In early May of this year Spain’s Aina Bauza and her French co-skipper Axelle Pillain began preparing their Class 40 'Grand Rhino' for the Transat Café l'Or (formerly the Transat Jacques Vabre) double-handed transatlantic race between Le Havre, France and the Caribbean island of Martinique, beginning this October 26.
In March 2024 the project – led by Bauza, 29 – was awarded the prestigious 'Cap Pour Elles' 2025 scholarship for a place in the 17th edition of the classic race, which is one of the most demanding transatlantic races on the Class 40 regatta schedule.
The team – initially created by Bauza and French/Polish sailor Caroline Boule – won out over several other top quality entries after the jury recognized their talent, determination, and track record in ocean sailing.
This initiative, promoted by the Transat Café l'Or organisation, seeks to provide financial and sporting support to women in offshore racing. This represents a significant opportunity, as only two women are selected each year to receive this support to compete in one of the world’s most demanding regattas.
In April this year Boule announced to the Transat Café l'Or organisation that she had to leave the project for personal reasons. French sailor Pillain 34, another candidate in the program, was chosen as her replacement to race alongside Bauza.
"It was a phone call from Aina that changed everything for me,” Pillain explained. “She suggested we have a coffee in Lorient, I didn't really know why. In my head, I had put the Transat aside for a while and was looking to join a team to work as an engineer. She suggested I form a new duo with her, and here I am."
Both Aina and Axelle come from the Mini class and have solid experience in offshore racing.
"It's very important that Axelle also applied for the 'Cap pour Elles' project,” Aina says. “She knows big boats and has a lot of experience. Her engineering background is an asset, because I have a tendency to break electronic devices! Everything is there to form a good crew and to be successful on a good transatlantic crossing, doing a good race."
Nevertheless, the pair still have a long way to go in terms of training and preparation, and – in particular – sponsorship, as the scholarship only funds 35 per cent of the project.
Bauza – from the Puerto de Andratx Sailing Club – has been sailing since she was nine years old. In March of 2024, the sailor from the Puerto de Andratx Sailing Club set a milestone by setting a new singlehanded transatlantic record between Cádiz, Spain and San Salvador in the Bahamas, aboard a 6.5-metre Mini 650 monohull. She became the first person in Spain to set a world record for single-handed sailing without stops or assistance, after completing 4,800 nautical miles (8,800 kilometers) across the Atlantic in 30 days, 22 hours, and 34 minutes.
Bauza holds a university degree in Nautical Science and Maritime Transport and a master's degree in nautical engineering. She was part of the Spanish pre-Olympic team from 2011 to 2019, before switching disciplines to offshore racing in the Mini 650 class, and finished fourth in the 2021 Offshore Double Handed World Championship.
French sailor Axelle Pillain began sailing in dinghies near her hometown of Brest in the west of France when she was just six years old. However, it was only after she finished a successful career as a gymnast that she took up offshore racing – including participating in the 2019 Mini Transat.
In 2019 after completing her PhD in applied mathematics for brain imaging Pillain traded her medical school place to pursue a career in professional sailing. She has since become well known on the French ocean racing scene doing technical navigation on maxi trimarans like Spindrift and IMOCAs such as CORUM L’Épargne before joining Team Malizia for her first participation in The Ocean Race in 2023.
For Bauza and Pillain the priority has been to find a good boat. Together with their team leader, Anne Combier, they secured Grand Rhino – a David Raison model launched in 2022 – on which they are already training intensively.
The pair will compete in the Rolex Fastnet Race – starting July 26 from Cowes on the Isle of Wight and finishing in Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, France.
Their final regatta before the Transat Café l'Or will be this September at the 40 Malouine – a coastal race for Class 40s that is part of the French offshore sailing circuit. A month later, the moment of truth will arrive for both of them as they line up for the start of their transatlantic Transat Café l'Or adventure.
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