Vandee Globe Archive

The ability to repair at sea is absolutely fundamental to completing the Vendée Globe solo round the world race. Michel Desjoyeaux, the only skipper to twice win the legendary singlehanded race, which forbids any kind of outside assistance, often speaks […]

Their objective, rational views on the manner in which gains and losses come and go during the Vendée Globe solo round the world race, share the same cold logic. Small miles can be won and lost by long sleepless hours […]

Alex Thomson rounded Cape Horn at 1142hrs UTC this morning describing his successful passage of the Vendée Globe solo round the world race’s most notorious landmark as ‘the best Christmas present ever.’ Since the solo non stop race was first […]

The British skipper on Hugo Boss took 48 days 23 hours and 40 minutes to sail from Les Sables d’Olonne, where the race started on 6th November. He rounded the legendary cape one day 23 hours and eight minutes after […]

After a quick final night in the Pacific Ocean Alex Thomson is still on course to round Cape Horn around 1500hrs UTC this Christmas Day lying in second place in the Vendée Globe solo round the world race. Rival, race […]

As Queen Elizabeth II delivers her 64th Christmas Speech at 1500hrs GMT, addressing the British nation and the 52 member states of the Commonwealth, Alex Thomson, the British skipper lying second in the Vendée Globe solo round the world race […]

The British skipper on Hugo Boss took 48 days 23 hours and 40 minutes to sail from Les Sables d’Olonne, where the race started on 6th November. He rounded the legendary cape one day 23 hours and eight minutes after […]

Catalan sailor Didac Costa is in nineteenth place 6940 miles from the leader Currently less than ten miles behind Pieter Heerema in terms of distance to the finish, he is approaching the longitude of Cape Leeuwin. Conditions have not been […]

Armel Le Cléac’h achieved the first of his main goals when he lead the Vendée Globe out of the Pacific Ocean today. The French skipper, who continues to exhibit his absolutely single minded determination had the briefest of smiles and […]

Armel Le Cléac’h has just rounded Cape Horn. It is now time to choose an option for him. Cape Horn marks generally a radical change in the wind and sea conditions. Banque Populaire VIII had westerly winds around 15 to […]

Vendée Globe solo round the world race leader Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire VIII) passed Cape Horn at 1234hrs UTC this Friday afternoon (23rd December), setting a new reference time from Les Sables d’Olonne where the race started on Sunday […]

It’s a bit complicated to talk about all the sailors: some are sailing in the Pacific Ocean while others are in the Indian Ocean and even in the Atlantic Ocean. The fact is that most of you are currently progressing […]

Race leader Armel Le Cléac’h has around 100 miles and probably one more gybe to do before he passes Cape Horn in the lead of the Vendée Globe. Le Cléac’h is more than 600 miles ahead of Alex Thomson. The […]

The coastguards have reached Thomas Ruyant’s boat and two sailors have gone on board with a pump. Thomas told his team that he now hopes he can save his boat. They hope to reach Bluff at around 2100 UTC. Thomas […]

The NZ coastguard boat is on its way and should be alongside Le Souffle du Nord at around 1000 UTC. It is not too soon, as the situation has grown worse with the boat sinking her bow down into the […]

The wind gauge is indicating 40 knots. It suddenly got up. The boat accelerates violently. The shrill sound from the keel gets even more piercing. The boat slides down a wave like a toboggan on the snow. Inside you start […]

At 0500hrs UTC this morning French solo skipper Thomas Ruyant was less than eight miles from the shelter of New Zealand’s south island coast having nursed his badly damaged IMOCA over two hundred miles, as the boat threatened to split […]

Vendée Globe solo skipper Thomas Ruyant is edging towards South Island New Zealand and, ideally, the sanctuary of Bluff with as much urgency has he dare, nursing his broken IMOCA Le Souffle du Nord pour le Projet Imagine, which threatens […]

Each group of boats is now sailing in a different weather system. In the Pacific Ocean, 4 groups are on one side or the other of the two ridges of high pressure. Banque Populaire VIII is now sailing in a […]

The Virtual Vendée Globe leaders are currently slipping through a true bolthole. After this weekend’s descending tack, all the fleet forerunners are at the moment sailing along the ice limit. It is a hazardous position and many have been already […]

The skipper of Compagnie du Lit/Ville de Boulogne-Billancourt looks at the circumstances, which led to his boat dismasting on Saturday evening. Stéphane Le Diraison is expected to take over a week to reach Australia under jury rig. He explains how […]

Sodebo, official partner of the Vendée Globe gives a voice to its employees. Every week, discover one of Sodebo’s employees’ testament on how they feel about the race. I am a Vendée Globe enthusiast! I have been interested in this […]

Vendée Globe skipper Thomas Ruyant had his stricken IMOCA Le Souffle du Nord pour le Projet Imagine hove to, so slowed right down with the headsail backed and his mainsail down, as he rode out the worst of the weather, […]

At 1545 UTC on Sunday, the 60-foot monohull, Le Souffle du Nord pour Le Projet Imagine skippered by Thomas Ruyant, currently taking part in the eighth Vendée Globe, collided with a UFO. Thomas then discovered an ingress of water in […]

French skipper Stéphane Le Diraison became the third Vendée Globe skipper to have to withdraw from the solo round the world race due to mast or rig problems when his mast snapped into two pieces on Saturday evening. Le Diraison’s […]

It’s fiercely battling within the Virtual Vendée Globe leaders’ group in this 42nd day of race. Some changes have occurred but as it’s getting closer to the ice limit, the fleet will definitely get compressed and this will reshuffle the […]

