Vendee Globe History |
An adventure, pure and simple
In theory, the Vendée
Globe is an utterly simple affair. Its fundamental principles come down to a
few sentences, compared to which even the roughest logbook would seem sophisticated.
A sailing race around the world, for singlehanders, without any stopover. That’s
it. In theory at least, because beyond these words start great stories.
Official supplier of legends since 1989, this race has impressed the maritime
world and the public in general, to the point where even the strongest superlatives
seem unable to define it. The sea also has its mythical summit, created 15 years
ago by a sailor, two times winner around the world (BOC Challenge, with stopovers),
who refused to rest on his laurels.
Philippe Jeantot wished to go further, to give a new dimension to the world of
maritime adventure… “Time, he wrote, is a necessary factor to attain
perfect harmony with one’s sailboat. We had to forget about stopping. A
round-the-world race, without stopovers or assistance, such were the conditions
to reach the desired communion. For the first edition, we set off towards the
unknown. None of the 13 sailors who crossed the starting line in 1989 had the
experience of a solo journey exceeding 100 days” *.
In November 2008, 20 navigators will set sails aboard their monohulls, heading
towards the three great capes, marking the southern tips of the African continent,
Australia and America. The Vendée Globe will start, for the 6th time,
from the harbour of Les Sables d’Olonne, where it was born. And as far as
the rest of the story is concerned…
well, it’s up to the sailors themselves now.
* Taken from the foreword of the book « Le Vendée Globe, 1989 – 2001,
histoire d’un mythe »,
François Mousis & Serge Messager, Editions des Vignes.