Vendée Globe 2024: How the Round-the-World Regatta Started

Vendée Globe 2024-2025

The previous Vendée Globe 2020 started modestly, as there were no usual crowds of fans and spectators on the shore due to COVID and the lockdown. Four years later, the situation is the opposite - the participants of the regatta went out to sea to loud applause and joyful shouts of fans.

Just before the start, some skippers "played" a little for the crowd. Thus, Fabrice Amedeo walked to his boat as if to a boxing ring, Damien Seguin came out in a pirate costume with a parrot on his shoulder, Kojiro Shiraishi walked in a traditional dark kimono.

Damien Seguin as a pirate

Xu Jingkun in traditional Chinese clothing.

During the three weeks of preparation for the start of the regatta, a record number of spectators gathered in Les Sables d'Olonne - more than 360 thousand people. Family members of the racers, fans and spectators saw off the brave sailors for more than two hours.

Interesting Features of the Vendée Globe 2024

The Vendée Globe 2024 is notable not only for its interesting performances by skippers, but also for a number of records. This year, the race features a record number of participants – 40 skippers, including 6 women. Among them, Violette Dorange, who is only 23 years old, stands out. Violette is the youngest skipper in the history of the Vendée Globe, she has been sailing since she was 7 years old, demonstrating exceptional skill.

Violette Dorange and Jean Le Cam

The male skippers also set an age record. Jean Le Cam, a famous figure in world yachting, is the oldest participant in the Vendée Globe. He will be 66 next year and is taking part for the sixth time, having won an honorable fourth place in the previous regatta.

Struggle for leadership

The first night of the Vendée Globe 2024 was quiet but intense. The fleet of competitors moved, trying to squeeze the maximum out of every change in the wind. Now the skippers are getting into the rhythm of the race and acclimatizing, preparing for a long marathon of 45,000 kilometers, during which the favorites can change several times.

Frenchman Yoann Richomme is currently in 24th place, but maintains a confident speed, so his rise in the table is only a matter of time. Jean Le Cam in 10th position also plans to fight for the lead, despite his age and great experience, he is focused on the result.

For some of the participants, the start was not easy. For example, New Zealander Conrad Coleman encountered technical problems: the gennaker sheet got tangled in the propeller, the engine stalled, and Conrad started late. But this did not stop him - he temporarily led the fleet and is now in 17th place. As Conrad says: "There are good days and bad days in the Vendée Globe; sometimes a good day can turn into a bad one in a day."

Meanwhile, Kojiro Shiraishi is doing surprisingly well. He shared that for the first time in the race he has not suffered from seasickness, which gives him strength and confidence. In general, the start of the Vendée Globe 2024 was relatively calm, and now a fierce battle for leadership is beginning between the participants.

The Vendée Globe in brief

For those unfamiliar with the regatta, the Vendée Globe is a solo, non-stop round-the-world race, one of the most extreme and prestigious in the world of yachting. The competition is named after the French department of Vendée, where the race both starts and finishes in the port of Les Sables-d'Olonne. Competitors must sail approximately 24,000 nautical miles (approximately 45,000 km), battling harsh sea conditions alone, as well as maintaining their yacht without outside assistance.

Due to its complexity, only experienced sailors who have passed a test of endurance and skill are allowed to participate. To participate, they must have extensive experience in other regattas or previous Vendée Globe races. In addition, before the start, they are required to complete survival and medical courses to cope with possible risks in the open ocean.

The race route takes in a route from Les Sables d'Olonne south along the Atlantic to the Cape of Good Hope, then through the Indian Ocean, around Antarctica past Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn, before finishing back at the starting point. The Vendée Globe was first held in 1989, and today the main class for participation is the IMOCA 60, an 18-metre monohull yacht equipped for extreme circumnavigation.

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14.11.2024