Francesca Clapcich leads the IMOCA Globe Series standings heading into her first Route du Rhum, but the Italian-American skipper is adamant the ranking was never the plan.
"It's absolutely not something I was targeting this season," she said. "I would never have imagined finding myself in this position. It mostly reflects the incredible work done by my team, who have put everything into this year. We've raced one event after another and the boat has proven reliable. We've finished every race we've entered so far."
Clapcich, 37, arrives at Saint-Malo with a résumé most offshore sailors would envy: two Olympic Games, two crewed round-the-world races, and a win with 11th Hour Racing in The Ocean Race 2022-2023. She also represented the United States at the Women's America's Cup in 2024.
Now she's 11th Hour Racing's number one skipper, sailing the former Malizia, a VPLP design launched in 2022. Results have followed: second in the Transat Café L'Or with Will Harris last year, fifth in the solo Vendée Arctique this season, then second in The Ocean Race with a full crew.
A top-five finish in Guadeloupe looks within reach.
On what the race means to her this time, she's clear: "I want to make this race the main focus of my season. The goal is to put into practice everything I've learned so far, to try to deliver a really strong performance and then see how things unfold. I don't feel a huge amount of pressure. I know the boat is very reliable and can be seriously fast in the right conditions. That said, this is still my first Route du Rhum and I don't have the experience some other skippers have. But I know I can do well."
Preparation hasn't been straightforward. Clapcich splits her time between a home in Utah and training in Brittany, and she's a mother to a young daughter.
"I would have liked to train a bit more than I did. It's hard to balance everything in life. It's even harder when you have a child and want to spend time with them, without missing the milestones. You have to make choices. Even though we raced a lot this year, we trained relatively little. That said, I feel pretty well prepared mentally. I'm ready to start and do my best."
Her biggest gain this season, she says, has been boat knowledge. "I know how it reacts, which settings to use, even which sails I need at any given moment. I'm certainly not the best when it comes to strategy, but I'm convinced I can get 100 percent out of the boat, and that gives me enormous confidence. I did a solo training session a few weeks ago in the United States. There were other boats around me with full crews, and they couldn't pull away from me."
Her boat is known for handling rough conditions well. So does she want heavy weather to make a difference?
"I'll take the conditions as they come. But stronger, tougher conditions can cut both ways. They might suit my boat, sure, but the risk of breaking something goes up too. I'm not going to put myself in difficult conditions just because my boat handles them better. Before you can win races, you have to finish them."
Has she closed the gap on the favourites?
"It's hard to know, because it all comes down to a combination of so many factors. Their boats are always perfectly prepared. Sam Goodchild (Macif Santé Prévoyance) is an exceptional skipper and I think it's hard to reach that level. You can feel the way the fleet sails has changed. Now everyone's going full tilt. And it's ruthless: if you can't keep the pace, you fall back fast."
Clapcich is heavily involved off the water too, running youth meetups, instructor training, and workshops. Asked whether that keeps her going through tough moments at sea, she doesn't hesitate.
"Yes, of course. It's very easy to give up when you're fighting alone. The moment you step outside your comfort zone, the moment things get harder, you're tempted to let go. But you realise your responsibility when you see everyone invested in the project around you. For them, you can't give up, you have to see it through. It's an enormous source of motivation. And it's a powerful feeling to know you're carrying all that energy too."
