Clare Francis

{{about|the author|the critic of scientific publications|Clare Francis (science critic)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Clare Francis

| image = Clare Francis.jpg

| caption = book signing in 2008

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|4|17|df=y}}

| birth_place = Thames Ditton, England

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| education = Royal Ballet School
University College London

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| occupation = writer

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| spouse = {{marriage|Jaques Robert Redon|1977|1986|end=div.}}

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| children = 1

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| website = https://www.clarefrancis.com/

}}

Clare Mary Francis {{small|MBE}} (born 17 April 1946) is a British novelist who in her first career as a yachtswoman has twice sailed across the Atlantic on her own. She was the first woman to captain a successful boat on the Whitbread Around the World race.

Early life

Francis was born in Thames Ditton in Surrey and spent summer holidays on the Isle of Wight, where she learned to sail. She was educated at the Royal Ballet School, then gained a degree in economics at University College London.

Sailing

In 1973, after working in marketing for three years, she took leave to sail singlehandedly across the Atlantic in the Nicholson 32 Gulliver G,{{cite web |title=Gulliver G |url=http://gulliverg.com/ |access-date=9 May 2022 |archive-date=9 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509091146/http://gulliverg.com/ |url-status=dead }} departing from Falmouth in Cornwall and arriving, 37 days later, at Newport, Rhode Island.Who's Who, 1986.{{Cite news|last=Poole|first=Shawna Crawford|date=7 January 1977|title=When the best moments are also some of the worst|page=9|work=The Times|url=https://archive.org/details/NewsUK1977UKEnglish/Jan%2007%201977%2C%20The%20Times%2C%20%2359902%2C%20UK%20%28en%29/page/n7/mode/2up?q=Hazel&view=theater}} Following this, she received sponsorship to take part in the 1974 Round Britain Race with Eve Bonham, again in Gulliver G. They finished in third place. In 1975, she took part in the Azores and Back and the L'Aurore singlehanded races; and, in 1976, she competed in the Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race in her Ohlson 38 yacht Robertson's Golly, finishing thirteenth overall and setting a new women's single-handed transatlantic record. She also took part in that year's L'Aurore singlehanded race. During 1977 and 1978, she became the first woman to skipper a yacht in the Whitbread Round the World Race, finishing in fifth place in her Swan 65 ADC Accutrac.{{cite web |url=http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/history/2_history_1977-1978.html |title=Volvo Ocean Race | History – 1977–1978 |accessdate=3 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408034900/http://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/history/2_history_1977-1978.html |archivedate=8 April 2014}}

Personal life

Francis married a draughtsman named Jacques Redon in 1977. He became a crew member on her yacht. They divorced in 1986. The marriage produced one child.{{cite book|author1=Jennifer S. Uglow|author2=Maggy Hendry|title=The Northeastern Dictionary of Women's Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zlQKDvU1WV0C&pg=PA210|year=1999|publisher=UPNE|isbn=978-1-55553-421-9|pages=210–}} Francis suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome and is a trustee of the UK charity Action for ME.[http://www.afme.org.uk/ Action for ME] homepage.

Writing

After writing three accounts of her sailing experiences, she turned to fiction and is the author of eight best-sellers.[http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/f/clare-francis/ Clare Francis] at fantasticfiction.co.uk.

Publications

=Fiction=

Ciel de nuit, 1983 ((en) Night Sky (1983)
Red Crystal (1985)
Wolf Winter (1987)
Requiem (1989)
The Killing Winds (1992)
Deceit (1993)
Liaison fatale, 2022 ((en) Betrayal (1995)
La maison de l'écluse, 2001 ((en) A Dark Devotion (1997)
Keep Me Close (1999)
A Death Divided (2001)
Homeland (2003)
Unforgotten (2008)

=Short stories=

"The Holiday" (2005), published in The Detection Collection, edited by Simon Brett.

=Non-fiction=

Woman Alone (1977)
Victoire océane – Une femme, une transat, un record , 1992 ((en) Come Hell Or High Water / Come Wind Or Weather (1979)
The Commanding Sea (1981)