November 2016 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 9. Waterfront News The Start of the Vendee Globe is at Hand A Complete Picture Since the opening of the Vendée Globe
Race Village in Les Sables d’Olonne on 15th October, 28 IMOCAs out of 29 have been in place at their allocated space on the Port Olonna race dock. Only one boat was miss- ing, Sébastien Destremau’s TechnoFirst-fa- ceOcean. Destremeau was involved in a race against the clock since being dismasted on 31st August. With the boat fi nally arriving at 1000hrs this Monday morning, all of the IMOCAs taking part in this eighth Vendée Globe are now lined up ready to take the start line on Sunday 6th November. When his boat was dismasted just two
months before the start of the Vendée Globe during measurement checks, Destremau suf- fered a huge setback. But he always believed in his chances of taking part and today his unwavering faith has been rewarded. He had special dispensation until
2300hrs this Monday evening and so now the boat is here on time,” stressed Jacques Caraës, the Vendée Globe Race Director. Destremeau himself has fl own to Aus-
tralia for a few days to see his young family there, leaving his brother, Jean-Guillem take care of the 60-footer. Meantime many skippers are taking
advantage of a few days off to get some rest and spend time with the family before ev- erything goes crazy in the fi nal week before the start in Les Sables d’Olonne. North of 60
Four of the 29 skippers who will com-
pete in this edition will be over 60 years of age at the start of the race. For Pieter Heere- ma (NED) and Enda O’Coineen (IRL) it will be their fi rst attempt at the Vendée Globe but Rich Wilson (USA) and Nandor Fa (Hun) are returning skippers. Fa, 63, raced in the fi rst and second editions, fi nishing fi fth in the 1993 edition. Wilson, the oldest competitor this time at 66, sailed to ninth place in 2008- 9.
Tres Riche The Buff alo Grill on Les Sables d’Ol-
onne’s edge of town retail park has its best customer back. Before his epic 2008-2009 Vendée Globe race Rich Wilson was an al-
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most daily visitor. Although he adores every aspect of his life in the Vendée region, the American skipper does not like to eat too late in the evening. The Buff alo Grill serves a menu of American style meaty delicacies from 6pm each evening and that fi ts with Wilson’s evening schedule perfectly. He is, after all, a creature of habit, one
of the Vendée Globe’s real ‘thinkers’, an aca- demic whose abiding passion is not so much solo ocean racing but the Vendée Globe itself. His approach is steadfastly logical, process driven, perhaps even more so when it comes to the ‘scary bits’. He returned to Les Sables d’Olonne last August arriving so early because he felt he wanted to be sewn into the very fabric of this edition as early as possible, to build up with the race day by day, months before the fi rst nut and bolt of the race village was screwed together. And so by now he is all but adopted as
a local. They share a huge respect for and understanding of his 2008-9 race, recall- ing his emotional times on the ascent of the Atlantic when weather systems forced him further and further west. Running on ‘empty’, both emotionally and physically, the 62 year old found himself closer to his Boston home than he was to the Les Sables d’Olonne fi nish line. He found the reserves to fi nish and completed his Vendée Globe circumnavigation in 121 days. Wilson makes no secret of the fact he
wanted to be in Les Sables d’Olonne for as long as possible to tap into the huge passion and support for the race here, much more so
S H Y C Continued from Page 7.
they have moorings available. There are also services readily avail-
able. Stockton Springs Marine, located on Route 1, is a full service boat yard. The harbor master handles the hauling and in- spection of the moorings, which he puts back in the spring. He can also put in and take out spars.
The club has their own dock master and
he makes sure everything is working the way it should. He was the harbor master for the town for fi ve years before going to work for the yacht club. He lives on his boat during the summer making him available most of the time, plus it is an added security system. Before next spring, he plans to build two more fl oats to expand the number of boats that can tie up at the dock. Being open during the winter they hope
to host a number of events, such as a lecture series and their Friday night get togethers. They also would love to host outside events, such as weddings and other large gatherings. For those events those renting the facility would be able to bring in a caterer. For those looking for a great harbor to
sail out of and one of the deciding factors is a good yacht club, you need to take a look at the Stockton Harbor Yacht Club. They can be contacted at: 12 Cape Docks Road, Stock- ton Springs, Maine 04981, (207) 567-3008, e-mail stocktonharboryachtclub@gmail. com, and on the web at:
www.shyachtclub. org.
than remaining at home in the USA where he contends there is no sporting event which engenders such public support and passion, where a global adventure is taken to nations heart so deeply. In short: as simple as the concept of the Vendée Globe is – one man, one boat, around the world non stop and unasassisted - his compatriots at home still don’t ‘get’ the Vendée Globe. “Here the people on the dock who visit
know where the Kerguelen Islands are. They know which continent Cape Horn is on. They know that half of the fl eet won’t fi nish this race and they know that a skipper might not come home. They respect that. They are so
Continued on Page 10.
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