Richard Mille announced a new challenge of high performance on the high seas. The brand is getting on board The Famous Project, initiated by world-renowned sailor Alexia Barrier. Above and beyond the athletic aspect of the challenge, the project is also reaching new heights in seafaring.
Its goal is to drive progress in terms of technical achievements and attitudes. Concretely, the project sets to circumnavigate the globe with an all-female team, without stopping and without support, for the next Jules Verne Trophy. To do so, The Famous Project is bringing together an international crew of ten bold female sailors on a 32 metres maxi-trimaran. Their hope is to set a first women’s record time for this sailing circumnavigation, with the dream being to beat the current world speed record for the Jules Verne Trophy. This is no small feat, but Alexia Barrier is no small fry, as a skipper with more than 20 years of experience under her belt, including 18 transatlantic voyages – five alone – and a finish in the 2020 Vendée Globe, for a lifetime total of 200,000 nautical miles sailed.
To rise to their challenge, Alexia Barrier and her crew will tame the waves on what can only be described as a Formula 1 ship, the Ultim Trimaran Idec Sport, the fastest maxi-trimaran in the world to date, having proven its worth when Francis Joyon sailed the current world record of the Jules Verne Trophy on it in 2017, at 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds.
June 27, 2024