Above: while Charlie Dalin was tacking and gybing on every shift as he tried to build a winning cushion over the boats behind him, the star of the final weeks of the Vendée was little-known (before the start) British yachtswoman Pip Hare. By successfully replacing a rudder in front of the camera mid-ocean Hare drew a new army of followers and when she reached Les Sables (in 19th place!) she got a full house Vendée Globe winner’s welcome. Left: with 80nm left Boris Herrmann was set to win the Vendée Globe… Then while resting he sailed square into a Spanish fishing boat, compounding the felony by briefly claiming the other boat had its AIS switched off. That did not go down well at all… but they quickly kissed and made up
that has not been the case. There are several different reasons for this… The weather was not really favourable,
raced in 2008 but it had been a short race for me because I broke the mast. It was a frustration that I could not bear for long. ‘I did some races again and I won some.
But it was difficult in 2008. I thought if I finished the 2020 VG I could be in the top five. But as the race went on I got more involved with the frontrunners. There were retirements, breakages… This is part of the Vendée Globe. It is a marathon. ‘In the South Seas I was able to acceler-
ate to catch up with Thomas and Charlie and I took the lead. I thought there might be a way to get there! You always revise your goals a little above those you can achieve. I went full throttle towards the Horn. But I admit that when I was off the coast of Brazil without wind and I lost my 450nm lead I believed it was over for me…
44 SEAHORSE ‘But of course for all the sailors who
cross the finish line of the Vendée Globe it is also a victory. From the first to the last, everyone won!’ At the final ranking Jean Le Cam is
fourth, Boris Herrmann fifth (a collision with a fishing boat in Biscay cost him a podium… or even the race!) The sixth place of LinkedOut is of course deceptive as Thomas Ruyant always sailed at the front. Groupe Apicil, seventh, is the first non-foiler to cross the line, less than an hour in front of the Italian Giancarlo Pedote on his foiler Prysmian Group.
What else to remember about the ninth Vendée Globe? Before the start we thought the new foilers would show a real difference in speed but
their big foils are not useful in the strong seas of the great south, rather a handicap, even a danger. In addition, the fleet of new foilers was decimated, even Hugo Boss and Arkea Paprec, both boats with C-foils that can be almost fully retracted. Corum L’Epargne was going really fast
but broke its mast very early on; Charal left Les Sables the second time with a considerable delay, Apivia and LinkedOut lost the use of their port foils. Of the other new designs Armel
Tripon’s L’Occitane, with its innovative scow hull designed by Sam Manuard and high-set foils, certainly proved its abilities. The second violent front that crossed the fleet south of Biscay caused damage on L’Occitane, as on some other boats: a car- bon stringer failed and was later repaired but more significant was the breakage of
YVAN ZEDDA/ALEA
RICHARD LANGDON/OCEAN HARE
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