June 2017 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 19. The Curtain Comes Down on Vendee Globe The closing ceremony for the 8th


Vendée Globe took place on Saturday 13th May in Les Sables d’Olonne, in the presence of the 29 skippers that took part. A highly emotional event, this exceptional evening brought this magnifi cent edition to an end. You can already note down the date for the 9th Vendée Globe, which will begin at 1202 hrs UTC on 8th November 2020. The eighth Vendée Globe is now offi -


cially over. The heroes celebrated together for one last time in les Sables d’Olonne, the start and fi nish location for the non-stop solo round the world race. Organised by the Vendée Council, the closing ceremony allowed everyone to look back at the great adventure of this solo round the world voy- age. Emotions were running high for the 29 Vendée Globe skippers, who were present. “We’re pleased to be back in Les Sables d’Olonne”


The fi rst people to go up on the stage


were the eleven skippers forced to retire: Paul Meilhat, Morgan Lagravière, Sébas- tien Josse, Kojiro Shiraishi, Bertrand de


IC 37 One-Design Continued from Page 15.


respectively. “We were overwhelmed with the re-


sponse to our initial request for proposals,” says NYYC Sailing Committee Chair Paul M. Zabetakis, who skippered the Club’s Invitational Cup entry in 2015. “We feel that’s a strong indication that there’s an opportunity in sailing for the next great one-design class. While our primary goal is to create a boat that will sustain the Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup well into the future, we also hope that the mo- mentum provided by the Club’s investment will establish a class that will reinvigorate a general interest in Corinthian yachting in larger boats.” While the class rules are a work in prog-


ress, the Club is committed to sustaining the amateur focus of the Invitational Cup and promoting the inclusion of women and youth sailors. With the design selected, the next step


is to choose a builder. Experienced yacht builders from across North American and around the globe have expressed an inter- est. The Club expects to make that decision within the next few weeks. “While we have more than two years


until the start of the 2019 Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, our timeline doesn’t have a lot of margin for error,” says NYYC member Arthur J. Santry, who chaired the IC37 Selection Subcommittee. “We hope to start the tooling by mid July and sea trial the fi rst boat before the end of the year.”


Commodore Lotz’ connection to the


Rolex New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup goes back to the inaugural competition in 2009, which he won while representing the host club. He also claimed two Swan 42 National Championships. “Each time we run the Invitational Cup,


the bar gets raised,” Lotz says. “The teams come to Newport better prepared and the competition gets more intense. With the IC37 we have the perfect boat to continue that trend. We expect the 2017 event, the fi nal one for the Swan 42, to be the most competitive yet. We anticipate the switch to the IC37 will increase both the interest in competing and the eff ort each invited club puts toward winning Corinthian sailing’s top prize.”


Broc, Stéphane Le Diraison, Vincent Riou, Thomas Ruyant, Enda O’Coineen, Thomas Ruyant and Tanguy de Lamotte. Their re- spective performances remind us how hard it is to take part in the Vendée Globe, which requires a huge investment and personal sacrifi ce. The sailors ranked from 11th to 18th


were the next to be invited onto the stage. They were Fabrice Amedeo, Alan Roura, Rich Wilson, Didac Costa, Romain Attana- sio, Conrad Colman, Pieter Heerema and Sébastien Destremau. “I’m very honoured to be here and we are all delighted to be back in Les Sables d’Olonne. It’s been a while since we last saw each other. This evening the tears welled up,” declared the Swiss sailor Alan Roura, summing up perfectly the general feeling. After that, the skippers ranked from


4th to 10th were presented – Jean-Pierre Dick, Yann Eliès, Jean Le Cam, Louis Bur- ton, Nandor Fa, Eric Bellion and Arnaud Boissières. “This ceremony has allowed us to return to those unforgettable moments we experienced last winter. This evening, I am proud to be alongside sailors, who were


Armel Le Cleac'h with his fi rst place trophy for winning the 8th Vendee Globe.


idols, when I was small,” declared Louis Burton. “We get a wave of emotions like those we felt during the race and the prepa- ration,” added Yann Eliès. “That gives us the desire to look ahead to the ninth edition.” Eric Bellion, 9th and fi rst rookie in the last


Vendée Globe, was awarded a special trophy by Bruno Retailleau, President of the Pays de la Loire Region. “I discovered myself during this Vendée Globe. It’s fabulous to


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