it might have been more fluid, easier.”
Aware of the difficulties they still face, the sailors have ideas to suggest to move towards ever more diversity. Justine Mettraux pleads, for example, for “open races even further to diversity”. Some offshore races, such as The Ocean Race or the Transat Paprec, now impose quotas to increase the number of women in the crews. “This allows women to gain experience so that it becomes the norm”assures the Swiss.
“Through our actions, we give the example that it is possible and we make these professions more accessible.”
Isabelle Joschke, navigator and founder of the Horizon Mixité associationat franceinfo
Isabelle Joschke co-founded the Horizon Mixité association and is delighted to participate “to make things happen as much as possible”. “We sail women in female crews so that they can then join mixed crews without having the imposter syndrome complexshe explains. There is also a lot of activity with schools, particularly in the Vendée Globe. And we also have an integration action with the local Mission of Lorient to introduce young women to careers linked to the sea.”
“And the evolution continues, welcomes Sam Davies, There are already two women who have already announced their participation in the next Vendée Globe, including Élodie Bonafous with a new boat!” Since the launch of the Vendée Globe in 1989, 12 women achieved a total of 15 departures from Vendée Globe.
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