Miranda Merron, French Campaign
49 years old, Miranda is not at her first try since this will be her 3rd year in the business e participation in the Route du Rhum euros Destination Guadeloupe. After a first campaign in 2002 in IMOCA and then in 2014 in Class40) euros that ended with a Top 8 euros the 49-year-old Briton returns in 2018 on Campagne de France.
"This year, I will once again try to do my best. Leave as many guys and girls behind as possible. It won't be easy because everyone starts with the same idea and the level of the fleet, for this anniversary edition, is extremely high?. But I'm leaving serene despite everything."
Even though a top 10 finish will be a great performance considering the level of the field, Miranda is not setting any goals. "It's always difficult."
However, she can boast of a fine record in ocean racing: a Volvo Ocean Race, four Transat Jacques Vabre, a record for the round-the-British Isles race set in 2009 and three solo transatlantic races.
Claire Pruvot, Civic Service
The 41-year-old sailor learned her trade on the Olympic circuit. After ten years of high-level Match-Racing with two World Championship titles in 2002 and 2008, then an Olympic preparation alongside Claire Leroy, she then turned to the Figaro-Bénéteau, for four seasons. In 2014, she suffered a stroke and more or less gave up solo sailing to regain her confidence "After this accident, it was hard to come back. I wanted to race longer, double-handed or with a crew, to regain my confidence".
She then launched herself in Class40, thanks to the help of Louis Duc. The two Normandy sailors went on to win several races, until the young woman bought her own boat in 2017. "The Route du Rhum is a race I wanted to do and Class40 is booming. The sporting level is really interesting, especially now." underlines Claire who will start on board of the Akilaria RC2 with which Thierry Bouchard disputed the last two editions of the race, in 2010 and 2014 (a Lombard plan of 2009).
"I would like to finish in the Top 15. My past, and in particular my years in the Figaro, mean that I have a notion of competition. This is one of the elements that motivated me to race the Rhum. I'm not just here to cross the Atlantic
Morgane Urssault-Poupon, Fleury Michon Organic
The young sailor has sailing in her blood. The year she was born, 1986, her father Philippe Poupon won the Route du Rhum. 32 years later, she tackled her first transatlantic race. "For me, it is the beginning of a great adventure. A sort of test event before, I hope, many others during the next three years in particular."
Indeed, Morgane is starting on the Class40 circuit and has never raced before.
"I have no ambition to win. My goal is above all to arrive on the other side after having fought to the maximum, without breaking or hurting myself. Indeed, we must not make a mistake in our objective. Facing me, I will find skippers with many years of experience on the support."
Even if she has never raced, she has nevertheless a solid record of offshore sailing aboard the family sailboat "Fleur Australe" or aboard a 20-meter touring sailboat which she co-skippered for the last four years in Antarctica. She has sailed no less than 50,000 miles around the world and crossed Cape Horn a dozen times.
"Now I'm going to leave the deep south and the cruises behind, and enjoy my new boat to the fullest" the skipper will set off aboard a Roger design launched in 2007 and with which Tanguy De Lamotte and Arnaud Boissières also took part in the Route du Rhum. After a complete overhaul in 2015, the sailor hopes to get the most out of it.
