Vendee Globe 2008/2009 | snart dags…

Gott gäng på presskonferensen i Paris här om dagen (video). Det verkar bli 30 båtar på linjen, och det är ingen dålig uppställning.

Kan bli spektakulärt. Resan är bokad och ackreditering är klar.

BASURKO Unai (Esp) / Pakea Bizkaia
BESTAVEN Yannick (Fra) / Energies Autour du Monde
BEYOU Jérémie (Fra) / Delta Dore
BOISSIERES Arnaud (Fra) / Akena Verandas
CAFFARI Dee (UK) / Aviva
DAVIES Samantha (UK) / Roxy
DEJEANTY Jean-Baptiste (Fra) / Maisonneuve
DE PAVANT Kito (Fra) / Groupe Bel
DESJOYEAUX Michel (Fra) / Foncia
DICK Jean-Pierre (Fra) / Paprec-Virbac
DINELLI Raphaël (Fra) / Fondation Ocean Vital
ELIES Yann (Fra) / Generali
GOLDING Mike (UK) / Ecover
GUILLEMOT Marc (Fra) / Safran
HATFIELD Derek (Can) / Spirit of Canada
JOSSE Sébastien (Fra) / BT
JOURDAIN Roland (Fra) / Veolia Environnement
LE CAM Jean (Fra) / VM Matériaux
LE CLEAC’H Armel (Fra) / Brit Air
MALBON Jonny (Fra) / Artemis
PEYRON Loïck (Fra) / Gitana Eighty
RIOU Vincent (Fra) / PRB
SEDLACEK Norbert (Aut) / Nauticsport-Kapsch
STAMM Bernard (SUI) / Cheminées Poujoulat
THIERCELIN Marc (Fra) / DCNS
THOMPSON Brian (UK) / Pindar
THOMSON Alex (UK) / Hugo Boss
WAVRE Dominique (SUI) / Temenos II
WHITE Steve (UK) / Spirit of Weymouth
WILSON Rich (USA) / Great American III

54 days to go to the start of yachting’s Everest

Today (Tuesday 16th September) in the presence of the thirty solo skippers who will be setting out from Les Sables d’Olonne on 9th November for the sixth edition of the Vendée Globe, Philippe de Villiers, President of the Vendée public-private partnership, the event organiser, presented the main features characterising this exceptional edition.

This year’s Vendée Globe is outstanding because of the number taking part and the quality of the line-up. Seven nationalities are represented: 17 French yachtsmen, 7 from Britain, 1 American, 2 Swiss sailors, 1 Canadian, 1 Spaniard and 1 Austrian.

A record number of entrants

Thirteen lined up at the start of the first edition of the Vendée Globe in 1989, while there were twenty in 2004. There will be thirty in 2008. Looking beyond the simple number, it is the quality of the contenders that impresses most. Two former winners (Vincent Riou and Michel Desjoyeaux), five skippers, who have already been on the podium in previous editions (Jean Le Cam, Mike Golding, Roland Jourdain, Loïck Peyron, Marc Thiercelin) and two round the world champions from other races (Jean-Pierre Dick in the Barcelona World Race and Bernard Stamm). Add to that the ambitious young guns from the Figaro circuit, such as Yann Eliès, Jérémie Beyou and Armel Le Cléac’h. Mix in a few, who are back again to add to their list of achievements, like Sébastien Josse, Dominique Wavre and Alex Thomson. Mix in a handful of highly experienced skippers, like Marc Guillemot, Brian Thompson, Jonny Malbon and Kito de Pavant. Stir them together and you get what has to be the most fascinating line-up in ocean racing.

To finish, season with a pinch of sailors, who are in it just as much for the adventure as for the technical challenge. Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty, Arnaud Boissières, Yannick Bestaven and Raphaël Dinelli are setting out to sail cleanly and to complete the circumnavigation with their own weapons and iron-willed determination. Do not forget that touch of exoticism thanks to the strong Basque identity asserted by Unai Basurko, the participation for the second consecutive time of the Austrian yachtsman, Norbert Sedlacek, Steve White, who is taking part thanks to his own untiring efforts, the presence of the North America with Rich Wilson and Derek Hatfield. And finally that vital feminine touch with the two British yachtswomen, Dee Caffari and Sam Davies.

In total, the 30 skippers taking part in this sixth Vendée Globe have sailed no fewer than 32 round the world voyages and 21 Vendée Globes. More than ever before in the history of the Vendée Globe, it will be the quality of the sailor, his experience, talent, and no doubt a bit of luck that will make all the difference (see list of entrants at the end of this press release).

