THE FAMOUS PROJECT CIC: an all-female crew to sail around the world

Alexia was joined by the partners of The Famous Project CIC, represented by Daniel Baal, Chairman of CIC, Patrice Lafargue, Chairman of Groupe IDEC, and Eric Pasquier, Vice-Chairman of the Sopra Steria Board of Directors, to announce the names of the members of this international crew. Six female sailors were selected, whose achievements range from the Olympics through to The Ocean Race. The flags of several nations will fly on the IDEC SPORT rig: Great Britain (Dee Caffari and Deborah Blair), Netherlands (Annemieke Bes), Switzerland and New Zealand (Rebecca Gmuer), Spain (Tamara “Xiquita” Echegoyen), United States and Italy (Molly Lapointe), and France (Alexia Barrier, project founder).

“Our commitment to this project goes beyond sporting performance”, says Daniel Baal, Chairman of CIC. “By supporting The Famous Project CIC, we are supporting female commitment in every sense of the term. This project, driven by the collective strength of a team of women and men to achieve performance, perfectly illustrates our desire as a bank, a mission-driven company, to take action to change society. Gender equality is as much an issue in companies as it is in the sporting world. These are the types of challenges that drive us.” 

Claude Kœstner, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of CIC, said: “At CIC, we are convinced that Alexia’s project will succeed, and that the crew will win the Trophy and set a female record. This is a marvelous adventure that we will share with our employees, our customers, and the public at large. Our support is so much more than a financial investment; it is a way to champion shared values, such as the spirit of enterprise, surpassing oneself, resilience and teamwork.” 

A lengthy and meticulous crew selection process

Putting the crew together was a long and exciting process. Alexia and Dee drew up a short list of 15 names, some of whom sailed aboard The Famous Project CIC MOD70. They were looking for people to form a versatile crew that would be comfortable at sea, get on well together, and understand the importance of individual accountability (a desire to learn, kindness and performance). “It is rightly said that ocean crossings are a typically French endeavor. The Famous Project CIC challenges that notion, revealing talents on a par with the best French sailors. These girls come from a whole range of backgrounds, and have proven themselves in Olympic competitions right through to IMOCA races. They boast extensive maritime knowledge, and have a very diverse wealth of experience both on the ocean and on land. Beyond their actual sailing skills, we wanted a crew that was eager to learn and share all their nautical experience. This need to pass on experience was paramount for us. And kindness had to be a constant guiding rule in all of this”, explains Alexia.

A multi-cultural international crew!

Alexia Barrier - France - Skipper
Born in Paris on November 26, 1979, Alexia grew up in Nice where, at the age of 3, she discovered sailing on board her parents' sailboat. She has raced solo, as well as in double-handed races and as part of a crew… Mini 6.50, Figaro, Class40, IMOCA, Maxi-yachts, but also in multihull races, and with famous skippers such as Florence Arthaud, Peter Holmberg, Andy Beadworth and Dennis Conner. Alexia has traveled more than 200,000 nautical miles and raced across the Atlantic Ocean 18 times, including 5 times in solo races. On November 8, 2020, she took on the 2020-2021 Vendée Globe. She completed the race in 24th position after spending 111 days on her own. She was named Knight of the French Order of Maritime Merit in 2024.

Dee Caffari - Great Britain
Co-Skipper Dee Caffari was born on January 23, 1973 in Watford, Hertfordshire (UK). In 2006, she became the first woman to sail around the world solo, non-stop, in the “wrong” direction, i.e. from west to east, against the prevailing winds and currents. In 2009, she completed the Vendée Globe, making her the first woman to sail around the world, non-stop, in both directions. She was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2007 for her outstanding service to sailing. In 2011, she teamed up with Anna Corbella to complete the Barcelona World Race, becoming the only woman to have sailed around the world three times non-stop. She also took part in several editions of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Annemieke Bes - Netherlands
Annemieke Marileen Bes, born on March 16, 1978 in Groningen (Netherlands), is an accomplished sailor in Olympic sailing and ocean crossings. She participated in three Olympic Games: Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. She turned to ocean crossings after her Olympic career, participating in the Volvo Ocean Race in 2017-2018 with Team Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag. She has been sailing IMOCAs since 2022, not least as a member of the Holcim-PRB team in the IMOCA Globe Series.

Rebecca Gmuer - Switzerland/New Zealand
Rebecca Gmuer is a young Swiss-Kiwi sailor and professional rigger born on December 21, 1999. She has competed in major races such as the Sydney-Hobart, the Caribbean 600 and the Fastnet Race, and took part in the first all-female transatlantic crossing in 2024 aboard the Limosa MOD70. In 2025, she competed in The Ocean Race Europe aboard the IMOCA Team Amaala.

