Alex Thomson's racing team AT Racing has bought the Imoca that Clarisse Crémer had originally wanted to race in the Vendée Globe 2024/2025. But then there was a "collision" between sponsor Banque Populaire, the Vendée Globe race organisers and the sailor and young mother. The start of the best skipper of the Vendée Globe 2020/2021 (12th place) was called into question because she had not been able to collect enough qualifying miles during her pregnancy.
The Vendée Globe forbids a woman to have a child." (Clarisse Crémer)
While in other sports, such as tennis, the ranking position of a pregnant player can be frozen for up to three years, there is no such regulation in sailing. Crémer was convinced that she would still be able to qualify. But the French financial institution did not want to rely on just one hope. The desired starting guarantee in the form of a wild card was initially not given to the popular sailor by the organisers, who in turn felt unable to change the rules in an ongoing cycle.
Clarisse Crémer made her case public with a detailed Facebook post on 2 February this year. It has been causing a stir ever since. Clarisse Crémer, who is one of only ten women to have completed the solo race around the world at least once in the past two decades, wrote: "The Vendée Globe prohibits a woman from having a child, even if she is already a recognised athlete who has completed the previous edition."
The Crémer case moves the sailing world
Clarisse Crémer asked the question that has been on many people's minds ever since: "Who would have thought that such rules were fair in the 21st century?" Even France's sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera got involved in the case and contacted those involved. By the end of the first week of February, around 13,000 people had signed a petition to Banque Populaire in favour of Crémer.
Well-known sailors publicly stood by Clarisse Crémer's side. But nothing helped. On the contrary: The sponsor withdrew completely from the Vendée Globe project for 2024/2025 at the height of the mutual recriminations. Vendée Globe skipper Sam Davies, who is currently competing in the Ocean Race with Team Biotherm alongside skipper Paul Meilhat, said: "I support Clarisse Crémer and all the women sailors in the world. I am so sad that we didn't react faster to avoid this terrible story. It shouldn't have happened to destroy someone's career to make people wake up and fight for change."
The same boat, but not the same team?
Now could be the turning point. France's media and social networks are hotly debating whether Alex Thomson has bought the "Banque Populaire" for Clarisse Crémer. If this is the case, the 33-year-old Parisian could still compete in the race of her life on the boat that was always intended for her, Charlie Dalin's ex-"Apivia". There is no official confirmation of this yet. Nor has there been any confirmation from the Vendée Globe organisers that a wild card will be made available for Clarisse Crémer.
However, well-connected reporters in France assume that this wildcard will materialise. The boat purchase was officially confirmed by the Alex Thomson Racing team on 22 March. It is not only the sailing experts at Le Figaro who suspect: "Same boat, but not the same team." They have already announced that Clarisse Crémer will be competing in the upcoming Vendée Globe with the ex-"Apivia", with which Charlie Dalin narrowly missed out on victory in 2021. Her racing team would then not be Team Banque Populaire, but Alex Thomson Racing.
"Clarisse will surprise a lot of people"
Thomson himself had announced that he would suspend at least one condition in favour of his family. The fact that the 2012 Vendée Globe bronze medallist and 2016 runner-up has nevertheless acquired the "Banque Populaire" speaks in favour of a comeback and a possible happy ending for Clarisse Crémer, who has not yet commented on the matter herself. Le Figaro also quotes an unnamed Imoca sailor as saying: "Clarisse will undoubtedly surprise many people by managing to set up a major sporting and marketing project in just a few weeks."
More exciting articles about the Vendée Globe:
"The Vendée Globe is easier than having a baby":
Sam Davies and Clarisse Crémer talk about the effects of pregnancy and motherhood on competitive athletes:
