Pamela Lee and Tiphaine Ragueneau land Transat Jacques Vabre sponsor

Cap pour Elles co-skipper Tiphaine Ragueneau land Transat Jacques Vabre sponsor © Transat Jacques Vabre

Ireland's Pamela Lee and French co-skipper Tiphaine Ragueneau, who together won the 'Cap pour Elles' program which gives a female duo the chance to race the Transat Jacques Vabre as their first Transatlantic race, have landed the support of a major partner ENGIE.

Lee (34 years old) and her French counterpart Tiphaine Ragueneau (30 years old) won the opportunity back in March and have been training, racing and preparing ever since. Even though they won the use of a competitive Class40 boat and are fully supported by the initiative, they were still lacking the final funding package to make sure they could compete.But now they will be able to race under the name of their boat: "ENGIE DFDS BRITTANY FERRIES"

The French industrial and energy group, ENGIE, will support Lee and Ragueneau, as they seek to complete the race from Le Havre to Martinique, as well as supporting the Cap pour Elles program to increase female participation and empower women in sailing."I am happy that ENGIE is supporting these two talented and determined young women in their transatlantic dream. All of our employees will be so proud to see the ENGIE colors flown by Pamela and Tiphaine in this legendary race. We wish them the very best of good luck!" says Claire Waysand, Deputy Managing Director of ENGIE and Vice-President of the ENGIE Foundation.

For the French company, this commitment is natural. ENGIE is a leader in the transition of energy, and are number one in wind and solar energy in France. But also ENGIE is particularly committed to women in the workplace and more broadly to diversity. The Group are actively working to ensure that women represent 50% of management by 2030.ENGIE's commitment now allows the Franco-Irish duo to approach the final weeks and days of their preparation with confidence prior to the race starting in Sunday 29thOctober.

ENGIE, title partner, are joined by the shipping companies Brittany Ferries and DFDS Seaways which also support their project. "These commitments, like the Cap pour Ellles program itself, demonstrates that by getting fully involved in the feminization of ocean racing and sport we can all share really exceptional adventures," highlights Gildas Gautier, Director General of the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre.

Now, the duo are very much into the final phase of their preparation. After an internship in August, in Normandy, they have stepped up the frequency and intensity of their training sails and 15 days ago, they took part in the 40' Malouine race before heading to Caen to carry out final boat work and make a few technical points more reliable"We have been working for several weeks to make sure we are experienced in as many conditions as possible so we are really properly ready for the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre," explains Lee who is from Greystones south of Dublin. "We are learning every day and are so grateful now to have ENGIE on board supporting us."

The duo have the support of two prestigious godmothers: international football referee Stéphanie Frappart and British sailor Sam Davies. The next key moment for project will be the christening of the boat, ENGIE DFDS BRITTANY FERRIES, on Monday October 23 at 2 p.m. in the Paul Vatine basin in Le Havre.

They said:

Pamela Lee: "ENGIE's support is particularly valuable. It allows us to approach our final preparation calmly and carefully. We know that ENGIE is very involved in diversity and feminization and we are proud to carry the colors of this company on our sails. For our part, thanks to their support, we can focus on achieving a sports performance as well as taking care of reliability and the technical aspects. We have been working for several weeks to sail in as many conditions as possible to be ready for the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre."

Tiphaine Ragueneau: "I am very happy that we have partners who are joining us in the adventure. We are fortunate to have had three companies join us, ENGIE, Brittany Ferries and DFDS Seaways. I am excited at the idea of wearing the colors of ENGIE. For our part, this support allows us to be relieved about the viability of our project. From a sporting point of view, we see throughout the navigations and competitions that we are making a lot of progress. It's gone particularly satisfying to continue to take on the challenges one by one... We have a lot of fun!"