She is one of the 40 skippers who set off from Les Sables-d'Olonne this Sunday, November 10, for the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe. Violette Dorange, 23, took to the sea for a solo trip around the world. Quite a symbol, because the youngest is indeed the youngest skipper in this new edition, and in the history of the race.
The Charente will sail for three months on the former boat of “King Jean” (Jean Le Cam), the “Yes We Cam”, now called “DeVenir” and measuring a little over 18 meters long. “It was indescribable“, the sportswoman shared this Sunday on her Instagram account, not without a certain emotion, at the time of departure.
On her social networks, the sailor did not hesitate to share her preparation for the race for which she temporarily put aside her engineering studies at INSA Rennes.
Violette Dorange has been sailing since she was very young, we can read on the website of the Vendée Globe. From the French dinghy sailing team, crossing the Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar in an Optimist, the youngest girl continued with the Mini Transat and participated in three editions of the Solitaire du Figaro where she finished in 10th place in 2022.
“She has been sailing for quite some time even though it was not her sport of choice at the beginning. And then, a bit like the whole family, she got used to it and then she revealed herself.” says the sailor Jean-Pierre Dick, friend of Violette's parents whom he knows “from the cradle” and described as “a rare pearl“, at the microphone of RMC Sport. “She has a very tenacious character, you can feel the determination and the desire to compete in her eyes. It's something very ingrained in her. And so there, seeing his career starting somewhere, there is emotion“, he described.
In the meantime, Violette has left for her “Everest of the seas” – as she calls it in reference to the documentary by YouTuber Inoxtag. Race review in three months.
