Alone at sea but serving the collective? Of the 40 candidates for the 2024 Vendée Globe, 25 have taken various oceanographic measurement tools on board their Imoca. The initiative, led by UNESCO, Ifremer and Météo France, aims to learn more about the oceans, which cover more than 70% of the surface of the globe.
“We know it, this is where life is built, this is where humans depend, explains Alain Leboeuf, president of the Vendée departmental council and president of the Vendée Globe. More than half of the oxygen breathed by humans is produced by the oceans, more than 80% of heat capture is done by the oceans, it’s a place where there are a lot of things to discover. »
A range of tools
In fact, ten skippers took Argo profiling floats on board, making it possible to measure the temperature and salinity of the sea up to 2,000 meters deep. Eight others have drifting surface buoys on board measuring atmospheric pressure, sea surface temperature and currents, in order to evaluate global weather forecasts and better monitor climate change.
Five carried Calitoo photometers, a small portable device which measures the level of aerosols present in the atmosphere and sorts them according to their size (smoke, polluting gases, ice crystals, dust). This makes it possible to measure optical depth, i.e. the amount of light absorbed in the environment.
Finally, two skippers took Argos Marget-II beacons in their suitcases to reveal and measure marine currents, essential for navigation, the movement of marine animals, and to better understand the dynamics of certain waste in the ocean. “The data collected during and after the race, as well as the buoys deployed, will feed into the Global Ocean Observing System (cut) coordinated by Unesco”, thus explains the instance.
Skipper Yoann Richomme prepares to release an Argo float, used to measure sea temperature and salinity, on December 1, 2024. / Yoann RICHOMME / Vendée Globe
Actions that slow down the pace
“In the Vendée Globe, we have a very atypical trajectory that the scientific boats do not take, specifies Fabrice Amedeo, one of the skippers involved and spearhead of the project. We offer scientists the opportunity to have data on new routes. »
However, the initiative requires sailors to give precious time to implementing and monitoring these measures. Added to this is the significant weight of the tools. “That represents 60 kg on my boat, which may seem insignificant on a 7.5 ton boat, but we always try to save as much weight as possible to go quickly,” details the sailor at the helm Nexans-Wewise, which is currently sailing at the back of the fleet around Point Nemo.
“If skippers like Yoann Richomme or Charlie Dalin, to name but a few, had tools of this type on board, they would certainly have lost a little time, he explains. I am a former journalist and more of an adventurer than a leading runner. I will never win the Vendée Globe, so I can try to surpass myself, but also be useful. »
Eager for the Vendée Globe to have a use, “especially for all those who dedicate themselves to research”, Alain Leboeuf recalls that no resistance was noted among the sailors involved. “There is this fiber sometimes directed towards the social, sometimes towards ecological issues, present in each of them, explains the manager. Many of them work with an approach that goes beyond the athlete. » And promises: “The tools remain on board, as for the buoys, they are entirely biodegradable, so represent no danger for the planet. »
If the sailors had the choice to participate or not this time, the system must be extended during the next edition in 2028. In four years, all sailors departing from the “Everest of the seas” will be concerned, according to the new rules put in place by the organization. On an equal footing, therefore, in the service of science.
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