Young Quebec sailor, 17, aims to challenge gender stereotypes in sailing

“We’re used to spending a day on the water and then coming back to the marina at night,” she said. “This time, we’ll be racing for more than 24 hours straight.”

The teenager from Thurso, a town east of Gatineau in western Quebec, never expected sailing to become such a big part of her life.

She discovered the sport almost by chance after enrolling in Femina Jeunesse, a Quebec program that offers free sailing training each year to girls between the ages of 15 and 17.

“My parents only found out afterward that they’d have to drive me to Quebec City four weekends in a row for sailing lessons,” she said with a laugh. “They weren’t very happy at first, but when they see what I’ve been able to accomplish now, it was worth it.”

Without the program, she believes she might never have stepped into a sailing school.

“It’s something you watch other people do, but having the confidence to try it yourself when you didn’t grow up around it is something else.”

Pernot was introduced to mentor Daniel Bérubé through the sailing school where she trained. She credits him with helping turn an ambitious idea into reality.

“I had this crazy idea of doing this race. It was just a crazy idea, and he’s the one who made it possible.”

Bérubé will serve as her second-in-command and tactician during the race, advising on wind patterns and currents. He will also be the only man aboard.

The rest of Pernot’s crew is made up entirely of women, including a fellow Femina Jeunesse graduate, her best friend, a sailor she has often raced against, a friend she met while sailing in Bermuda, and Bérubé’s partner.

“I’ve had people congratulate me for having so many women on my crew,” said Pernot, who will be one of only three women skippers on the starting line.

Although it will be her first time serving as skipper in a race of this scale, Pernot has already sailed extensively, including in the Caribbean.

Those experiences, she said, exposed her to persistent gender stereotypes in sailing.

“I’ve met people in the sailing world, and unfortunately it’s still not uncommon for the men to do the sailing while the women are just there to cook and take pictures,” she said.

“When that works for both people, that’s great, but I’ve often seen women who felt stuck in that role, who wanted to learn and know as much as their boyfriend.”

She said it’s still common in racing for women to serve as crew while men take the helm as skipper.

“I know a lot of women who don’t dare step forward. I want to show that we’re all capable. Our gender isn’t what’s going to stop us from doing this.”

Pernot noted that sailing is one of the few Olympic sports where men and women compete directly against one another in mixed events.

She also believes attitudes are changing, thanks in part to high-profile sailors such as Justine Mettraux, the fastest woman in the 2024-25 Vendée Globe, and Violette Dorange, the youngest finisher in the around-the-world race.

After completing the St-Laurent 400, Pernot will begin marine transportation studies this fall at the Institut maritime du Québec in Rimouski, on the province’s Lower St. Lawrence coast.

Her next goal is the Caribbean 600, a 600-nautical-mile offshore race that circles 11 Caribbean islands.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2026.

Audrey Sanikopoulos, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Young Quebec sailor, 17, aims to challenge gender stereotypes in sailing

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