Video: All-female crew on The Famous Project CIC start Round the World Record Attempt
by Mark Jardine 1 Dec 16:54 UTC
29 November 2025
The Famous Project CIC, aboard the maxi trimaran IDEC SPORT, start their Jules Verne Trophy record attempt © Jean-Marie Liot / The Famous Project CIC
The all-female crew on The Famous Project CIC have set off on an attempt to capture the Jules Verne Trophy and break the round the world record.
The Jules Verne Trophy, which is displayed at the National Maritime Museum in Paris, is the prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions on the size of the crew, provided the vessel has registered with the organisation and paid an entry fee.
A vessel holding the Jules Verne trophy may not necessarily hold the absolute round the world record, although it currently does. It was initially awarded to the yacht which sailed around the world in less than 80 days, as per the Jules Verne novel Around the World in Eighty Days in which Phileas Fogg traversed the planet.
The current holder is IDEC Sport skippered by Francis Joyon who completed the circumnavigation in 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds, finishing on 26th January 2017. Joyon sailed 26,412 nautical miles at an average speed of 26.85 knots.
Skippered by Alexia Barrier, with Dee Caffari as first officer, together with an international crew of six female sailors, The Famous Project CIC crossed the start line on the maxi trimaran IDEC Sport at 13.40 UTC on Saturday 29th November. To complete the course, they must round the three great capes: Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin, and Cape Horn.
It is the first time since 1998 that there has been an all-female attempt at the record, when Tracy Edwards and crew on Royal & Sun Alliance were dismasted 2,000 miles from Cape Horn.
You can follow the race via the tracker at trimaran-idec.geovoile.com/julesverne/2025/viewer