Fearless solo sailors ready for non-stop Vendée Globe

The 2016 Vendée Globe sets sail on November 6, 2016, as the only non-stop solo round the world race without assistance. The route around the globe is west to east via the three capes Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horne, and the Southern Ocean passing south of Tasmania, where previous rescues have been mounted by the Australian government for the likes of the lucky Tony Bullimore and Isabelle Autissier.

This year, 29 competitors from 10 countries aged between 23 and 66,
aboard 60-foot IMOCA yachts launched between 1998 and 2015, backed by a wide
ranging budgets and experience or lack thereof, will set sail from the seaside French town of Les
Sables d'Olonne for the daring yacht race.

With such a divergent fleet this year, some very different race times and results can be expected. There is 43 years difference in age between the oldest and youngest entrant. In fact, the youngest competitor ever is taking part in the 2016 Vendee and the eldest too. The Swiss sailor Alan Roura is just 23, while American Rich Wilson is 66.

In this eighth edition, there are actually two competitors under 30 — Alan Roura and Morgan Lagravière (29) — and four who are over 60 including Nandor Fa, Pieter Heerema, Enda O’Coineen and Rich Wilson. The average age of the 29 competitors is 44.

Apart from their age, there is a striking difference in experience. Some have already completed several round the world voyages, while others have only spent a few weeks at sea. No fewer than five skippers will be setting off for the fourth time in the Vendée Globe: Bertrand de Broc, Jean-Pierre Dick, Jean Le Cam, Vincent Riou and Alex Thomson.

In past Vendée Globe races, around half of the competitors were serious contenders while the remaining half merely hoped to complete the race. This time there is a higher percentage of the second category and the geographical origins of the sailors are very different.

No fewer than 10 nationalities are represented, including four for the first time: New Zealand (with Conrad Colman), the Netherlands (with Pieter Heerema), Ireland (with Enda O’Coineen) and Japan (with Kojiro Shiraishi, the first Asian competitor).

The boats are equally diverse, with launch dates from 1998 to 2015. Ditto for the budgets behind them. For example, Sébastien Destremau has declared that he is setting off with a microscopic budget of 350,000 euros, while the big teams have more than 10 times that to spend.

While it is true that the 29 IMOCAs moored up in Les Sables d’Olonne are all 60-foot boats, they are vastly different. There are some historic monohulls with glorious past histories and others that are brand new and ready for battle.

The oldest boats were launched in 1998, such as Romain Attanasio’s Famille Mary-Etamine du Lys (Catherine Chabaud’s former Whirlpool) and Sébastien Destremau’s TechnoFirst-faceOcean (Josh Hall’s former Gartmore). Conversely, Hugo Boss is a new generation IMOCA with foils launched in 2015 for Alex Thomson. Five other fast boats were launched last year.

But it is not merely in the harbour that the differences are clear. There is said to be a gulf between the foilers and the older boats at certain points of sail, with some doing 13 knots up wind where the foilers hit 24 knots. But at the end of the day, you can't win unless you finish. Reliability counts for plenty and the stress levels of sailing fast are greater while the margin or error is less.

In 2013, François Gabart won the Vendée Globe in 78 days and Alessandro di Benedetto was the last skipper back to Vendée after 104 days. The arrivals stretched out over 26 days. The gaps may well be much wider this year. More at www.vendeeglobe.org.

Photo Credit: Olivier Blanchet and Thiery Martinez.