An eclectic journey
Her dream of racing around the world has been built since she was 12 years old, the age when her parents introduced her to sailing. Since then, she has never stopped sailing to reach the ultimate goal that is the Vendée Globe.
Mini Transat, Solitaire du Figaro, AG2r and Route du Rhum: Alexia has taken part in the greatest ocean races, but also in the regatta circuits taking place in the West Indies, often in contact with the best Anglo-Saxon crews.
Following in the footsteps of Florence Arthaud or Ellen Mc Artur, it proves in turn that top level sailing is not reserved for the male elite.
Under the leadership of Dennis Conner and Florence Arthaud
Her sailing mentors are as eclectic as the boats she has sailed on.
At the beginning of her career, she was asked by Dennis Conner, multiple America's Cup winner, to join his crew during the regattas in Bermuda.
Beyond sporting performance, it is above all in project management and the methods to be applied that she learned from an incredible leader of men.
It was then in contact with Florence Arthaud, also Mediterranean, that she learned a lot in Class40.
England's Andy Beadsworth and the American Peter Holmberg, both Olympic champions, complete these diverse mentors.
A ship of legend
His Imoca, the Penguin a Lombard design built for Catherine Chabaud in 1998, will be the oldest boat in the fleet at the start in Les Sables-d'Olonne on 8 November.
Solid and rather simple, it has already completed 6 round-the-world tours. Equipped with a pendulum keel with two daggerboards in front of the mast, it will not be able to compete with the current foilers. But she is reliable and knows chemin?!
A budget to complete for the Vendée Globe
Already qualified for the Vendée Globe, Alexia is increasing the number of exchanges in order to make ends meet:
"We're looking for a title partner, who would have the name of the boat and three-quarters of the visibility on the sailboat. The main sponsors of the project for the moment are the Alpes-Maritimes department, Green Deal, an initiative in favour of the environment and ecological transition led by the politician Charles-Ange Ginésy, 20?000 Vies, an association from Nice fighting against cardiovascular disease, the UCA, the company Biotronik, local authorities, the towns of Biot, Antibes, Cannes... We have also set up a collaborative financing centre with 3.000?euros per year per company in order to enable my historical partners to take part in the Vendée Globe alongside me"
An Environmental Avant-Garde
By creating her 4myplanet foundation in 2009, she was one of the first skippers to be concerned about the environmental cause. She has visited dozens of school classes to raise awareness of marine pollution and teach them the right gestures. And this commitment is not limited to the French borders.
In 2010, she rents Philippe Monnet's 60-foot boat and then makes a solo Atlantic loop on the France-Cape Town-Rio-New York route before returning to the Mediterranean. 5 months of sailing and 20?000 miles covered enabled her to collect nearly 1 million data on water quality, and to meet students at each stopover. 10?000 children have thus followed Alexia's adventures since the creation of her foundation.
Focus on the 2024 Vendée Globe
After the 2020 Vendée Globe, the Penguin will take a well-deserved retirement and become the 4myplanet foundation's ambassador ship. He will continue to sail and to be in contact with children, but he will no longer race around the world.
Alexia is already in discussion with her Design Team to define her future Imoca, in order to be as prepared as possible for the VG2024. The "little thumb of the Imoca" has talent and would like to express it on a last generation foiler. Notice to partenaires?!
