Clarisse Cremer.

[Buck Turgidson]

If I were part of the VG organising team I think I might already have visited mes learned amis on the topic of Art 21 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and be expecting inbound traffic…

It doesn't include discrimination on the grounds of choosing to do something other than sail the requisite qualifying miles. There is nothing discriminatory going on here.

 

[benjenbav]

It doesn't include discrimination on the grounds of choosing to do something other than sail the requisite qualifying miles. There is nothing discriminatory going on here.

I’m sure someone would be capable of making an argument that the change from automatic qualification by previous participation to mileage via new events made it more difficult for a woman carrying and bearing a child to qualify and, hence, a discrimination based on sex.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

I’m sure someone would be capable of making an argument that the change from automatic qualification by previous participation to mileage via new events made it more difficult for a woman carrying and bearing a child to qualify and, hence, a discrimination based on sex.

No more difficult than for anyone else who had something better to do!

 

[westhinder]

Banque Populaire have withdrawn from the 2024 Vendée Globe
From their statement:
"Banque populaire considère aujourd'hui que les conditions ne sont plus réunies pour pouvoir aborder sereinement le Vendée Globe et annonce son retrait de l'édition 2024"
"Banque populaire regrette la situation actuelle et comprend l'émotion qu'elle a suscitée auprès du public", a-t-il reconnu, tout en "réaffirmant son engagement dans la voile" où il est présent depuis plus de trente ans.

BP considers that it is no longer possible to compete serenely in the Vendée Globe and withdraws from the 2024 edition. BP regrets the situation and understands the emotion it has caused among the public. It remains committed to sailing, in which it has been active for over thirty years

 

[doug748]

Thanks for the update.

As post 2. A victory again for the forces of unreason.

 

[Kukri]

BP have a large sailing sponsorship programme and withdrawal from one event isn’t a disaster for them. If anything I associate them more with the big multihull events, and I might not be alone in that. (?).

I don’t think the VG organisers left BP with any other honorable choice.

It’s the VG people whose excess of bureaucracy has shot them in the foot.

 

[jlavery]

A good article on the Magenta Project's take on it. Think it says rule change made BP's position difficult.

Ruled out: The Magenta Project proposes parental protection policies

 

[flaming]

A good article on the Magenta Project's take on it. Think it says rule change made BP's position difficult.

Ruled out: The Magenta Project proposes parental protection policies

The issue I have with that is that the rules were put in place before Clarisse had the baby. And she went to BP and said she was planning on trying to have a baby after the rules were in place yet BP did nothing then.

The impact of the rules was well understood by all the teams way back then, I know I had conversations with Pip back then about how the landscape had changed with regard to qualifying. Especially that previous finishers weren't guaranteed a spot. If BP thought that Clarisse was at serious risk of not qualifying then that was the time to make changes, not now.

This week Sam Goodchild has announced his IMOCA campaign. Sam is in the same boat, qualification wise, as Clarisse.... So why the support and backing for him, but the dropping of Clarisse?

The reason for the rules change is essentially 2 fold. There is simply a limit to how many IMOCAs can fit into Les Sables. And that is 40. Given that, and the huge amount of interest in the race from potential skippers, the Vendee organisers want to have the most competitive fleet on the start line. They have already changed the rules so that boats such as Pip's last steed, Super Bigou are no longer eligable. You must be closer in performance to the top boats, the Vendee want a real race....

So 13 new builds (The 1st 13 to take the start of one of the official feeder races) get a slot. Then everyone else, including any later new builds, are fighting the qualification race. Which means that they have to sail 2 races, finishing 1 in not more than twice the winner's time. But... If there are then more than 40 boats so qualified, it is a straight fight for miles.

You can see why they've done that, the more miles a project has done, the more likely they are to be competitive, the better the event will be.

But... Every edition of the Vendee throws up stories that are nothing to do with the fight for the win. I hope we don't lose them.

Or maybe move the start and finish..... St Malo could accommodate 100 IMOCAs.....

 

[Roberto]

Or maybe move the start and finish..... St Malo could accommodate 100 IMOCAs.....

Then it ought to be renamed Brittany Globe

 

[flaming]

Then it ought to be renamed Brittany Globe

Maybe... The point is that it might have outgrown Les Sables. But it is apparently sacrilegious to point this out...

 

[benjenbav]

I guess Banque Pop has been advised that their approach was toxic and the best way to fix that is to go invisible for a while.
The race organisers will perhaps have the opportunity to reflect on where their pay checks for the next event will come from if they persist with outdated attitudes.

 

[flaming]

I guess Banque Pop has been advised that their approach was toxic and the best way to fix that is to go invisible for a while.
The race organisers will perhaps have the opportunity to reflect on where their pay checks for the next event will come from if they persist with outdated attitudes.

I think the race committee saw one problem coming - that the number of new builds + the number of finishers from last time could fill their rosta without allowing for any rookies, and that some of the people qualified just by dint of finishing may not be all that competitive.... and reacted by taking away the right of all new builds, and all finishers to compete without qualifying.
But that had something of a law of unintended consequences with regard to Clarice and maternity.

Hopefully they will put in place some sort of mechanism to recognise maternity, such as other sports are starting to do.

 

[Birdseye]

"Is it because I is black/gay/disabled/ sex changed/ disadvantaged / etc etc" - the standard response to anything that happens to you that you dont like.

She didnt comply with the qualification rules. Her choice. Letting her in would have been discrimination against those who sacrificed motherhood to go. Not to mention all the men.

This is a classic of the situation we land ourselves in when we go woke.

 

[flaming]

"Is it because I is black/gay/disabled/ sex changed/ disadvantaged / etc etc" - the standard response to anything that happens to you that you dont like.

She didnt comply with the qualification rules. Her choice. Letting her in would have been discrimination against those who sacrificed motherhood to go. Not to mention all the men.

This is a classic of the situation we land ourselves in when we go woke.

Nonsense. She was complying with the qualification rules.

She still had as much chance of qualifying as most people. More than some. And definitely more than the campaigns that announced since this happened....

She also told BP her plans BEFORE she got pregnant. And they confirmed their support and her place as skipper for 2024. But now they yank the plug...?

If you make an offshore career and motherhood an either/or choice then you are going to seriously limit the number of talented women coming into the sport. And I think Sam Davies is the absolute perfect example of quite why that is a very stupid position to take.

 

[flaming]

If the rumour mill is to be believed ClaCla is back and Alex Thompson has bought the boat from bank bop and will be managing it…

Interesting times…

 

[Buck Turgidson]

If the rumour mill is to be believed ClaCla is back and Alex Thompson has bought the boat from bank bop and will be managing it…

Interesting times…

I read this yesterday in a French article. It said he bought the boat to do the 2028 vendee and will allow Clarisse to use it for next years race under the AT racing brand and that she has been promised the wild card spot!
Good news all round but particularly if AT has decided to go again, although the boat will be a bit dated by then.

 

[dunedin]

Sounds like good news. And this initiative also seems like an important step for women’s sailing as a whole - World Sailing Trust launches Project Juno

 

[Bobc]

Big hat's-off for Alex on this one. Great for him, for Clarisse, for the sport, and for "British/French relations" in the sailing world.

 

[Kukri]

I hope it’s true. I’ve seen it in SA and it was hedged with caveats even there. When Elaine Bunting says it’s real, I’ll believe it.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

I guess Banque Pop has been advised that their approach was toxic and the best way to fix that is to go invisible for a while.
The race organisers will perhaps have the opportunity to reflect on where their pay checks for the next event will come from if they persist with outdated attitudes.

I don't think people are paid by cheque any more.