Sophie Faguet is about to tackle her first Route du Rhum, and she is doing it the only way she knows how. Flat out.
The Le Havre sailor lines up on Grand Rhino for the solo transatlantic classic, one of ocean racing's most mythical tests, after six years building a professional offshore career from scratch. Her message heading into the race is simple: give everything, hold nothing back.
"I don't really know how to do things any other way than flat out," she says.
Faguet's connection to the sea started early, through swimming, before sailing took over during her school years in Granville. What began as Wednesday afternoon sessions grew into weekends, then entire school holidays, until sailing consumed everything. She steered her studies toward coaching, working through the Société des Régates du Havre and testing herself across fleet racing, offshore racing and match racing along the way.
"My strength is my versatility," she says. Six years into full-time offshore racing, she moved from working on other people's campaigns to running her own, one that she says reflects her own values. Her first transatlantic races came in 2023.
As the start approaches, impatience is winning out over nerves. She is eager to share the village atmosphere with her two partner associations, her sponsors and her supporters, even as she juggles the final jobs before casting off.
This will be her first solo crossing, and she admits there is apprehension about what she cannot control. But she wants to enjoy it, defend her position, and above all not let down the people behind the project.
Her physical preparation has shifted with the calendar. An intense block in the first three months of the year built what she calls Olympic-level fitness. Travel and racing then took over, and time on the water replaced time in the gym. A month out, she has brought in a personal coach to settle into a steady rhythm before the start.
Mental preparation matters just as much. She leans on conversations with sponsors to stay grounded, and will not hesitate to call on a mental performance specialist she worked with in 2025 if the pressure builds.
Sportingly, she is wary of ranking herself against a fleet of 49 that, for the first time, will be racing together in full. It is also her first solo crossing on this particular boat.
Still, she trusts Grand Rhino. "I still believe it is very competitive and I have absolute confidence in our ability to see this through," she says, pointing to a strong recent result at the Drheam Cup as proof.
Her closing word is gratitude, for Ellye and L'Arche in France, and for sponsors who knew nothing about competitive sailing when they first signed on three seasons ago but have since been won over.
She promises them everything she has got. There are, she says, bigger challenges still to come.
