Isabelle Autissier Biography - Passion For The Sea, Around The World, Capsized, Averting Disaster—again, Chronology, Awards And Accomplishments
racer yacht woman sailing
1956-
French yacht racer
During a decade of competitive marathon sailing, Isabelle Autissier demonstrated nearly supernatural sailing prowess and unmitigated bad luck. She is the first woman to sail around the world alone and she piloted a yacht from New York to San Francisco by way of Cape Horn in world-record time. She also capsized and barely eluded death—twice—in violent, remote seas near Antarctica. Autissier retired from the sport as a national heroine in her native France and is widely regarded as the best woman ocean racer ever. "When you get down to it," Cruising World magazine concluded, "there is no one else on the planet like Isabelle Autissier."
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Autissier grew up in a sailing family in the French coastal town of LaRochelle. Her father, Jean, owned a succession of cruising boats and encouraged his five daughters to sail. Isabelle began sailing when she was six years old and started planning her first solo voyage around the world when she was twelve. "As a child, I was never told that something was impossible," she once told t…
Autissier entered the 1990-91 running of the BOC around-the-world yacht race, the first woman to compete in the contest. The grueling race, which has been renamed Around Alone, is run every four years and requires sailors to travel 27,000 miles over eight months. It begins and ends on the East Coast of the United States, with stops in South Africa, Australia, and Uruguay. During the second leg of …
Nineteen yachts raced in a southerly direction from Charleston, South Carolina, at the start of the 1994-95 Around Alone Race—and Isabelle Autissier, following a hunch about Atlantic weather patterns, sailed north and east. Her instincts were correct. Autissier easily triurnphed in the first leg of the race, arriving in Cape Town, South Africa, five days before her nearest competitor. Race …
Two years later, Autissier entered the Around Alone for the third time. She was leading the race in its third leg when—halfway between New Zealand and Cape Horn—a huge wave hit PRB and caused its autopilot to malfunction. The boat capsized. She had only enough time to slam the waterproof hatch behind her to prevent the cabin from flooding. Autissier activated her emergency beacons, b…
Fisher, Bob. "Sailing: French Leader Saved by Rival." Guardian (London, England) (February 17, 1999). Gorman, Edward. "Autissier Pays Tribute to Rescuer Soldini." The Times (London, England) (March 4, 1999). Gorman, Edward. "Race Rival Turns Back to Rescue Stricken Sailor." The Times (London, England) (February 17, 1999). Gorman, Edward. "Autissier …
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User Comments
over 1 year ago
Naomi James was the first woman to sail around the world alone via the three capes not Isabelle Autissier.