Who is Clarisse Crémer, the sailor, who has found a team after being rejected by her former sponsor because of her maternity?

She is a sailor who should finally take the start of her second Vendée Globe in more than a year and a half, when she lost her place by becoming a mother this winter. Her name is Clarisse Crémer.

The clash with its previous sponsor, “Banque Populaire”, caused a lot of noise in February. But now “L’Occitane”, a cosmetics brand which was already on the last Vendée globe with skipper Armel Tripon, announced on Wednesday April 19 that it had signed with Clarisse Crémer to help her rent this “winning boat”, a boat on which Charlie Dalin won the Transat Jacques Vabre in 2019 and finished second in the Vendée Globe 2021 and the Route du Rhum 2022. Alex Thomson, five Vendée-Globes on the clock, bought this boat, set up the team and rents it to Clarisse Cremer. This is what explains the entry on the track of “L’Occitane”, which comes in financial support for this solo round the world which will leave in November 2024.

HEC graduate

Clarisse Crémer is 33 years old, she was born in Paris in 1989. As a child, she did at most one sailing course a year, in summer. The navigator used to say that she came to Brittany like a Parisian who came on vacation. In the absence of sailing and Brittany, in the family history, the salient element would rather be politics: the great-grandfather, Victor Chatenay, was a senator, deputy and mayor of Angers after the war, from 1947 to 1959.

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On her website, she explains that she graduated from HEC 2013. “In either case, we don’t care a bit, but the partners seem to like it, it sounds ‘serious’, she explains before concluding her sentence with a smiley. The year after leaving school, she founded the company Kazaden with her brother, “a website that allows you to book outdoor stays”.

It was only as a student that she seriously took up sailing. She chairs the HEC sailing club, even competes in the sailing tour of France in 2010. In 2015, she finally settles in Brittany, in the Morbihan at Locqumiquelic, first sails and races on “mini” , from 6.50. Sailing is also a love story with the one who will become her husband. Tanguy Le Turquais was also in the middle of the Rum route at the time of the birth of their little Mathilda this winter.

Clarisse’s career finally took off in 2018. When Banque Populaire announced that she was to become her face on a large Imoca, many shouted at the communication blow, convinced that she would not be able to navigate it. However, she finished her first Vendée globe in 2020 with the best time achieved by a woman.

A strong character

Talking about her partnership with “L’Occitane”, she explains that it represents her natural side, almost contemplative, she especially loves gardening. But the nature side has another meaning for her, with a very direct side, including in her communication. During the Vendée Globe, she posted a video, a week after the start, when she had just had a small accident on board: “I scalded like an idiot, with a mug of hot tea that I had cleverly wedged between my legs, I just reversed it completely on me. Oh the cow! But what an adventure this thing!!”.

This “cash” nature also gives a rant to the motherhood of sportswomen, when Banque Populaire decided to withdraw her boat this winter. She was very supported by the judoka Clarisse Agbegnenou, Melina Robert Michon, the discus thrower and mother of three, by Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castera. She also receives support from men and from Alex Thomson, who will therefore rent her his boat.

Clarisse Crémer hopes that all this will change mentalities: “I’m lucky to have a job where you have a bit of a public voice, so I also wanted to spark debate on this subject. But it’s true that the extent that took this debate over my head”

“It sparked debate, particularly on the race rules of the Vendée Globe. The qualification process takes four years, so between each edition, you have to start again right away. It’s not easy to have a child between the two. The idea is to think about it and make sure that it doesn’t hinder the selection process.”

Clarisse Crémer, navigator

at franceinfo

A qualification for the Vendée Globe to be sought

There is a risk that she will not qualify for the Vendée Globe 2024, Clarisse Crémer’s place is not guaranteed and she is aware of this. Between this autumn and the end of spring, he will have to compete in and finish four transats, three of which alone, to rack up enough race miles. It starts with the Jacques Vabre in November.

At the end of April, she had still not boarded the boat. If all goes well, she will in any case take the start, leaving her daughter, who will be exactly 2 years old, on the ground. Her husband will also be in the race. “It’s already quite a challenge to come back after a pregnancy when your body is turned upside down. I’ve never hidden it. There’s a lot of work at the moment, if only physically. Regarding our daughter, it’s is sure that it is a somewhat special life that is offered to him for the first months of his life. Of course I will have it in mind when I am at sea, but no more than dads.”

While waiting for little Mathilda to grow up and be able to sail her turn, she will be looked after by her grandparents while her parents will go around the world alone, each on their own.