Left: it’s easy to grasp why the Vendée Globe attracts a million times more public interest than any other yachting event bar none. Every entry is a human story and this year 40 human stories crossed the startline. This is Violette Dorange – aged 22 – gathering in the foot of her chute a few hours after the light start of this year’s race; several of the Imoca skippers carried a spinnaker this year with light air forecast down to the Equator – mainly non-foiling entries keen to make a jump on their foiling rivals while they could. Dorange is racing Devenir, the iconic ex-Foncia in which Michel Desjoyeaux won the 2008 VG at a trot. Since then Devenir (a youth employment project funded by McDonald’s) has raced under 10 different monikers – and almost won the 2020 VG as Yes We Cam! A special yacht now into her 18th (sic) season. Another Vendée legend, with one of the greatest human stories… Yves Parlier later turned his attention to wind assist solutions for diverse craft, among them his successful get-you-home kite pack carried by Imocas and offshore multihulls; his test-mule (above) began life as an attempt to create a big cat able to compete against modern tris… nope
Antoine Auriol, our mediaman who lives in Cadiz, soon joined us and together we prepared to recover our trimaran.’ The trimaran was soon righted and towed in, but Thibaut was
then waiting for the power trimaran Express – standing by in Les Sables d’Olonne for the Vendée Globe – to tow Solidaires to St-Malo. ‘The mast is broken and there is significant damage to the boat and equipment. Everything outside is broken, except for the boom and two sails, otherwise there is nothing left.’
To qualify for the Vendée Globe 2028 As in 2024, the maximum entry for VG 2028 will be 40 boats and all must meet the soon to be updated Imoca class rules. The aim is to extend the life of the boats, so that all Imocas with a certificate issued after 1 January 2005 will remain eligible for the Vendée Globe 2028, as for the current edition. One big step is that in 2028 the intention is to equip the entire
fleet with oceanographic measuring instruments approved by UNESCO. For this 2024 edition the target was to equip 50 per cent of the fleet. Objective achieved: 25 skippers have embarked with sets of oceanographic measuring instruments. This year’s four-year qualification process for skippers remains
in place. For 2028 there will be two conditions to meet in order to qualify: the first is to finish ranked in a Grade 2 solo race of the Imoca Globe Series, in a time not exceeding that of the winner plus a further 50 per cent. Skippers will also accrue points each time they compete in the Globe Series, starting with the Vendée Globe 2024 and ending on 30 June 2028. The points weighting will reflect the races sailed. The world tours
(Vendée Globe, The Ocean Race) are ranked grade 1; other races over 2,500 miles, such as the Route du Rhum, Grade 2; races between 2,500 and 1,000 miles, Grade 3; and under 1,000nm Grade 4. At the end of the four-year cycle the skipper’s lowest- scoring three races are removed from the final tally. This allows people to not compete in some events and/or to stay inactive for a reasonable period of time. The organiser will continue to allocate up to three ‘wild card’ entries at the end of the qualification process. But the most important change is that no longer will building a new Imoca guarantee you an entry into the Vendée Globe!!!
Crazy Before the start of the 2024 VG we were already talking about seven or eight new Imocas in development for 2028, including a new Banque Populaire expected to be skippered by Franck Cammas. Multiplast are already planning for the build of the new Banque Pop, followed by a new Japanese DMG Mori built in the same tooling. CDK also have several build slots reserved and paid for.
What is going to change in the Imoca rule? The revised Imoca rule for 2028 was published in July. Future designs will be quite similar to current Imocas, but there are three major innovations… First, minimum engine power which is increased to 45hp from
37hp; Imocas, especially foilers, are very difficult to manoeuvre in port and in emergency situations especially in strong winds. The next boats will also have a new mast design, the first being
delivered in April 2025. This is overdue… the new mast will be SEAHORSE 23
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