USA hosts final Vendée Globe qualifier

With six months to go before the start of the 2024-25 Vendée Globe, the last qualifying and selection race for the 10th edition of this solo round the world race has the IMOCA fleet to start the New York Vendée Les Sables d’Olonne on May 29 in New York City.

The sailors are embarking on this final test before the Vendée Globe to put their boats through their paces while offering the last chance for some to qualify and be among the 40 selected for the ‘Everest of the Seas’.

There are 30 solo sailors to compete, twice as many as in the first edition in 2016. This transatlantic race, which includes the favorites for the Vendée Globe, is likely to be extremely fast, with the downwind conditions combined with the refined foiling IMOCAs to eclipse the record time of 9d 16h 57min 52s set by Jérémie Beyou in 2016.

To minimize the risk of collision between the IMOCA boats and marine megafauna at the start, and for safety reasons linked to the dense maritime traffic around New York, the start of the race will be given 80 miles from the coast.

Race details: https://www.newyorkvendee.org/en

Held every four years, the 2024-25 Vendée Globe non-stop, non-assisted, single-handed round the world race will start November 10 from Les Sables-d’Olonne, France. There are 40 entry slots for the 10th edition which uses the 60-foot IMOCA boat for the most famous shorthanded race in the sport.

A record time of 74 days and 3 hours completed the 24,300 mile course during the eighth edition in 2016-17.

Race details: https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en