Mettraux makes history
Swiss skipper Justine Mettraux crossed the finish line of the Vendée Globe Saturday 25 January at 1338 hrs (UTC) to secure eighth place in a time of 76 days, 01 hour, 36 minutes, 52 seconds.
Photography by LloydImages / Alea
28 January 2025
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Justine Mettraux is the first female to finish and the top international skipper to finish. Showing her tenacity and coolness under pressure, she only just managed to hold off the fast-advancing Sam Goodchild after she tore her mainsail during her final night at sea.
Deeply reefed she could only make a handful of knots but managed to slide across the finish line to secure her eighth with the British skipper only six miles behind her.
Mettraux’s race has been impressive at every stage right to the finish line. And just as on her climb through the various offshore and ocean racing stages she has peaked at the right time on this Vendée Globe, so too the 38-year-old from Geneva has always been attacking, going forwards and taking placed in the fleet since the Pacific all the way almost until Cape Finisterre.
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Along the way the skipper of TeamWork – Team Snef becomes the top non-French, international skipper and the top female finisher.
She is now also the fastest ever female solo monohull sailor round the world, beating Clarisse Crémer’s 2020-21 record (87 days, 2 hours) by 12 days. Such accolades do not generally hold much store for Mettraux who prefers simply to measure herself against the best in the class.
Mettraux said of the race, “I always feel like I’m progressing and learning. I enjoyed the descent of the Atlantic and even the Southern Oceans. I felt quite comfortable, and I think I was managing my boat well and my strategy well.”
Eighth in this toughest ever IMOCA fleet is a major accomplishment for a skipper who, although she has the best part of three crewed races round the world to her credit – including winning the last The Ocean Race – really only started solo IMOCA sailing two years ago when her long time sponsors TeamWork purchased the former Charal from Jérémie Beyou, whose BeYou team help manage the program.
Mettraux impresses all her co-skippers, fellow crew and peers for her capacity to work tirelessly at a very high level, almost ‘metronomic’ in her ability to keep on top of all the tasks required to make her IMOCA go fast. Strong, fit with a sharp brain and strong meteo strategy skills, Mettraux has often made her own calls which have paid off whilst at the same time keeping risks low.
True to her quiet, composed battling temperament, the Swiss sailor held on until the end. In the ‘top 10’ during the descent of the Atlantic, battling with Boris Herrmann, Clarisse Crémer, Samantha Davies and Benjamin Dutreux in the Indian Ocean, she managed to break away with the German sailor and catch up nearly 1000 miles to get into the group ahead of her into the Pacific.
By working hard to never give up, she managed to overcome her small technical damages – J0 problem, engine problem – to get into the ‘Top 10’ and hang on there.
After finishing, Beyou remarked “Justine is a truly golden sailor, what she has done is incredible.”
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