At 17, Jasmine Pernot is youngest skipper in Quebec’s inaugural St-Laurent 400
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The Quebec teenager hopes to challenge gender stereotypes in offshore sailing, as CityNews Toronto first reported.
In the world of offshore sailing, the helm is more than a physical position; it is a seat of authority. For Jasmine Pernot, a 17-year-old from Thurso, Quebec, taking that seat in the inaugural St-Laurent 400 means stepping into a space where she is a statistical anomaly.
As CityNews Toronto first reported, Pernot is the youngest skipper entered in the 400-nautical-mile race. She is also one of only three women serving as skippers in the event, which begins Aug. 6 in Tadoussac and concludes in the Magdalen Islands. While the race represents a new format for Quebec—requiring crews to spend more than 24 consecutive hours at sea—for Pernot, the challenge is as much about social navigation as it is about wind and currents.
Pernot describes a sailing culture where gender stereotypes remain persistent. In interviews cited by CityNews Toronto, Pernot noted that it is still common to see women relegated to roles of cooking and photography while men handle the sailing. She observed that many women feel stuck in these roles, desiring the same knowledge as their male counterparts but lacking the confidence to step forward.
She admits that without Femina Jeunesse—a Quebec program providing free sailing training to girls aged 15 to 17—she likely would not have entered a sailing school. The program provided the initial spark, but the path to skipper required a leap of faith. Pernot credits mentor Daniel Bérubé for helping her realize what she called a "crazy idea" to enter the race. Bérubé will serve as her tactician and second-in-command, and notably, he will be the only man on a crew otherwise composed entirely of women.
Despite her youth, Pernot is not sailing blindly. She has extensive experience, including time spent in the Caribbean, where she encountered persistent gender stereotypes in sailing. Now, as she prepares to lead seven crew members through the Gulf of St. Lawrence, she wants to show other young women that they belong at the helm. Among those she names are Justine Mettraux, who set the fastest women’s time in the 2024-25 Vendée Globe, and Violette Dorange, the youngest finisher in the around-the-world race—examples, she says, that show women are breaking through.
For Pernot, the St-Laurent 400 is a stepping stone toward a professional life on the water. This fall, she will start a marine transportation program at the Institut maritime du Québec in Rimouski. Her sights are already set beyond the horizon, with the Caribbean 600—a 600-nautical-mile race circling 11 islands—as her next objective.
By claiming the helm now, Pernot is attempting to dismantle the idea that gender or age is a barrier to leadership. She hopes that by occupying that space, she makes it easier for the next girl to follow.