Vendée Globe 2008/2009

Start Line 9th November 2008

© Jacques Vapillon / DPPI / Vendée Globe

Vendée Globe is over for Seb and BT...

Sébastien has had to make the difficult decision to abandon the 2008 Vendée Globe
following the Boxing Day capsize that caused severe damage to his
rudder system and is beyond repair...

... a huge disappointment for Seb and everybody involved in the project!

Vendée Globe - Visit the Vendée Globe Website

History

The race was founded in 1989 by French yachtsman Philippe Jeantot. Jeantot had competed in the BOC Challenge (now the VELUX 5 Oceans Race) in 1982-1983 and 1986-1987, winning both times; dissatisfied with the "stopping" format, he decided to set up a new non-stop race, which he felt would be the ultimate challenge for single-handed sailors.

The first edition of the race was run in 1989-1990, and was won by Titouan Lamazou; Jeantot himself took part, and placed fourth. The next edition of the race was in 1992-1993; since then it has been run every four years.

The boats

The race is open to monohull yachts conforming to the Open 60 class criteria. (Prior to 2004, the race was also open to Open 50 boats.) The Open classes are unrestricted in certain aspects but a box rule governs parameters such as overall length, draught, appendages and stability, as well as numerous other safety features.

The race

The race starts and finishes in Les Sables-d'Olonne, in the Vendée département of France; both Les Sables d’Olonne and the Vendée Conseil Général are official race sponsors. The course is essentially a circumnavigation along the clipper route: from Les Sables d’Olonne, down the Atlantic Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope; then clockwise around Antarctica, keeping Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn to port; then back to Les Sables d’Olonne. The race generally runs from November to February; it is timed to place the competitors in the Southern Ocean during the austral summer.

Additional waypoints may be set in the sailing instructions for a particular race, in order to ensure safety relative to ice conditions, etc. For example, in 2004, the racers had to pass north of the following flexible waypoints:

• a gate south of South Africa, situated at 44° South, between 005° East and 014° East 
• Heard Island 
• a gate to the South west of Australia, situated at 47° South, between 103° East and 113° East 
• a gate to the south east of Australia, situated at 52° South, between 136° East and 147° East 
• a gate in the Pacific Ocean, situated at 55° South, between 160° West and 149° West 
• a gate in the Pacific Ocean, situated at 55° South, between 126° West and 115° West 

The competitors may stop at anchor, but may not draw alongside a quay or another vessel; they may receive no outside assistance, including customised weather or routing information. The only exception is that a competitor who has an early problem may return to the start for repairs and then re-start the race, as long the re-start is within 10 days of the official start.

The race presents significant challenges; most notably the severe wind and wave conditions in the Southern Ocean, the long unassisted duration of the race, and the fact that the course takes competitors far from the reach of any normal emergency response. A significant proportion of the entrants usually retire, and in the 1996-1997 race Canadian Gerry Roufs was tragically lost at sea.

To mitigate the risks, competitors are required to undergo medical and survival courses. They must also be able to demonstrate prior racing experience; either a completed single-handed trans-oceanic race, or a completion of the previous Vendée Globe. The qualifying passage must have been completed on the same boat to be raced in the Vendée; or the competitor must complete an additional trans-oceanic observation passage, of not less than 2,500 miles, in that boat, at an average speed of at least 7 knots (13 km/h). Since trans-ocean races typically have significant qualifying criteria of their own, any entrant to the Vendée will have amassed substantial sailing experience.