Upwind by MerConcept – Ambitious offshore project for women

Women often have a hard time finding opportunities in offshore racing, especially in multihulls. But when they get the chance, they stand out with their talent and determination. This realization is behind one of the most interesting women’s initiatives in the multi-ocean scene: UpWind by MerConcept aims to specifically promote female ocean sailors and thus secure the future of the sport.

Female sailors are rare in the offshore scene. A drastic example was the Route du Rhum 2022, in which only 7 out of 138 participants were women. They were completely absent from the Arkea Ultim Challenge. Cécile Andrieu, Head of Ocean Racing at MerConcept, has even observed a downward trend: “When you’re at almost zero percent, things can’t really get any worse, and yet the number of female sailors in multihulls has continued to fall over the last twenty years.” This situation not only jeopardizes gender equality, but also the future of offshore racing. “In ten years’ time, no one will be able to identify with us if we don’t keep up with the times,” warns Andrieu.

Strong women’s team

This alarming development prompted the company MerConcept, founded by François Gabart, to take action. Unwilling to stand idly by and watch the situation deteriorate, the company founded the Upwind project in 2024. Its aim: to make it easier for female sailors from different backgrounds to get into multihull racing. A call for applications brought in over 120 applications in just a few weeks. “The quality and diversity of the profiles are impressive. For me, this clearly shows that when women are given a chance, they are there for the taking.” In the end, six talented women were selected to sail on the Ocean Fifty under the direction of Francesca Clapcich. “We deliberately put together a crew of different levels,” explains Cécile Andrieu. That way, the most experienced sailors can take part in the races and the less experienced ones can learn during training and the transfer stages.”

Promising first season

Upwind got off to a flying start in its first season. After the first two coastal regattas in St. Malo and Pornichet, the core team of Francesca Clapcich, Élodie-Jane Mettraux and Anne-Claire Le Berre competed in the Route des Terres-Neuvas in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon in mid-August. A few days before the planned start on August 16, Élodie-Jane Mettraux said: “It’s our first ocean race on this boat. We don’t know how it will behave in the waves. The result is secondary, we want above all to sail well, to be happy with the trim and with our decisions. And we will push the Ocean Fifty if necessary. As the trimarans are not a one-size-fits-all class, they don’t all cope equally well with the different conditions.” After this transatlantic regatta, Upwind will compete in the MedMax Occitanie and the final regatta in St. Maxime. Although the women’s crew want to make their mark in their first season, Élodie-Jane Mettraux remains realistic: “We shouldn’t set ourselves too high sporting goals in this first build-up season. Our focus is on laying a solid foundation for the future.”

Great ambitions

In the longer term, the project is pursuing ambitious goals. Upwind not only wants to be successful in the Ocean Fifty Series, but also send a female skipper to the Route du Rhum 2026. There are even plans for a Jules Verne record attempt with a mixed team. “We may well sail on other boats in the future, but promoting women in the offshore multihull circus remains our priority,” emphasizes Andrieu. “We also want to get more women on board outside of regattas.”

A breath of fresh air is clearly blowing in ocean sailing, but there is still a long way to go to achieve true equality. Female skippers such as Sam Davies, Justine Mettraux and Clarisse Crémer have become better known thanks to their participation in prestigious regattas such as the Vendée Globe, but women are still rarely found in leadership positions in sailing. In many cases, they are absent altogether, for example in the TF35 on Lake Geneva. Upwind, however, gives talented female sailors a stage and thus makes an important contribution to promoting women in sailing. Or, to put it in the words of Cécile Andrieu: “We don’t just want to build up a top female sailor, but to create a talent pool from which the teams can draw.”