The Vendée Globe: Alone, Around the World, Nonstop, No Assistance

The tenth running of the Vendée Globe race starts tomorrow from France. Single-handed sailing nonstop around the world with no assistance.

The race starts and ends in Les Sables-d'Olonne. That is in the Département of Vendée, in France. (A département in France is not quite like a state in the US or Germany. They are more like a county in a state, in that they are just an administrative division.)

This is a 1 minute clip from the video below. From PlanetSail, it describes the Vendée Globe. Since I know most people don't care enough about sailing to watch a long video, the one minute clip will give you an overview.

The boats racing in the Vendée Globe are the IMOCA "Open 60." That is a 60ft monohull, that has been updated with foiling daggerboards and a canting keel. They are tremedous bits of technology.

If November seems to be a strange time to be starting an ocean race, it is because it is timed so that they are in the Southern Ocean in summer. I won't bore you with all the stats on that ocean, I will only note that it has the strongest average winds on the planet. It is a circle around Antarctica, with no landmass to interrupt it.

The record time was set in the 2016-2017 race by Armel Le Cléac'h of France. He complete the round-the-world race in 74 days, 3 hours, 35 minutes, and 46 seconds.

You can find the English version of the official site at this link.

This is the full 26 minute video from PlanetSail: The Toughest Offshore Race In The World - Vendee Globe Preview

The video goes over the history of the race, who capsized, who had to be rescued, the skipper who rebuilt his mast underway. Then there is a talk with one of the skippers and a look at how his boat is set up for single handed sailing.

There are 6 women in the race, and at 18 minutes in there is an interview with Pip Hare. She completed the race in 2020, which is an accomplishment all its own. (Not everyone does finish the race.)