“I’m in shock”: The navigator Clarisse Crémer will not be at the head of the “Banque populaire” at the next Vendée Globe. The group dropped out of her, believing she would not qualify to race after her motherhood and a change in regulations.
“Last Friday I found out that Banque Populaire finally decided to replace me. Because of her decision and despite my constant will, I will not be at the start of the Vendée Globe 2024,” announced the 33-year-old sailor on her social networks on Thursday.
Clarisse Crémer became a mother late last year and in December symbolically took the helm of the former Apivia, Imoca, from the hands of Norman Charlie Dalin, with slides she hoped to launch around the world under the colors of “Banque Pop”.
The sailboat has since returned to the group’s stable in Lorient, but Crémer, 12th in the last edition of Everest des Mers, will not board. “The Banque Populaire decides to keep me on the dock,” she complained.
In a press release, Banque Populaire cited changes to the Vendée Globe regulation to justify its decision. In the past, a “finisher” (sailor who finished the event) was automatically qualified for the next edition.
But this process has changed in 2021. Skippers who do not have a new boat now all have the obligation to take part in a certain number of qualifying regattas before the start of the Vendée and collect the miles there to choose between them.
“With this criterion, I naturally fell behind the other competitors at the start, this motherhood prevented me from taking part in the qualifying races for a year,” admitted Crémer.
“We’re at 0 miles and they have at least 2,600 miles ahead of us and intend to do the same races as us… We’re never going to catch them,” his side said during a press briefing meeting Thursday Ronan Lucas, Director of Team Banque Populaire.
The team affirmed that they had done “everything possible” with the organizers to change the rules or “get the guarantee of a wild card”, without success. The name of Banque Populaire XII’s next helmsman will be announced “in the coming days”.
“There were still 2 full seasons and 4 transatlantic crossings left to get back to the level, I wanted to complete my rehabilitation as soon as possible,” regretted Clarisse Crémer, who holds the Vendée crossing record for women with 87 days and 2 hours and 24 minutes.
“Today it is clear that the rules chosen by the Vendée Globe prohibit a woman from having a child,” she added.
In a press release sent to the media on Thursday evening, the Vendée Globe organization said it “under no circumstances could afford to change the rules while the selection process is already underway” in order to “do justice” between the competitors to protect .
The organizers ruled out the possibility of issuing him the only wildcard provided for by the regulations. “This cannot be marked before the end of the selection process as Vendée Globe does not know the skippers who could claim it,” it said.
“No woman should have to make a decision like that. When will there be a system that can allow women to find their place (…) after maternity leave, ”reacted Camille Lecointre, two-time bronze medalist in Olympic sailing, to AFP.
The tenth edition of the Vendée Globe starts on November 10, 2024 in Les Sables d’Olonne. At the 2020/2021 edition, six of the 33 participants were women.