An unprecedented technological challenge

20 monohulls from the latest generation have been specially designed and built for the 2008 Vendée Globe by architects from around the world. Two opposing design options: on the one hand, a large beam and power, on the other, the lightweight minimalist approach. All of the races in the 2008 season and the qualifying passages that the Vendée Globe organisers make compulsory for the skippers, have enabled the boats to be developed and improved. In the end, the fleet is fairly homogenous, made up of boats, which are very similar in terms of performance and which could well improve on the record set by Vincent Riou (87 days, 10h and 47 mins) by five days of sailing. We shall start to get some ideas about that in just a few weeks!

Improved safety arrangements

Some exceptional safety arrangements have been drawn up and put in place for the 2008 Vendée Globe, in order to ensure that the race takes place in the best safety conditions possible.

Here are the main features:

In order to avoid any collisions with drifting ice, the most southerly section of the course (the passage through the southern seas) has been moved a little further up with the establishment of compulsory waypoints, ice gates. The position of these gates will ensure that the competitors do not take any extreme options in the far south. Moreover, some of these gates are in place to allow boats to remain within reach of Australian and New Zealand rescue services, if they need to intervene.

A website dedicated to the safety of the Vendée globe skippers has been set up to allow the organisers and rescue centres around the world to be aware of the main details about each sailor and boat, thus saving precious time, if there is a need for them to intervene.

Alain Gautier, the winner of the 1992 Vendée Globe, will be offering his experience to the race directors to look after the safety of the competitors. On the other side of the world, the Australian, David Adams will be in charge of contact with the various rescue teams in the southern hemisphere. Finally, Doctor Jean-Yves Chauve, the doctor specialising in ocean racing, will be monitoring the medical well being of each competitor during the race.

Real time communications and special features for the general public

Four years ago, the official Vendée Globe website smashed records for the number of visitors and pages visited and established itself as the favourite means of communication for the general public and the media around the world, totalling 135 million pages visited.

For this sixth edition, a team of 14 journalists will be working together 7 days a week from five in the morning to nine in the evening to ensure the latest news is available, updating the website in real time and carrying out live radio sessions with the competitors.

For the first time this year, the editorial team will also be producing a weekly live radio broadcast from race HQ in Montparnasse, Paris.

The 2008 Vendée Globe website will be using the latest technology and offering some new features and pages:

Web TV with a daily summary of the race in pictures

· A daily radio broadcast with a live radio session with the skippers and regular guests
· Access to news of the race via mobile phones
· A major virtual race game allowing players to take part in real time
· A race viewer and rankings updated 4 times a day (4h00, 10h00, 14h00, 19h00 GMT).
· A website aimed at youngsters, «Junior Vendée Globe,» with fun( and educational content.

The Vendée Globe Village in Les Sables d’Olonne:

Philippe de Villiers stressed that the Vendée Globe is aimed at the general public and is a popular event. From 18th October, by when all the boats have to be moored at the Vendée Globe pontoon, until 9th November, the day the race starts, the Race Village will be welcoming the enthusiastic crowds turning up to support the skippers. The Port Olona Village focuses on the race and various themes to do with the sea with a series of special features.

These include:

An 800 square metre multimedia centre will present the race and the skippers using films, displays and models. A TV studio will be receiving guests live and this will be shown on a giant screen.

A 600 m2 educational area will be visited by around 10,000 invited schoolchildren, who will be able to discover the history of seafaring, the Vendée Globe, the maritime heritage, the environment and jobs in the marine sector.

The pontoons in Port Olona will be open to the public from 10h. For the first time, they will also be open in the evening until nine (local time) for an exceptional light and sound show, based around all the Vendée Globe boats. This will take place four times each evening between seven and nine.

Race HQ will open in Paris on 10th November. This 700-square metre area is being set up between the Tour Montparnasse and Galeries Lafayette. It will be welcoming up to 200 people each day between ten in the morning and seven in the evening to follow the radio sessions with the racers. Various special features around the race will be on show.

For such an exceptional race, an exceptional display was necessary: From 9th November, the day of the start, the official Vendée Globe race poster will cover 3300 m2 of the Western side of the Tour Montparnasse, 270 m up, between the 30th and 54th floor over an area more than 80 metres from top to bottom and more than fifty metres wide. This display will thus be seen by millions of Parisians and tourists from all over the world each day.