Vendée Globe : les dernières infos Tip & Shaft

The Vendée Globe Notice of Race gives entrants the opportunity of substituting themselves with a replacement skipper should something happen which means they cannot take the start (that replacement has to be appointed before October 1). Of course this is a scenario which becomes all the more relevant, a choice closely considered by some teams while Covid-19 remains a threat. Tip & Shaft lit up our phones to ask all teams whether or not they are employing this option.

The Vendée Globe organization is entering the final stage of planning and preparation before the start on November 8. From the sports perspective the Vendée-Arctique-Les Sables d’Olonne race in June provided some reassurance, but the current evolving health situation in France leaves room for doubt especially as to the final shape and format of the village, the organizational arrangements and the final rules and regulations. Two months before the start gun fires Tip & Shaft takes stock.

Last July 14 Jérémie Beyou won the Vendée-Arctique-Les Sables d’Olonne race, concluding what proved to be a thrilling three-way match up with Charlie Dalin and Thomas Ruyant. Tip & Shaft shares some of the lessons that we learned, debriefing with the help of the race director Jacques Caraës, Antoine Mermod who is president of the Imoca class, the weather routing specialist Jean-Yves Bernot, skipper Romain Attanasio (who did not participate) and the journalist Didier Ravon.

The start of the first ever Vendée-Arctique-Les Sables d’Olonne is on Saturday at 3.30 p.m local time. As before each major event, Tip & Shaft has solicited the opinions of the great the good of the ocean racing world in France as well as a few hand picked Anglo Saxons to ask the big question. We have Antoine Mermod, president of Imoca, Tanguy Leglatin the trainer in Lorient, Christian Le Pape, head of the Pole Finistère Course au Large, sailors Yann Eliès, Charlie Enright, Dee Caffari, Matt Sheahan and French based American Ryan Breymaier who works with Boris Herrmann. Also questioned was Gaël Robic, journalist at France Télévision.