Vendée Globe remains on schedule

Published on June 8th, 2020

With five months to go to the start of the 2020-21 Vendée Globe, almost all of the competitors have relaunched their boats and restarted their preparation for the ultimate solo non-stop round the world race in the IMOCA 60 Class.

The start of the 9th Vendée Globe was confirmed to stay on schedule and occur on November 8th, off Sables d’Olonne, France. Since the closing of the registration nominations on November 1st, 35 candidates have set themselves up to be on the starting line. As it stands today 18 skippers are already officially registered.

“We promised to clarify the situation for the Vendée Globe fleet, partners and other bodies before 15th June and that has now been done,” said Yves Auvinet, President of the SAEM Vendée. “We are proud to have been able to maintain this sporting event and the start of the ninth edition on the 8th November. The race will take place and it looks highly likely that it will be one of the most breathtaking in the history of solo round the world racing. Our teams are working flat out to come to be able to give the best welcome possible to the general public.”

As it stands 18 skippers have completed their registration while 17 still have to sail a 2,000-mile solo course or compete in and finish the equivalent of a transatlantic race, or complete their registration paperwork for the Vendée Globe.

What the 17 skippers still need to do:

• 7 have to sail an additional qualifying distance: Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée 2), Conrad Colman (USA and NZ, Ethical Racing), Didac Costa (ESP, One Planet One Ocean), Sébastien Destremau (AUS and FRA, Merci), Sébastien Simon (Arkea – Paprec), Alex Thomson (GBR, Hugo Boss), and Nicolas Troussel (Corum L’Epargne).
• 4 have to sail a solo transatlantic race (or its equivalent) to complete their qualification: Isabelle Joschke (GER and FRA, Macsf), Clément Giraud (Monsieur et Madame), Kojiro Shiraishi (DGM Mori), and Armel Tripon (L’Occitane en Provence).
• 6 have already completed their sailing requirements: Ari Huusela (Stark), Eric Nigon (Vers un monde sans Sida), Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut), Damien Seguin (Groupe Apicil), and Maxime Sorel (VandB – Mayenne).

Several records may be set from the entry list as the Vendée Globe will probably welcome six women this time, which represents 17% of the fleet, 12 skippers from outside of France (34%), 17 who have already taken part and 18 boats with foils.

Details: https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/