Banque Populaire VIII and Hugo Boss are now sailing in two different weather systems. They have a high pressure ridge between them. Hugo Boss should finally get rid at the end of the day of the small low pressure system […]

French skipper Stephane Le Diraison, who was lying in 10th place in the Vendée Globe solo round with world race, is making a course for Melbourne, Australia 950 nautical miles away, after his IMOCA 60 Compagnie du Lit / Ville […]

At 1742 UTC on Saturday 17th December, Stéphane Le Diraison informed the Vendée Globe Race Directors that his Imoca Compagnie du Lit / Ville de Boulogne-Billancourt had dismasted. The skipper was not injured and sounded in good health on the […]

The sailing conditions in the Pacific Ocean are not easy to handle with several low pressure systems north of the Antarctic exclusion zone. The Pacific Ocean is not simple to negotiate. All the boats were welcomed in the biggest Ocean […]

Sometimes one has to gain a bit of altitude to get a better vision upon the things. Gaining height to discover that, wherever your are on the big planetary chessboard, this ultimate kind of e-venture has to be lived, shared […]

Hungarian skipper Nandor Fa (Spirit of Hungary) crossed the longitude of Cape Leeuwin, the second Great Cape of the Vendee Globe solo round the world race at 1910hrs UTC last night in 11th position. In fact the 62 years old […]

British skipper Mike Golding completed the 2004-2005 Vendée Globe race after 88 days to finish in third place, while in the 2012-2013 edition, Alex Thomson achieved the same placing after 80 days of racing. Today the two came together, although […]

There won’t be any rest in the next days for the Virtual Vendée Globe players, being they in front, in the middle or in the back. The weather forecast should indeed make the strategy tortuous. Which route to take in […]

Whether we are talking about the Indian or the Pacific, there is hardly ever any colour in the Southern Ocean, which is misty for the leaders, very windy for the pack east of the Kerguelens, rainy for the chasing boats […]

Vendée Globe pacemaker Armel Le Cleac’h anticipates rounding Cape Horn sometime after December 22nd but, now with a lead of 360 miles over Briton Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) the solo skipper of Banque Populaire VIII reflected early this morning on […]

Persistent light winds in the middle of the Pacific, nearly half way between New Zealand and Cape Horn means the chasing pack, led by rookie Paul Meilhat (SMA), are slashing their distance to the two Vendée Globe leaders Alex Thomson […]

You’ve been sailing so fast that we haven’t noticed that the Virtual Vendée Globe forerunners are now sailing in the West. 10,200 of you have nowadays crossed the antemeridian. This 180° longitude, opposite to the Greenwich Meridian, marks the coming […]

Long thought of as the unknown continent, the Antarctic remains practically uninhabited, with the exception of a few thousand scientists and millions of penguins. 25x the surface area of France, 14,000 sq km of land covered in ice averaging 1.6km […]

At the front of the fleet, the Pacific is not being very helpful to the two leaders, with Armel Le Cléac’h some 300 miles ahead of Alex Thomson. In light airs, the pair are finding it hard to get out […]

The last 24 hours have been the slowest yet during this Vendee Globe solo round the world race. The only British skipper in the race, who on 21 November sailed 535.34 nautical miles to surpass François Gabart’s 24 hour record, […]

Today for Vendée Live in English, New Zealander Mike Sanderson was present in the studio and was able to talk to Britain’s Alex Thomson racing aboard his black Hugo Boss and fellow Kiwi, Conrad Colman. Mike Sanderson: The whole of […]

If British skipper Alex Thomson aged 42 ¾ , the second placed Vendée Globe skipper, wrote to Santa Claus?…… According to the current weather models, and as also supported today by the British skipper Alex Thomson in his Vendée LIVE […]

There is a fair chance that within the 438,000 virtual Vendée Globe players, your rank does not answer your expectations. They are however other ways to refine and consider it. Anyone has alternative rankings, being at local, regional, national or […]

The two pairs of racers out in front avoided the hammering from the big blow in the Southern Ocean, while the three skippers chasing them had to deal with the heavy weather for two days with winds in excess of […]

After spending some of yesterday during the day and evening hove to, slowed to speeds of just two or three knots as he sought to reduce the level of danger he faces negotiating a violent storm, Yann Eliès, the fifth […]

At 0930 UTC this morning (Monday), while he was sailing 600 miles west of the longitude of Cape Leeuwin, Sébastien Josse contacted his shore team to inform them that he had suffered major damage to the port foil on Edmond […]

Unprecedented footage of the Vendée Globe frontrunners smashing through the Southern Ocean has been captured on camera for the first time in the solo round the world yacht race’s 27-year history. The stunning images of French sailor Armel Le Cléac’h […]

Vendée Globe

Since the Spaniard, Didac Costa, made the transition into the southern hemisphere, the latter seems to be undergoing great upheaval. Indeed, with less than a month until the southern summer (21 December), the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean have […]

The British skipper Alex Thomson is still leading the way this morning as they prepare to enter the Indian Ocean on Friday morning after nineteen days of racing. They had an incredible route down through the Atlantic, but the situation […]

After Alan Roura (La Fabrique) and Pieter Heerema crossed the Equator at 0256 UTC during the night and at 2000 UTC yesterday evening respectively, there are now only three sailors left continuing southwards in the Northern Hemisphere – Enda O […]

Competitors of the Vendee Globe set sail for the eighth edition of the non-stop solo round the world race on Sunday. Thousands of spectators ashore and afloat gathered to see the departure in the French port of Les Sables d’Olonne. […]