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A historic first, not a speed record
In January 2026, Alexia Barrier and the seven female sailors of The Famous Project CIC completed a nonstop, unsupported circumnavigation of the globe aboard a maxi-trimaran. Their time: 57 days, 21 hours, and 20 minutes. While this performance did not allow them to break the all-time Jules Verne Trophy record, it marked a first for an all-female crew on this type of boat.
The distinction is important. The challenge wasn't simply a matter of going faster than the others. Above all, the goal was to successfully lead eight female sailors around the globe on one of the most demanding sailboats in ocean racing.
Because an Ultim isn?t sailed like a cruising yacht, or even like a racing monohull. The speed, the physical demands, the management of watches, and the conditions encountered in the South Seas all require rigorous organization. Simply completing such a race is already a considerable athletic achievement.
This is the story Alexia Barrier tells in The Firsts Forever , published by Glénat on October 14, 2026.
A beautiful book structured in three acts
The first impression is very favorable. The book features superb design and a particularly meticulous layout. The artwork complements the narrative and makes you want to flip through all 256 pages. But its appeal isn?t limited to its presentation. The story is structured in three parts, allowing the same adventure to be explored from different perspectives.
The first part is based on the logbook kept during the round-the-world voyage. It recounts the voyage as it unfolds, with its events, challenges, and the crew?s daily life. This is the time of action, even though it is deeply infused with sensations and emotions. The second part looks back on certain moments of the voyage with greater perspective. The notes and reflections written after returning home allow the author to revisit the experience, focus on specific episodes, and offer a different interpretation of them. Finally, the third part looks back in time to recount the project?s preparation. This retrospective sheds light on the stages leading up to departure, from the initial idea to its realization.
This structure is a bit disorienting because these three parts are intertwined. Rather than following a traditional chronological order, the book gradually reveals the different aspects of the journey: what happened at sea, what remained after arrival, and what had to be done to make the departure possible.
Eight female sailors and a collective success
That is probably the main lesson to be learned from reading this book. As the pages turn, it becomes clear that the success of The Famous Project rests on the strength of its crew and shore team. For nearly 58 days, eight women shared a confined space, an intense sailing schedule, and the challenges of a maxi-trimaran racing around the world. Under these conditions, performance cannot be solely an individual effort.
The ability to work together, take turns, make decisions, and keep the boat seaworthy becomes just as important as sheer speed. The project?s success is a testament to a crew capable of sustaining their efforts over the long term. The book succeeds in conveying this collective dimension. And that is undoubtedly where it is most compelling: it does not merely recount the adventure of a single skipper, but that of a group that managed to achieve a particularly ambitious goal.
Alexia Barrier, however, remains in the background
Alexia Barrier has a career path that deserves to be explored further. After several transatlantic races and a Vendée Globe that she completed in 2021, she chose to turn her attention to a team project on a multihull. It?s an interesting change of direction, both from a sporting and a personal standpoint. However, despite the pages devoted to sailing, reflections after her return, and the planning of the adventure, the reader ultimately learns very little new about the sailor herself.
We learn about the project, gauge the level of commitment required, and gain a better understanding of the team?s strength. But Alexia Barrier?s personality, her inner motivations, and what this experience truly meant to her remain less apparent. This isn?t necessarily a flaw in a story focused on a collective adventure. But since the book is written by the team captain, one might have hoped for a deeper understanding of the woman behind the project, beyond her athletic career and her ambitions.
A debut that's well worth a book
It would be unfair to judge this voyage solely by the stopwatch. The Famous Project did not set a new absolute record for sailing around the world, but the crew blazed a trail that had never before been taken in this way. And completing a nonstop circumnavigation on an Ultim is not within the reach of just any sailor, regardless of their track record.
That's what gives the title its full meaning The Firsts Forever . Timed performances are meant to be improved upon. One thing, however, will go down in history. With its highly successful graphic design and original narrative structure, the book offers an interesting account of this adventure. It leaves a mixed impression, though: that of having learned more about the crew than about the sailor who brought them together.
In the end, it isn't the in-depth portrait of Alexia Barrier that one might have expected. It is, above all, the story of a team of eight who achieved success. And this story deserves to be told.
Forever the First %E2euros%93 The Challenge of an All-Women's Round-the-World Trip
- Glénat Publishing
- Available in bookstores on October 14, 2026
- 17.5 × 24.8 cm
- 256 pages
- ?26.00
