Slowly but surely the offshore race is conjugated in the feminine. 14 women out of 158 sailors will set off from Le Havre this Sunday for the 15th Transat Jacques Vabre, this time bound for Martinique. And among them 3 100% female duos including Amélie Grassi and Marie Riou aboard the organic Boulangère.
Amelia Grassi, born in La Rochelle, discovered sailing by the Mini-Transat with a remarkable 8th place in 2019. For this coffee route, she found La boulangère bio as a partner and as a co-skipper Marie Riou. The latter won the Volvo Ocean Race crewed race in 2018. Their Class40 boat was only launched 1 month ago. Not enough to have had time to measure up to others but enough to have “total confidence in this boat which has shown us that it is reliable, robust and that had in the belly. So we know that we will be able to go quickly. I have confidence in Marie “ adds Amélie Grassi.
– Yves-René Tapon
“We will still be in a careful, quiet mode and really try to navigate well to break nothing and reach the end in Martinique“adds Marie Riou.
– Yves-René Tapon
Ocean racing is one of the rare 100% mixed sports: “Most of the time, the boat is never at 100% of its potential. And suddenly, in the end, being a woman doesn’t change much. Because a guy is not going to succeed in exploiting all the potential either. It is rather to be smart about the maneuvers. There is not much difference “ says Amélie Grassi who shows motivation and a temperament already strong before this first big race!
