Maud Fontenoy (born 7 September 1977) is a French

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

known for her rowings across the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

(2003) and

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

(2005)

oceans The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic/Southern, and ...

Career

Most recently, Fontenay completed a sailing trip around the

Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...

alone, against

prevailing winds In meteorology, prevailing wind in a region of the Earth's surface is a surface wind that blows predominantly from a particular Wind direction, direction. The dominant winds are the trends in direction of wind with the highest speed over a partic ...

. Departing from

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

island on 15 October 2006, she crossed the finish line on 14 March 2007, having sailed for .However, this sailing trip is not accepted as an official sailing "around the globe". This has been made clear in the newsletter no. 128 by the

World Sailing Speed Record Council The World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) was founded in 1972, initially to ratify records at the inaugural Weymouth Speed Week held every year since in Portland Harbor.The WSSRC is the body authorized by the World Sailing (formerly Internat ...

, which states that "The WSSR Rule for Around the World - rule 26a - calls for a minimum orthodromic track distance of the vessel of at least 21,600 nautical miles (the distance of the

great circle In mathematics, a great circle or orthodrome is the circular intersection of a sphere and a plane passing through the sphere's center point. Discussion Any arc of a great circle is a geodesic of the sphere, so that great circles in spher ...

)
The Courses OffshoreWSSRC newsletter no 128 regarding Maud de Fontenoy
/ref> Fontenoy was named the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

’s

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) was established by resolution 2.31 adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It first met in Paris at ...

and the

World Ocean Network The World Ocean Network (Réseau Océan Mondial) is an international non-profit association of organizations to promote the sustainable use of the oceans. One of its motto is "Caring for the Blue Planet, you can make a difference!" It was establ ...

Spokesperson for the Ocean on 3 June 2009

Other activities

Vivendi Vivendi SE (stylized in all lowercase) is a French investment company headquartered in Paris. It currently wholly-owns Gameloft as well as a number of investments in several companies, primarily involved in content, entertainment, media, and t ...

, Member of the Board of Directors (since 2023)

Personal life

Fontenoy has five children: Mahé (with boyfriend Thomas Vollaire), Hina (with an unknown man), Loup (with boyfriend

Raphaël Enthoven Raphaël Enthoven (, ; born 9 November 1975) is a French philosophy teacher, radio host and television host. An '' agrégé'' who taught at Jean Moulin University Lyon 3 and Paris Diderot University, Enthoven is known to the French public for ho ...

), and Côme and Eléa (with husband Olivier Chartier).

Distinctions

* : National Order of Merit (12 July 2007)

Notes

References

External links

Official website

Maud Fontenoy Fondation, programmes pédagogiques sur les Océans et éducation à l'environnement
* Éducation à l'environnement {{DEFAULTSORT:Fontenoy, Maud 1977 births Living people French sailors Female sailors People from Meaux Knights of the Legion of Honour Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite