The kick-off took place yesterday, Sunday November 10, at 1:02 p.m., in Les Sables-d'Olonne. The 10th edition of the Vendée Globe has just set sail. Every four years, this solo round-the-world sailing race, non-stop and without assistance, fascinates a wide audience of all ages, lasting almost three months. A crazy adventure that takes men and women on a journey of more than 24,000 nautical miles (45,000 km) aboard 18-meter monohull sailboats. For approximately 90 days, we will live to the rhythm of these skippers ready to take all the risks to accomplish their incredible challenge.
Failing to go to sea too (an old dream) or to be able to wave my handkerchief, standing, on the crowded quays which line the channel of the Vendée city, I took the path of the National Maritime Museum, in Paris , where the exhibition “Solo around the world” is held until January 26, 2025 *. The scenographic route takes us through the legendary race, in several geographical stages, as close as possible to the skippers. At the exit of the Bay of Biscay, if everything went well, here we are less than a week after departure, in the Atlantic Ocean, at the level of the Azores anticyclone, the first weather trap before heading towards the 'Ecuador. We then sail towards the famous “Doldrums”, an obstacle feared by sailors, who compare this area to a “boiling pot of water”. Then comes the Cape of Good Hope, gateway to the South Seas, renowned for its violent winds and currents. We are not at the end of our troubles… because the roaring forties are already resounding, the passage of all the dangers which requires us to be on constant alert. In the Pacific, once they have crossed Cape Leeuwin, the screaming fiftieths, in the middle of the Southern Ocean, still put sailors to the test. Finally, the legendary Cape Horn which, left to port, announces the rise of the Atlantic, the last straight line before returning to the port. Patience, there are still 9000 km to go before uncorking the magnum of champagne. A fantastic exhibition, from which you leave both dazzled and amazed!
* Palais de Chaillot, 17 place du Trocadéro, Paris 16th.
Such. 01 53 65 69 48.
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