The wind, the only one absent at the start

Mathieu Warnier, Media365: published on Sunday November 10, 2024 at 9:30 p.m.

While the 40 entered in the 2024-2025 edition of the Vendée Globe crossed the finish line this Sunday, the wind did not allow them to immediately set sail. A phenomenon that was announced before the event.

The tenth edition of the Vendée Globe is now launched. At exactly 1:02 p.m., the 40 participating in the solo, non-stop and unassisted round-the-world trip crossed the starting line located off the coast of Les Sables-d'Olonne. However, the monohulls struggled to gain speed in the first hours of the race. The fault is a wind measured between four and seven knots on average (between 7.4 and 13km/h) which is not strong enough to allow the race to really start. As a result, many skippers stood still. Asked by France Blue Loire Ocean this Friday, the weather manager for the race Christian Dumard had not ruled out this possibility. “We know that there won't be much, much wind,” he confided 48 hours before the start of the race. There should be a little wind, perhaps from the South-East, so a breeze for the boats. » The “Mr. Weather” of the Vendée Globe had also announced “a slightly slow start” and he was therefore not mistaken.

Cammas: “The conditions of Lake Geneva”

The question is therefore whether the start of the tenth Vendée Globe was the slowest in the history of the event. Asked by BFMTVFranck Cammas went in this direction on the sidelines of the event, even having fun with the situation. “It’s certainly the slowest start in the history of the Vendée Globe. These are almost the conditions of Lake Geneva. We must use the wind we will receive. But we're still waiting for it. » Admitting that he “lacks a little wind to put on a show”, the four-time winner of the Transat Jacques-Vabre then called for patience. “In any case it’s a beautiful spectacle to see these 40 boats together, it’s the last time,” he concluded. Fortunately for the candidates for victory in this Vendée Globe, the sailing conditions ended up improving after a little less than two hours of racing, allowing them to begin the descent of the Atlantic Ocean leading to the Cape of Good Hope. , the first major crossing point of the route.