Countdown to Vendee Globe

The eighth Vendée Globe, the only non-stop solo round the world race without assistance, will set off from Les Sables d’Olonne on France’s Atlantic seaboard on November 6. Sailed in the IMOCA 60, 30 sailors have signed up for this eighth edition, of whom 28 have already qualified.

The fleet of participants is stronger than ever, since there are some 28 skippers that are registered and qualified, whilst ‘just’ 20 sailors took the start in 2012. The record for participants was the 2008 race when there were 30 skippers at the start.

The 28 sailors will represent a total of four out of the five continents and ten different nations: France (19), Spain (1), Hungary (1), United States (1), England (1), Switzerland (1), Holland (1), Japan (1), New Zealand (1) and Ireland (1).

Two other sailors have also applied to enter, but have yet to secure their budget and their qualification: Jean Le Cam and Jean-François Pellet of France.

There are 14 sailors who will start this planetary race for the first time: Morgan Lagravière (Safran), Paul Meilhat (SMA), Sébastien Destremau (FaceOcean), Eric Bellion (CommeUnSeulHomme), Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest-Matmut), Thomas Ruyant (Le Souffle du Nord pour le Projet Imagine), Didac Costa (ESP), Alan Roura (Un Vendée pour la Suisse), Stéphane Le Diraison (FRA), Pieter Heerema (No Way Back), Romain Attanasio (Famille Mary-Etamine), Kojiro Shiraishi (Spirit of Yukoh), Conrad Colman (100% Natural Energy) and Enda O’Coineen (Kilcullen Team Ireland).

Among the 14 repeat performers, the records are also set to tumble. Indeed, though there is just a single former winner of the Vendée Globe in the starting blocks – Vincent Riou (PRB, winner in 2004/2005) – some of the other candidates have also racked up a fair few miles.

Four of the skippers will be lining up for no less than their fourth time. Within this select group we have Vincent Riou, Jean-Pierre Dick (StMichel-Virbac), Bertrand de Broc (MACSF) and Briton Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss).

Six other sailors of repute will be setting sail on the Vendée Globe for the third time: Jérémie Beyou (Maître Coq), Sébastien Josse (Edmond de Rothschild), Kito de Pavant (Bastide-Otio), Nandor Fa (Spirit of Hungary), Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline) and finally Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire), whose track record speaks volumes with two second places in the last two editions of the Vendée Globe. Suffice to say that he will rank among the firm favourites.

Finally, four sailors will be lining up for the Everest of the Seas for the second time: Tanguy de Lamotte (Initiatives Coeur), Yann Eliès (Groupe Quéguiner), Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée) and American Rich Wilson (Great American IV).

With the 2016/2017 edition, all these repeat entries combined will amass a whopping forty-two participations in the Vendée Globe.

Race details – Facebook – VendeeGlobe TV

Source: Helena PAZ / Mer & Media agency