Sailing: a 100% female crew from Occitanie on the Women leading and Sailing

Une deuxième place au classement général du trophée national féminin en 2023. occitania sailing team

Huit filles de la région participent à partir du 9 et 10 mars à Nantes, au trophée national féminin avec pour ambition de gagner l'édition 2024. 

Second in 2023 even though they did not participate in all stages of the Women Leading & Sailing, the national women's sailing trophy, their goal is to win this year by participating in five events.

They are the eight teammates of the Occitania Sailing team, an association under the 1901 law whose purpose is the development of the sporting practice of sailing for women. Valentine lauret (graduated from La Grande-Motte), Clara Lemaire (student in Montpellier), Doris Wetzel (Palavas), Coline Bouveret (Marseillan), Ana Yun (Toulouse), Sabine Lachenal (La Grande-Motte), Caroline Roullier (Marseillan ) were brought together under the leadership of Lisa Spiller (Marseillan).

"I am from Montpellier, I grew up on the edge of the Etang de Thau, my father had a shipyard. I have always been passionate about sailing, I worked in the nautical industry for fifteen years which I left two years ago. A time when I went back to sailing on a family boat in Greece. I realized that I needed it and that’s what I was missing", explains the woman behind the project.

Under the leadership of Lisa Spiller 

She dove again when she met a female crew on the Thau pond and regained her taste for regattas. "It’was on a Surprise and there were a lot of memories brought back. I was given the bar and tactics, it was exhilarating."

Lisa Spiller then participated in the Inshore Occitanie System set up by the Sailing League which allows match racing training under the advice of François Verdier and Damien Iehl. It’s there that she meets Sabine and Doris and they decide to participate in a round of the national women’s sailing trophy, the Women Leading & Sailing. In the meantime, other girls have been added to the team because there must be five in each team.

"For our first participation, in Pornichet, we took 7th place which was not a bad result. This motivated us and other girls joined the project ", says the one who considers herself a girl from the pond.

Looking for partners

And from their second participation, the girls experienced success winning the Antibes round then that of La Rochelle. In the final of the national trophy, the Occitania Sailing team took second place. An encouraging performance for the desire to develop.

"We want to participate in five stages (out of twelve including the first this weekend in Nantes, Editor's note) < em>in 2024. For this, we need partners even if our second place in 2023 paid us the commitment for a round", wishes Lisa Spiller.

A stopover in Palavas on May 4 and 5

Also knowing that there will be a stage in Palavas on May 4 and 5. "It will be on Elliott because that's the specificity of the WLS where everyone participates with the same boat (J80, J70, FC75,). So it’s the quality at the helm and the strategic choices that make the difference." 

Complementary, the girls from Occitanie all continue their own projects in parallel even if they see further with the Tour Voile or a Transat Jaqcques-Vabre.
 

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