Deborah Blair - Great Britain
Deborah, 23, began sailing at the age of 8 on a Pico with Andrew Simpson Centres Portland. She is a member of Weymouth Sailing Club and a computer science graduate from the University of Southampton. She is now addicted to keelboat racing.

Molly Lapointe - United States/Italy – Boat Captain
Molly is boat captain and works closely with Clément Surtel. Molly was a member of the Maiden Factor team that won The Ocean Globe. Tracy Edwards could not speak highly enough of her to Dee and Alexia.

Tamara Xiquita Echegoyen - Spain
Tamara Echegoyen Domínguez is a Spanish sailor born on February 17, 1984 in Orense, Galicia. She was the Elliott 6m Olympic champion in 2012, match racing world champion in 2013 and two-time 49er FX world champion in 2016 and 2020. In June 2024, she was the flag bearer for the Spanish delegation at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

A boat that is already the stuff of legends...

“We knew that we wanted the IDEC SPORT for this challenge. It is a large multihull built in 2006 for Groupama and Franck Cammas, built on a VPLP design. Funnily enough, it is a simple, streamlined boat, but one that is very seaworthy, reliable, and naturally very fast, even in light winds. It sits very high in the water, which is very reassuring. We got the boat in June 2023, and set about fixing it up, step by step, until its launch in June 2024. We worked in stages, swapping out everything that needed to be, such as the running gear, pulleys, furling system, batteries, etc.”, continues Alexia. They used a previously acquired MOD70 as a platform to test the crew's ability to handle a large multihull, and encourage the best sailors to come and sail in this very demanding multihull challenge. But the IDEC SPORT was always going to be the boat they wanted for the round-the-world challenge.

“I met Patrice Lafargue, CEO of Groupe IDEC, who offered to lend me the boat after the Route du Rhum race in 2022. Fun fact: my meeting with Patrice took place on rue Pierre 1er in Paris, in a nod to Florence Arthaud.” The seven crew members have been preparing throughout the summer for the immense challenge that awaits them. The boat is currently undergoing a final, comprehensive technical inspection in the shipyard before a new round of training. The crew will be on standby, as planned, from mid-November, while they await the best possible weather window to set off on their round-the-world voyage.

Quotes from the crew:

Alexia Barrier: “Since I completed the Vendée Globe in 2020, I have been constantly wondering not only about what my next sailing project would be, but above all how to give meaning to this new adventure. Before I set off on the Vendée Globe in 2020, I knew that I wanted to follow it up by sailing around the world in a multihull. So I knew what my next sporting project would involve. And I wanted to give meaning to this new adventure. When I realized how few women have taken part in the Jules Verne Trophy over the past 30 years, it was clear to me that I needed to put together an all-female crew to rise to the ultimate challenge: a round-the-world voyage with no assistance or stopovers. All I had to do was find the talented women who would be interested in taking on such a challenge. This turned out to be surprisingly easy, and the applications flooded in”.

Dee Caffari: “I have known Alexia for a long time, but I have grown to know her even better since she asked me to join this project. We were on the same page immediately. We connect. She’s giving us an incredible opportunity! A massive challenge! This challenge is more than just a sporting event. It's a chance to write history. We have found the right people to make up our crew and, for this challenge, their character will be more important than their talent. We are asking them to expand on their usual roles. Everyone must be capable of handling anything on board. This boat is legendary, and that means we have certain responsibilities in terms of how we sail her. We are always learning on board. It's exciting.” 

Partners who believe in the project

The Famous Project CIC has the support of several French companies such as CIC, a bank established in 36 countries, IDEC Sport, a real estate and energy transition operator, Sopra Steria, a major tech player in Europe, and the Richard Mille luxury watchmaker. These partners share a desire to promote gender diversity, teamwork, performance, and sustainability.

Why are they supporting the project?

For CIC, title partner of The Famous Project CIC: “To shake things up and show young girls that they should dare to make their dreams a reality.” 

For Groupe IDEC: “GROUPE IDEC is proud to support the daring and solidarity shown by an all-female crew who are embarking on an extraordinary human adventure on board the legendary IDEC SPORT maxi-trimaran, winner of the Jules Verne Trophy.” 

For Sopra Steria, technology partner: “Technology makes perfect sense when it supports progress and collective performance. We are proud to support this team challenge, which combines top-level performance with human resilience, innovation and social responsibility." 

For Richard Mille: “To dare, challenge oneself and take risks: The Famous Project CIC is writing a new page in women’s history, driven by a passionate team and Alexia Barrier’s desire for them to surpass themselves, whatever the rules of the game." 

Program: Late September: IDEC SPORT hits the water after its refit
October: training out of Brest
November 15: start of standby period

Find out more at: https://thefamousproject.io/