The start of the Vendée Globe 2024 is given this Sunday, November 10 in Les Sables d'Olonne. This year, 40 sailors are setting off on this solo round-the-world trip, non-stop and without assistance, a record for the legendary race which takes place every four years. After a previous edition that began in the silence of confinement, the event is back, this time with the big day crowd.
France Bleu is mobilizing to make you experience the start of this 10th edition. Follow our special show until 2 p.m. live from Sables d'Olonne.
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Follow the start on video
Pontoon departure | Vendée Globe 2024
A journey up the channel full of emotions
The departure will officially be given at 1:02 p.m.very precisely, off the coast of Les Sables d'Olonne. Before that, the skippers will take turns in front of the media before returning to their boat. From 8 a.m., the Imocas will leave the pontoon one by one, every three minutes. And the first to set off is one of the favorites, Charlie Dalin.
The sailors will then go down the channel, applauded by the public who will certainly be present in large numbers. If the atmosphere was very silent four years ago, due to the coronavirus epidemic, it promises to be much more festive this Sunday. More than 300,000 spectators are expected to applaud the skippers, particularly along the Sables d'Olonne channel.
Eleven different nationalities at the start
There are 40 of them this Sunday on the starting linecompared to 33 during the previous edition, a record. They are aged 23 to 65 : the youngest is called Violette Dorangeshe sets off on her first world tour, and the dean is a certain Jean Le Camwho will experience his sixth Vendée Globe. Among the skippers, there are eleven nationalities: France, Great Britain, United States, Switzerland, Hungary, New Zealand, Germany, Belgium, Italy, China and Japan.
There are six women at the start, as in 2020. Fifteen sailors are participating in the race for the first time: Violette Dorange, but also Oliver Heer, Antoine Cornic, Justine Mettraux, Sébastien Marsset, Denis Van Weynbergh, Louis DucSam Goodchild, Guirec SoudéeSzabolcs Weroës, Tanguy Le Turquais, Jingkun XuBenjamin Ferry, Nicolas Lunven and Yoann Richomme.
Since the first edition won by Titouan Lamazou in 1989200 sailors embarked on this crazy race but only 114 of them crossed the finish line.
45,000 km and more
The Vendée Globe formula has remained unchanged for 35 years. The sailors will have to travel 45,000 km passing the three capes : Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn. Something new this year: the establishment of protection zones for biodiversity. These areas are prohibited for sailors, in order to protect cetaceans.
Vendée Globe
The last edition of the Vendée Globe was won in February 2021 by Yannick Bestaven in 80 days, 3 hours, 44 minutes and 46 seconds. But the record is still in the hands of Armel Le Cléac'h who had completed his world tour four years earlier in 74 days, 3 hours, 35 minutes and 46 seconds. So will the record be shattered during this 10th edition? Answer in 2025!
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