Full throttle around the globe: Justine Mettraux
Image: Keystone
The Vendée Globe is sailed in the IMOCA boat class
Image: Keystone
The "living room" of Justine Mettraux
Image: Keystone
Representing Switzerland first class: Justine Mettraux
Image: Keystone
The boats in the Imoca class also sail with and on foils, as can be seen to the left of the boat
Image: Keystone
Full throttle around the globe: Justine Mettraux
Image: Keystone
The Vendée Globe is sailed in the IMOCA boat class
Image: Keystone
The "living room" of Justine Mettraux
Image: Keystone
Representing Switzerland first class: Justine Mettraux
Image: Keystone
The boats in the Imoca class also sail with and on foils, as can be seen to the left of the boat
Image: Keystone
Justine Mettraux is still on course to finish her first solo round-the-world regatta, the Vendée Globe, in the top 10. A great achievement for the Geneva native.
09.01.2025, 04:01
09.01.2025, 06:41
SDA
"Justine la machine", as some in the sailing scene call her, has achieved a real feat. In the middle of the race to catch up across the Atlantic, she is still part of the chasing pack, which is made up almost exclusively of the latest generation of monohulls.
"It's nice to be in contact with Jérémie Beyou or Thomas Ruyant, whose boats have greater potential than mine, even if the weather has helped me a lot," said Justine Mettraux earlier this week in a telephone interview with Keystone-SDA off the Brazilian coast.
Although her boat is not one of the fleet's antiques, Justine Mettraux still has merit. Her yacht dates back to 2018 and has already sailed a Vendée Globe in the foils - with Jérémie Beyou, twelfth in the 2020/21 edition. And with the exception of Brit Sam Goodchild (who sailed in 2019), all the skippers in the top 10 are sailing the latest high-tech generation.
Catching the right train
The deficit did not prevent the 38-year-old from catching up with this group after she was more than 700 miles behind at the Cape of Good Hope. Together with Clarisse Crémer from France, Samantha Davies from Great Britain and Boris Herrmann from Germany, she managed to close the gap in the Indian Ocean. Then, at the entrance to the Pacific, she closed the gap again, leaving her two rivals in her rear-view mirror.
Justine Mettraux describes the decisive situation as follows: "There was a front that I couldn't miss and with which I made progress despite the very tough conditions. This allowed me to stay in the race, unlike Clarisse and Samantha, who narrowly missed the train." She then had slightly better weather than the group in front of her. "That allowed me to catch up, of course, but not because I did anything special. I was able to ride a straight course while they had to turn up."
After briefly climbing to a provisional eighth place, the 38-year-old from Geneva was back in 10th place at midday Swiss time on Wednesday, 2352 nautical miles behind the leader Charlie Dalin. The Frenchman is heading for the victory that eluded him by two and a half hours in 2021.
Two weeks to go
On her way back to Les Sables-d'Olonne, Justine Mettraux plans to sail a route close to the Brazilian coast. Before returning to the trade winds, however, the Lorient-based sailor had to pass through a weak wind zone where the headsail she lost at the end of November could have come in handy.
After 80 percent of the course, Justine Mettraux is already satisfied with her race, even if she reminds us that the main objective is to return to safe harbor: "You're never immune to any worries. I will try to keep everything in one piece and continue to pull my head out of the noose," says the top-ranked woman in the intermediate rankings, which the organizers expect her to finish between 22 and 24 January. Provided her boat is spared a major defect, she will arrive there ahead of her compatriots Alan Roura and Oliver Heer.
