Vendée Globe: the cruel Atlantic

It was baptism of fire for the 33 skippers taking part in the Vendée Globe.

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After an emotional departure from Les Sables d’Olonne on Sunday 8 November, they enjoyed two days of favourable conditions before sailing straight into a 45-knot front, with gusts over 50 knots and waves of seven metres. Even for these experienced sailors, it was a battering that left many of them shaken. Boris Hermann on SeaExplorer/Yacht Club de Monaco admitted he spent most of the night “consumed by doubts” over whether he was pushing too hard in the conditions. Sébastien Simon on Arkea Paprec was seasick for the first time in his life. Clarisse Crémer sounded close to tears. The storm caused damage across the fleet, notably for Armel Tripon on L’Occitane en Provence, one of the new foiling yachts launched this year. He turned for Spain to make repairs, but after considering the difficulty of picking up a mooring on his own in an IMOCA 60, thought better of it and turned south again with the rest of the fleet, hoping to make repairs on the go. All the skippers reported having had little or no sleep since the start.