Article from Sail World...

Atlantic,Pacific, now Indian Ocean on a Sailboard

French adventurer Skipper Raphaela LeGouvello will attempt the Indian Ocean crossing on a sailboard, solo and non-assisted, departing from Exmouth on 5 April 2006. She is coming to Fremantle Sailing Club for her final preparation as well as fulfilling PR commitments from 14-25 March.
The Sailboard arrived at the Fremantle Sailing Club on Tuesday 7 March and after being unpacked it will be launched on Wednesday, the sailboard will be located near the Soling/Fishing Crane for members and journalists viewing.

Information on Raphaëla le Gouvello.

Raphaëla le Gouvello discovered windsurfing with her family in 1976 and has been an adept ever since. The call of the open sea was immediate for her and the idea of crossing the Atlantic became more and more important. In 2000 she took 58 days to complete the challenge which she had taken so much time to think about and prepare for.

Raphaëla is a woman with a passion; three extreme adventures, the Atlantic in 2000, the Mediterranean in 2002 and the Pacific in 2003; three previously unaccomplished, authentic exploits.


by Sebastien Destremau

Oh come on.
Is it really a windsurfer?
I mean, to me it looks more like yacht where you have to hold up the mast yourself.

I'm not taking anything away from the bravery and determination of this lady but I would rather windsurfing be associated around the world with high speed/big jumps/giant waves etc.
Not pootling at .5 knots being sucked along by ocean currents.

7.80 m long and weighing 550 kg, six sails from 4.2 to 7.4 square metres.

It'd be a bitch carrying it to the water - and my mate used to complain about his tyronsea 360.

Guess she'd be damn good at rigging and not dropping anything over the side. Seems like she would derig at night, pretty weird thing though dosent look all that stable and just drifting of a night time there must be the possibility of some capsizes.

Here is an old article with some postage stamp sized pics:
http://www.dasurf.com/news.asp?news_id=42

why a board instead of a boat... she'd hardly be famous doing it with a boat.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,18860517-29277,00.html

or

Solo windsurfer reports illness
From: AAP By Liza Kappelle
April 19, 2006
TEN days into her bid to windsurf solo across the Indian Ocean, French woman Raphaela le Gouvello was battling severe seasickness.
But the veteran 45-year-old windsurfer was still covering about 110km a day on her 6300km voyage from Western Australia to the French island of Reunion, off Mauritius.
A French team which has been monitoring her progress since she set off from Exmouth on April 9, said the aquaculture veterinarian was continuing her journey "come what may".
"In spite of her persistent seasickness, causing burning stomach ache and seriously weakening her, the lady windsurfer is bravely eating up the nautical miles," the team said.
In a daily phone call, Ms Gouvello reported suffering from vomiting and stomach ache for two days, and being unable to eat.
But doctors following her progress expected she would begin to recover within about 24 hours, her team said.

Ms Gouvello told her team: "I had to stop very early today because the wind was getting up.
"I didn't feel I could face it. Once I had stowed everything away, the wind and the sea calmed down! I have to build up my reserves."
It is not the first time Ms Gouvello has suffered on a windsurfing journey, having had a similar experience while crossing the Pacific in 2003.
Before she left Australia, Ms Gouvello said that on a previous crossing, she fell off, panicked and had to be rescued.
But she said the French navy was following the crossing and the route was also close to shipping routes.
The Frenchwoman expects to take about 75 days for the epic crossing - from Exmouth, 1250km north of Perth, to Reunion Island.
The attempt is her fourth and follows successful crossings of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
She is windsurfing the distance aboard a modified sailboard which measures 7.8m by 1.3m and includes a cabin for sleeping.
Her aim is to stand on her board and sail during the day taking just 15 minutes break every two hours.
At night she battens down the craft and drifts with the ocean currents.

I'll be most impressed when she performs a forward loop on that thing.