PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday13th June 2006

Back in France.

Scarcely 3 days after Raphaëla stepped onto land, she is already back in France. Having landed yesterday morning at dawn, the Breton lady was welcomed back at the headquarters of the SUEZ group for a press conference organized in her honour.

During this event, Raphaëla was warmly congratulated by Mr. Gérard Mestrallet, the CEO of SUEZ and by Mr. Patrick Le Lay, the CEO of the French television channel TF1. They enthusiastically paid homage to her tenacity and her humility.

Photo credits: Jean-François Deroubaix/GAMMA/SUEZ - From left to right:
Marie-Claire Restoux, Patrick Le Lay, Gérard Mestrallet, Raphaëla le Gouvello, Brigitte Girardin, François Baroin.

Also present were Mrs. Brigitte Girardin, the Minister delegated to Cooperation, Development and the French-speaking World and Mr. François Baroin, the Minister for French Overseas Territories, who expressed their admiration at the courage and determination that Raphaëla showed during this richly human adventure. It had begun in Australia on 9th April, to finish 60 days later on Thursday 8th June on the soil of the French department of Reunion Island, in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
On the oceanic continent side, the Australians gave her a sincere warm welcome, astonished by this out-of-the-ordinary "Frenchie". On the other side of the Indian Ocean, on Reunion Island, it will be hard to forget Raphaëla's bright smiling face turned towards the islanders as she was towed by the French navy into the waters of the town of Le Port, standing on her surfboard. These same Reunion Islanders gave the sportswoman a hero's welcome.

During this press conference, twelve pupils from Gabriel Péri de Bezons secondary school were also present. This was a reward for these teenagers, who had met the lady windsurfer at the last Boat Show, in the context of a "Sailing in the Suburbs" operation. They were her supporters throughout the crossing, using the special teaching kit, put on-line with the help of "Lyonnaise des Eaux". www.respectocean.com

FINAL CURTAIN FOR RAPHAELA: She is slowly turning the page after 3 transoceanic crossings and 11 000 nautical miles covered (over 20 000 km solo) around the planet.
This particularly dangerous crossing of the Indian Ocean will remain forever etched in Raphaëla's memory. This novel venture, windsurfing solo for 60 days, 2 hours and 1 minute, was marked by the fickle nature of an unpredictable Indian Ocean, putting pressure on Raphaëla almost daily.

After a year and a half's meticulous preparation, during which all the technical, logistical and human aspects had been studied and analysed, Raphaëla and her team can appreciate the ground covered. This undertaking has been a success mainly because our sponsors and technical partners put their trust in us well before the project took shape. Their support and presence throughout the past 18 months enabled us to optimize the preparation for an extraordinary venture, with nothing being left to chance. 

From now on, Raphaëla is looking towards new horizons, with lots of ideas for projects.