Back on course
The horizon is starting to look clearer for those aiming to compete in the 2020 Vendée Globe, with the Vendée–Arctic–Les Sables d’Olonne scheduled for 4 July.
19 May 2020
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The 3600-nautical-mile solo Vendée–Arctic–Les Sables d’Olonne will race around a big triangle reaching up to the limits of the Arctic Circle.
Prospects are looking good for the organisation of the Vendée Globe this autumn and the announcement of a summer race starting from Les Sables d’Olonne has renewed enthusiasm, with many sailors not having sailed for months.
For several weeks, the IMOCA class and the organisers of the Vendée Globe have been busy finding a replacement for the two solo transatlantic races, which were unable to take place as planned this spring. This alternative has taken shape and has become the Vendée-Arctic-Les Sables d’Olonne.
This event was conceived around a 3600-mile-long race course, representing ten to twelve days of solo sailing for the first time on IMOCA boats between the coast of France (the start and finish is in Les Sables d’Olonne), the west of Iceland and north of the Azores.
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The final list of entrants will be revealed in early June. Permits have already been applied for from the authorities with the support of the French Sailing Federation (FFVoile).
“This will be the only solo competitive and technical offshore race that the skippers will be able to take part in before the start of the Vendée Globe on 8 November – that is why it was so important to ensure it took place,” explained Jacques Caraës, Race Director for the Vendée–Arctic–Les Sables d’Olonne and the Vendée Globe.
“In terms of racing, the sailors need to be in solo mode. Technically, they need to validate the modifications carried out this winter in the yards. Finally, it will also offer eleven skippers the possibility of qualifying for the solo round-the-world race.”
In this race, the fleet will have to sail up to the latitude of 65 degrees north on the edge of the Polar Circle, which is further north than Cape Horn is to the south.
“This is an ambitious course,” added Jacques Caraës. “With a 3600-mile-long triangular course (around the same distance as a transatlantic crossing), the idea is to sail up to pick up the active weather systems in the north of the Atlantic and to get the boats sailing in various points of sail and in a wide range of conditions.”
With ice present to the west of Iceland, we will have similar constraints to those found in the Southern Ocean. We are going to have to put an exclusion zone in place to avoid the drift ice.
The choice for the start date of 4 July was down to a question of timing. It offers the skippers sufficient time to test their monohulls after coming out of the yard following their winter refit, and it leaves them plenty of time to sort out any technical issues. The start and finish line off Les Sables d’Olonne will be in the same place as for the Vendée Globe.
Organisers will take proper precautions to host the Vendée–Arctic–Les Sables d’Olonne. There will not be a Race Village at the start and no reception for the general public. The sailors will be invited to make their way directly to the start line from their home port without stopping at a pontoon. Before the race, they will have to take a blood test and put themselves into self-isolation for five days.
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