Isabelle Autissier born 18 October is a French sailor, navigator, writer, and broadcaster. She is celebrated for being the first woman to have completed a solo world navigation in competition BOC Challenge β She discovered sailing in Brittany from the age of six when her father, architect Jean Autissier, taught her and her sisters how to sail. In , she carried out research on langoustines and large crustaceans. Also in , she finished 7th in The BOC Challenge , thereby becoming the first woman to race competitively around-the-world solo.
It was this success that prompted her to give up teaching to devote herself entirely to racing. This means the boat design is regulated by measurement and safety rules, but, as long as those rules are respected, designers have considerable freedom.
However, she set off again to finish the course out of the competition. With competitors facing extremely difficult conditions, Autissier turned around in the middle of a storm, along with other competitors, to try to find Gerry Roufs , whose Argos beacon had stopped emitting. The searchers were unable to find him and Roufs disappeared at sea in his boat, Groupe LG 2 in January She arrived four days after the winner.
The Italian skipper Giovanni Soldini came to her rescue. This accident may have accelerated Autissier's decision to give up solo racing. She nevertheless continued to compete in crewed races. Isabelle Autissier has also turned to writing. She has produced several stories and essays, as well as an opera libretto, Homo Loquax. I n , Isabelle Autissier published the novel Seule la mer s'en souviendra Only the sea will remember" , the story of a deception at sea inspired by a real event β the Donald Crowhurst case in She also presented on France Inter the program, In extremis, during the summer.
The show ended in This biographical article related to sailing in France is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. French sailor. Childhood and early career [ edit ]. Sailing career [ edit ]. Writing career and other activities [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. Bibliography [ edit ].
