Violette Dorange, drop in abandonments… The president of the Imoca class takes stock of this 2024 Vendée Globe

Antoine Mermod, the president of the Imoca class for eight yearshas agreed to draw up an initial assessment of this Vendée Globe version 2024-2025.

The Violette Dorange phenomenon, the revenge of Charlie Dalin, the return of Sébastien Simon and the falling dropout rate… He answered all the questions of the Sand Journal.

Journal des Sables: Are you surprised that Charlie Dalin is arriving so early?

Antoine Mermod: Yes and no. Yes because for the last Vendée Globe it was 78 days. And then we know that in a Vendée Globe, the weather pattern can go in one direction or the other. Here, it turns out that the weather pattern was rather favorable for the group of three leaders. And no, because intrinsically, if we compare to Armel Le Cléac'h's boat in 2016, the boats have had a 10 to 15% gain in performance for three or four years. We knew that this performance could be achieved. The skippers were more than up to the task.

Abandonments seem to be decreasing, can you confirm?

There is a first point: the race is not over, so it is still difficult to draw conclusions. The last part of the race can be extremely demanding. We knock on wood so that everything goes well. Afterwards, it's true that in general, all the teams and the Imoca class, we work a lot to try to make the boats more reliable. For three years, we have organized a lot of races, the skippers and the teams have been challenged a lot. This helped to “debug” points that could be critical. And another quite positive point that there has been between the last four years: it is the fact of being able to sail around the world as a crew between two Vendée Globes, with The Ocean Race. This made it possible to use this type of boat at full speed on the identical course. This allowed us to better understand and use boats. We all agreed that we had prepared well for this race. For the moment, we are rather at a low abandonment rate.

What feelings do you have when the first person crosses the finish line?

As always, I put on my fan hat again, I'm super happy like everyone else. It remains a unique and exceptional challenge. This year, we have a very, very good winner. It's true that four years ago, he crossed the line in the lead, but now he's really the winner of the race, I'm very happy for him!

Was it your favorite?

Quite frankly, we work for the entire fleet. The goal is for everyone to find their story, their project and surpass themselves. The goal is for everyone to arrive in Les Sables-d'Olonne happy. I didn't have a particular favorite, but I'm very happy for him.

A quick word about Sébastien Simon, who is having a very good race?

We can even say a great word about Sébastien Simon. A year ago, for one of the last qualifying races, he dismasted and was injured quite seriously. He had spent all winter preparing his boat with a neck brace. When we arrived in March and we had to leave on two transatlantic voyages, we said to ourselves that he had a lot of courage, because he was not 100%. In the end, everything went well. And he's a champion, we've known that for a long time. The fact that this Vendée Globe is going well for him, I think it's a great story and it's well deserved.

Finally, a few words also on the Violette Dorange phenomenon?

He is an exceptional person. A year ago, we were in Martinique, she took the start of “Return to Base”, her first solo race. There was a lot of apprehension. We saw that she had a very good race and that she gained confidence. She is doing a great job in this Vendée Globe. Indeed, having skippers who appeal to the fans is good for everyone. Personally, I really enjoyed listening to her and following her. With his fresh gaze.

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