Elodie Bonafous danced on her IMOCA's deck to Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire" as her shore team tied up the boat in Guadeloupe. She had every reason to celebrate. Third place, after a tense final night fending off Sam Goodchild, who had his own eye on the podium.
Microphone in hand, she noted that it is the best result by a woman in a solo transatlantic race since Ellen MacArthur, Bonafous's childhood idol.
"It's just incredible what I've experienced, I never imagined it even in my wildest dreams," she said. "In Saint-Malo, I was dreaming of a top five, and here we are a notch above that, it's a waking dream. The end of the race wasn't exactly fun, but it makes this podium even sweeter, because arriving just ahead of Sam Goodchild in Guadeloupe is incredible. We have the same boat and I'd never beaten him before. That's a huge source of pride."
"When I crossed the line I was in tears, exhausted, mentally drained, because right up until the end I didn't know if I was going to hold on. I had a 60-mile margin at the finish. I knew it was going to be tricky, but not to that extent. I stopped several times for long stretches. Last night, at times I couldn't make sense of anything, with these monstrous peaks blocking the wind. I promised myself I'd hike to the top of La Soufrière if it let me get ahead of Sam. And I'll keep that promise."
"I'd focused on one scenario, and when that trough closed in front of us, I hadn't thought through a plan B. Thankfully only one boat got caught in it, not several. I think I'll be booking in with my mental coach pretty quickly, because this race is like all the others, by day eight I hit a wall. That happened when we went through the tropical depression, with all the storms and uncertainty. My capacity to adapt was too limited to deal with the problem, I lost it completely, but I managed to reset and get going again. I've still got plenty to learn, but I felt in tune with the boat, like my eye was always where it needed to be."
"This was my very first solo transatlantic race. Yes, I'm incredibly proud, because as far as I know, Ellen MacArthur is the only other woman to have stood on an IMOCA podium. And Ellen is my idol. When I used to watch the podiums with Tom, Corentin and Basile, it felt like children ending up where the people they admired once stood. I hope this inspires young women to take on projects and go for it."
