This Friday, the technical teams of all the competitors, arriving one after the other in recent days in the Vendée city, bricked the bridges and installed a life-size panel in front of each boat bearing the image of their skipper.
The absence of wind greatly facilitated the entry into the port of the latest arrivals, well guided by several members of the race management, happy to experience a last calm and sunny day before the bustle of the village.
Two million visitors expected
It must be inaugurated on Saturday morning and covers some 30,000 m2 around the marina basin, where more than two million people are expected between now and departure at 1:02 p.m. on November 10.
With the Vendée Globe, compared to other races, the village opens in advance, the pressure gradually increases
explained skipper Fabrice Amedeo (Nexans-Wewise), who arrived in Les Sables on Thursday.
I am very happy to be here. After my wreck two years ago (on the Route du Rhum 2022, editor’s note), taking the start is also a personal victory
added the 46-year-old sailor, who is setting off on his third round the world trip.
The most difficult
The Vendée Globe is the most difficult event in ocean racing. She is nicknamed “Everest of the Seas”
and requires its participants to pass through the three reference capes without assistance, during a journey of approximately 24,300 miles, or 45,000 kilometers.
Born in 1989, the race takes place every four years with IMOCAs, 60-foot (18.28 m) monohulls designed to be able to face the toughest sea conditions on the planet.
To validate their entry ticket on this 10e edition, the skippers have had to take the start of several transatlantic races over the last three years. The entire field is highly trained and the boats are more reliable than ever.
Foil madness
Half of the fleet is now equipped with foils, these side appendages which allow sailboats to glide above the water at impressive speeds while limiting drag.
Rare in 2016/2017 then democratized in 2020/2021, these revolutionary and very expensive technological tools now differentiate the favorite teams of smaller budgets.
There are races in the race, foilers and drift boats. Everyone will try to play with the sailboats of their generation
explains the Swiss Alan Roura (Hublot) who still estimates that a good fifteen ships can win.
Bestaven for the double?
The fleet has only one previous winner, Yannick Bestaven (Maitre Coq), who won in 2020/2021, after a journey full of twists and turns marked in particular by a departure in the middle of the Covid epidemic and the shipwreck of sailor Kevin Escoffier.
Bestaven acts as a contender for the double, even if other skippers seem a little better armed, such as Charlie Dalin (Macif), Thomas Ruyant (Vulnerable) and Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkea), who shared all the victories in the races. preparation.
And if the Vendée Globe has always been won by a Frenchman, three foreigners could well make history this time: the German Boris Herrmann and the British Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable) and Samantha Davies (Initatives Cœur).
Violette Dorange (Devenir), 23 years old and the youngest of the competitors, is one of the six women entered, an identical number to the previous edition. Finishing is the first objective
she slipped this week, impatient to take off.”
“Enjoy it all the same…”
I saw two sea departures when I was younger. It’s impressive… You’ll have to stay focused on the race, but enjoy it all the same because going up the Vendée channel is a unique moment in your life.
she added.
The record holder for the race is Armel Le Cléac’h who returned to Les Sables-d’Olonne after 74 days 3 hours and 35 minutes around the world between 2016 and 2017. The first ones in 2025 are expected in mid-January.
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