Sailing
Even though I’ve sailed and coached sailing since I was very young, I only started racing at University when I joined the British University Sailing Association racing circuit. I spent 4 years mainly team racing for Imperial College London’s 1st team with which we dominated the South Central region for two consecutive years and came 4th at the Nationals. We were also sent abroad for keelboat racing for events such as the Top Universities International Regatta in Qingdao, and did some Firefly and 29er fleet racing.
In 2020 I started my PhD at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and that’s when serious adventures started...I bought an international moth and raced it for a season, providing me with a great dose of adrenaline, work, tears and fun! In July, just before the French Nationals, the Nicomatic team joined me and together we went up to the 2021 World Championships that took place in Malcesine. It was an incredible experience, after which we decided to continue together with a new challenge ...
Mini Transat 2023
My new challenge : The goal is to cross the Atlantic in September 2023 alone and without assistance on a 6.50m boat that we designed and built. The naval architect is Sam Manuard who designed many quick off-shore boats such as l'Occitane Armel Tripon skipped for the 2020 Vendée Globe. Benoit Marie is working with him on the concept, looks like his foiling expertise might be useful...
The construction lasted 4.5 months, that's a record! Now, I find my feet on Bill. And to participe to the Mini Transat 2023, I have to do some competitions and some nautical miles with my boat.
The 2023 Mini Transat! I’m going to race accross the Atlantic on a 6.5m boat alone and without assistance... and what makes this adventure even more exciting is that we designed and built a new boat for that! Bill, the mini number 1067, is born! It's an incredible boat with aerodynamic innovations and soon with foils! The first sails with Bill finally allow me to pool my sailing and engineering skills!
International Moth Sailing
My adventure in the International Moth Class started in August 2021 when I used all my savings to buy a Bladerider . After 3 days of sailing, or rather swimming around the boat, the French Moth Class, that I contacted for help and which I joined shortly after to become the French Moth Class Treasurer, convinced me to follow them to the 2020 Foiling Week. Participating in that racing event was a great decision as I met the international fleet, who was extremely welcoming and helpful and learned a lot. I also realised that my 2008 boat was not competitive even in a straight line and swapped it for an upgraded Mach 2 as soon as I was back to France. The new boat, taken on credit, cost me all my money and energy. For months my life consisted in working 15h days to pay the boat back. I even ended up renting my flat and staying at my friends or office when it was not enough to cover the petrol to go training or racing... It was a crazy few months but it was definitely worth it! I met incredible people, improved lots, started racing for real and finally was contacted by Nicomatic to start a partnership! What a relief, I could finally do things properly! I changed boats once again, getting Jess, a much more reliable boat (an Exocet) that came twice in the top 7 boats at the World Championships. I could now concentrate on training, significantly reducing the amount of boat work and participating in the French Nationals, a Women Training Camp and finally the 2021 World Championships in Malcesine.
Next steps: lots of training with the Moth Girls and the French Sailors aiming for the 2022 French Nationals, 2022 European Championships next summer and then the 2022 World Championships in Argentina in November.
About the boat
The international Moth Class is the fastest one Person Dinghy in the World.
Key Facts:
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Maximum Length: 3.355 m
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Maximum Beam: 2.250 m
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Total Weight: Unrestricted (~ 35-40 Kg)
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Maximum Sail Area: 8.25 m²
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Optimum Skipper Weight: 60-80 Kg.
It is also the Sailing Class attracting the largest amount of Olympic Sailors and America's Cup Champions!
University sailing
During my University Years I was part of Imperial Blue, Imperial College Sailing Club's First Team racing on the British University Sailing Association (BUSA) circuit. Mainly Team Racing in Fireflies, we dominated the South Central Region two years in a row and came fourth at the Nationals. This took us to the Top Universities Regatta in Qingdao (China) and other international races later.
