"When you think about the Vendée Globe, you always remember the good stuff. I've done three now, and you remember the good bits of all the races. So it seems like the race is condensed into a really short length of time. But once you get out there, that's when it hits..." says Initiatives-Coeur skipper Sam Davies.
"The hard thing is when you realise just how long it is and how you've got to survive in those conditions." The Vendée Globe can be a powerful drug. For some skippers it's an experience so transformative it draws them back again and again. For first-timers it's a daunting prospect: can they endure three brutal months? Will they even be the same person afterwards? More sailors than ever will pit themselves against the physical, mental, elemental and technical challenges of sailing alone around the world when a record fleet of 40 IMOCAS starts the Vendée Globe's 10th running on 10 November.
It is the longest race course in sport: from Les Sables d'Olonne in France, and back, around the world non-stop without assistance. Technically they are racing for €200,000 - the 1st place prize money. But in reality they are racing for a place in history.
HIGHS AND LOWS
Charlie Dalin nearly took his place in the history books, having been first to finish in 2021 on Apivia in his debut Vendée Globe, before Yannick Bestaven was crowned winner after redress was calculated for the skippers who assisted in rescuing Kevin Escoffier. For Dalin, the Vendée is truly unfinished business.
Bu hikaye Yachting World dergisinin November 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Yachting World dergisinin November 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
wallywind 110 launches
The first example of Wally Yacht's new wallywind performance cruising range launched this summer, during the iconic Italian brand's 30th anniversary year - and in time for its debut at the Monaco Yacht Show in September.
Irish skipper wins Figaro
Irish solo skipper Tom Dolan took a historic victory in this year's La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec, winning the solo multistage offshore race overall only the third non-French competitor ever to do so.
Youth AC puts on a show
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli's team won the UniCredit Youth America's Cup after a highly absorbing series comprising 12 international teams racing the one-design AC40s off Barcelona.
ATLANTIC BEYOND
SAILING THE SECOND EXPLORATION 60 ON A WEST-TO-EAST ATLANTIC CROSSING WAS IDEAL FOR A RIGOROUS TEST OF GARCIA'S NEW NOWHERE YOU CAN'T GO FLAGSHIP
UNCONTROLLED
HELPLESSLY APPROACHING AN UNINHABITED ISLAND IN THE GALAPAGOS WITHOUT ENGINE OR ELECTRONICS, JON VAN TAMELEN FEARED BEING IMMINENTLY SHIPWRECKED
SECRET ISLAND
BEYOND THE FORBIDDING ENTRY RULES OF TAIWAN IS A CULTURE RICH IN SEAFARING HISTORY AND STUNNING LANDSCAPES, FINDS CAMERON DUECK
LAND OF THE BIRDS
SKIP NOVAK DESCRIBES THE PERILS, CHALLENGES AND JOYS OF A CRITICAL EXPEDITION VOAYGE TO SURVEY SOUTH GEORGIA'S ENDANGERED WANDERING ALBATROSS
FIRST STEPS TO BLUEWATER
YOU CAN GET INTO WORLD CRUISING FROM A STANDING START AND EXPERIENCE THINGS NO OTHER TRAVELLERS DO. CATHERINE LAWSON AND DAVID BRISTOW TALK TO FOUR COUPLES WHO PROVE IT
HARD CHOICES
IN AN EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT FROM HER NEW BOOK, PIP HARE REVEALS WHAT DROVE HER ON WHILE RACING THROUGH THE SOUTHERN OCEAN IN THE 2020 VENDÉE GLOBE.
INTO BATTLE
COULD THIS BE THE MOST COMPETITIVE VENDÉE GLOBE EVER? HELEN FRETTER FINDS OUT WHAT THE SKIPPERS WILL BE FACING.