At the end of the Sables-d'Olonne channel (Vendée) with quays full of people, on the morning of Sunday, November 10, emotion ended up overwhelming Violette Dorange. Three hundred and fifty thousand fans brandishing banners and flags chanting your name, it’s stirring. Especially when, at 23, you embark on your first solo round-the-world race, non-stop and without assistance at the helm of an 18-meter monohull (Imoca).
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The draw which designated her last of the 40 entrants – including six women – in the 10e edition of the Vendée Globe to leave the pontoon, allowed the youngest in the event to go and verify that the earth is round, filled with increased energy.
At a time of misty looks and eloquent silences under a gray and foggy sky, Violette, in boots and red overalls, her long ponytail blowing in the wind, enjoyed the ceremonial stroll like an astronaut ready to board a its capsule. Not without glancing at the trophy of the race she dreams of winning one day.
« Merry Christmas and Happy New Year », she said, mutinously, to her loved ones and supporters whom she intends not to see again before having completed her race in three months or a little less. “ I can't speak “, choked Carole, her mother who nevertheless swears to have ” accustomed over the years », while hugging Rose and Charles, her two eldest children.
“We have no choice but to follow her”
« It's completely crazy to be here », beamed Violette the day before, hands on hips, as one measures the distance covered without being fooled by what 45,000 km of oceans have in store to come. If the Vendée Globe were a fairy tale, the pocket-sized sailor (1.60 m) would undoubtedly play the role of “Little Thumbelina”. Not a penny but never short of projects or ingenious ideas to find the means to realize them.
Since her beginnings in competitive dinghy sailing in La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime), at the age of 7, she has sowed the small stones one by one that have brought her this far. To be the youngest competitor in the 35-year history of the Vendée Globe? Not even afraid. She was 15 years old, in May 2016, when she crossed the Channel from the Isle of Wight (United Kingdom) to Cherbourg (Channel), in an Optimist, a 2.33 m “soap box”. She also won three podiums at the youth world championships on 420. Before going on, from the age of 18, a mini-transat (solo race on a 6.60 m monohull) and three seasons on Figaro (10 m one-design monohull).
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