The tenth edition of the Vendée Globe will start on November 10. A look back at key events from previous editions of this legendary race.
A legendary race. Forty skippers will set off on Sunday November 10 from Sables-d'Olonne for the tenth edition of the Vendée Globe. For 35 years, this solo, non-stop and unassisted sailing trip around the world has gradually become a myth.
If the Everest of the seas is like climbing the highest peak in the world, more and more accessible and less and less dangerous, finishing this race is a sporting feat. A look back at five major events that marked this legendary race.
1 1989-1990: the rescue of Philippe Poupon by Loïck Peyron
It was a time when sailing around the world took almost 110 days. Thirteen boats are at the start of this first edition, seven will cross the finish line. Race winner Titouan Lamazou (109 days 8 hours 48 minutes and 50 seconds) is already in the lead at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. He was closely followed by Philippe Poupon but, on December 27, the skipper triggered his distress beacon while he was at the entrance to the Roaring Forties.
The race direction asks Loïck Perron, the closest competitor, to divert to help. Due to the means of communication at the time, he did not receive this message until 12 hours later. Loïck Peyron will then take 24 hours to reach Philippe Poupon's boat. The ship is lying at 90° on the water. The skipper takes the boat in tow and manages to right it after the second attempt. The rescue is filmed by the navigator. The images go around the world creating a founding myth.
2 1996-1997: the disappearance of Gerry Roufs
The third edition of the Vendée Globe is known as the scariest edition. Of the 16 skippers at the start in 1996, only six managed to be classified at the finish. The Deep South will particularly mistreat skippers. First there is the shipwreck of Raphaël Dinelli on December 25 in the Indian Ocean south of Australia. The French navigator found himself on his overturned boat for 20 hours. He will be saved at the last minute by the Briton Pete Goss in terrible conditions.
Still in the south of Australia, a double shipwreck occurred on January 5. Thierry Dubois and Tony Bullimore are sailing a short distance from each other. They capsized in terrible seas and were rescued by the Australian navy. But the race is especially marked by the disappearance of Gerry Roufs. The Canadian is trapped in a storm. He declared to the race headquarters that “the waves are no longer waves, they are as high as the Alps”. On January 7, his boat's beacon stopped transmitting. Despite searches by skippers and in particular Isabelle Autissier, the 43-year-old sailor was not found. In August 1998, pieces of the wreckage were found washed up on a Chilean island.
3 2000-2001: Ellen Mac Arthur on the Vendée Globe podium
After the trauma of 1996, the fourth edition of the Vendée Globe marks a turning point in safety but also in the media coverage of the race around the world. At 24, Ellen Mac Arthur is the youngest in the race. The British sailor will leave her mark on this Vendée Globe.
The development of means of communication allows better land-sea connections. Skippers send sounds and images of life aboard their ship. In addition to filming the icebergs passing very close to her ship, the Briton hides nothing of her emotions. Her joys when she dances on her ship, or her tears after hitting a container during her journey up the Atlantic while she fights for victory.
On February 11, 2001, she finished in second position, arriving barely a day after Michel Desjoyeaux. The one nicknamed “the professor” successfully circumnavigated the world in less than 100 days (93 days 3 hours and 57 minutes).
4 2012-2013: around the world in less than 80 days
An epic duel animates the seventh edition of the Vendée Globe. After the departure on November 10 from Sables-d'Olonne, the descent of the Atlantic will be led by Armel Le Cléac'h. The crossing of the Doldrums leads to the formation of a group of six at the head of the race. The Indian Ocean becomes the scene of a fierce struggle to be the first to pass through the ice gates. These security doors placed in the Deep South to keep skippers away from icebergs.
On December 10, François Gabart set an impressive record for distance covered in 24 hours of 534 miles, and took the lead ahead of Armel Le Cléac'h. In the south of Australia, the two skippers broke away from the other competitors and raced almost side by side. Gabart passes Cape Horn with only 80 minutes ahead of Le Cléac'h who will no longer catch up with him.
François Gabart arrives in Les Sables-d'Olonne on January 27. He beat the Vendée Globe record in 78 days 2 hours 16 minutes and 40 seconds. He shattered Michel Desjoyeaux's record and finished just three hours ahead of Armel Le Cléac'h. The latter would take his “revenge” four years later by winning the following edition in 74 days 3 hours 35 minutes and 46 seconds. A record still in progress.
5 2020-2021 : Jean Le Cam, the saved becomes a savior
The health context is weighing on the organization of this ninth edition of the Vendée Globe. The 33 skippers set off on a round-the-world trip without meeting the public in the Sables-d'Olonne channel. This very popular edition will be marked by the rescue of Kevin Escoffier. On November 30, just before the Cape of Good Hope, the skipper warned that his ship had broken in two. He sends a message to his technical team: “I’m sinking, it’s not a joke.”
The race direction diverts Jean Le Cam to help him as well as Yannick Bestaven, Boris Hermann and Sébastien Simon. Kevin Escoffier spent around ten hours in his life raft before being rescued by Jean Le Cam. Eleven years earlier, “King John” himself found himself in the shoes of the skipper in danger: in January 2009, stuck in the cockpit of his overturned boat, he was saved by Vincent Riou off the coast of Chile.
During the 2020-2021 edition, all sailors diverted for the rescue of Kevin Escoffier will receive time compensation. It allowed Yannick Bestaven to win ahead of Charlie Dalin, who was first to cross the finish line in Les Sables-d'Olonne. Jean Le Cam climbs to fourth place in the ranking. But King Jean is not finished with the Vendée Globe. He is one of the 40 skippers who will set off on November 10, bringing his number of participations in this legendary round the world to six.
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