Over the last century only six men had defied the power of nature and successfully rowed across the Atlantic from west to east. Maud Fontenoy, a 2005 Time (Europe) Hero, changed that forever when she became the first woman to do so. In 2003 Fontenoy, a young woman and seasoned mariner, set out from Newfoundland in her twenty-four-foot-long boat, Pilot, to row across the North Atlantic. Her goal: to prove that a woman could do what men once believed to be impossible. It became a journey both far more harrowing than even she had imagined and one full of unexpected wonders. Her extraordinary story continues to inspire.

Translated by: Martin Sobolinsky
Foreword by: Gerard d'Aboville