Alexia Barrier prepares for first woman’s solo ULTIM race in Route du Rhum

French skipper Alexia Barrier is preparing in Brest for the November 1 Route du Rhum start from Saint-Malo, where she plans to become the first woman to race solo in the event’s ULTIM class. She will sail IDEC SPORT-CIC, a trimaran about 32 metres long, across the Atlantic toward Pointe-à-Pitre. The attempt would put one sailor in charge of a boat whose size and speed make every manoeuvre demanding.

Barrier, 46, described the opportunity to Reuters during a training sail off Brest. ‘It’s the biggest machine participating in offshore sailing around the world,’ she said. ‘Only eight of this kind are on the planet. So I’m happy, proud and privileged to be skipper of this machine.’ The historic first is an intended entry in the race; the start and any finish have yet to happen.

What makes Barrier’s ULTIM trimaran difficult to sail alone

Reuters described the trimaran as 23 metres wide, with a mast rising 34 metres above the water. During the training sail, Barrier hoisted the mainsail and practised work she expects to carry out without a crew. Even in a light breeze, the boat accelerated toward 23 knots. The exercise showed the scale of the task awaiting her when there is nobody else aboard to share the physical work.

‘The sails are huge. It’s really powerful. A sail is more than 100 kilos. I’m 55 kilos,’ Barrier told Reuters. She said the boat has reached around 46 knots, while making clear that such speed carries consequences: ‘It goes so fast and if you make a mistake, it can be terrible because you can hurt the boat and hurt yourself.’ She said she was happy but more focused than ever.

A three-time Route du Rhum winning boat

IDEC SPORT, the team behind her entry, says the course from Saint-Malo to Pointe-à-Pitre covers 3,542 nautical miles. It says the trimaran won the Route du Rhum three times: with Franck Cammas in 2010 under the name Groupama 3, Loïck Peyron in 2014 as Banque Populaire VII, and Francis Joyon in 2018 as IDEC SPORT. Those results belong to the boat’s earlier campaigns and skippers; Barrier’s own race result remains unknown.

The team’s account gives Barrier’s attempt a second purpose beyond her placing. IDEC SPORT says more than 50 classes have registered to follow the race through a programme organised by her 4myplanet association. Its plans include teaching pupils about the trimaran, solo navigation and the ocean, with some expected to meet Barrier in Saint-Malo and others to receive video answers from her at sea. Those activities are plans described by the team, rather than completed parts of the voyage.

IDEC SPORT also says Barrier plans to carry a precision ocean measurement instrument and deploy a weather buoy in the Atlantic to measure water temperature and atmospheric pressure. The team links that work to equipment deployed during the Jules Verne Trophy voyage. The Route du Rhum deployment is still prospective: its publication does not establish that the buoy has been released or that measurements have been collected on this passage.

What happens at the November 1 start

Barrier told Reuters that becoming the first woman to take on this solo ULTIM challenge could help other women and girls see a route into the sport. She also spoke of the experience and resources needed to enter what she called the ‘elite of sailing’. For now, the confirmed development is her preparation for the scheduled November 1 departure. Whether the boat starts, completes the crossing or reaches any particular position will be determined at sea.