The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop round the world yacht race. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. It is named after the Département of Vendée, in France, where the race starts and ends. The Vendée Globe is considered an extreme quest of individual endurance and the ultimate test in ocean racing.
Sir William Robert Patrick Knox-Johnston is a British sailor. In 1969, he became the first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe. Along with Sir Peter Blake, he won the second Jules Verne Trophy, for which they were also named the ISAF Yachtsman of the Year award. In 2007, at the age of 67, he set a record as the oldest yachtsman to complete a round the world solo voyage in the Velux 5 Oceans Race.
The IMOCA, is a 60ft development class monohull sailing yacht administered by the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA). The class pinnacle event are single or two person ocean races, such as the Route du Rhum and the Vendée Globe and this has been intimately linked to design development within the class.
The Route du Rhum is a transatlantic single-handed yacht race, which takes place every four years in November. The course is between Saint Malo, Brittany, Metropolitan France and Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, overseas France. The first competition, won by Canadian Michael Birch in his boat Olympus Photo by a margin of 98 seconds over second-placed Michel Malinovsky in Kriter V, was held in 1978, and was marked in tragedy by the disappearance of Alain Colas during the crossing.
Alex Thomson is a British yachtsman.
Class40 is a class of monohull sailboat and a yacht primarily used for short handed offshore and coastal racing. The class is administered by International Class40 Association which is recognised by the World Sailing.
ORMA 60 is a class of sailing trimarans administered by the Ocean Racing Multihull Association (ORMA) that created in 1996 by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) within the sport of sailing. The boats were built to a box rule that permitted 60 feet length and beam and a 100-foot mast.
Loïck Peyron is a French yachtsman, younger brother of the yachtsman Bruno Peyron.
VPLP design is a French-based naval architectural firm founded by Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prévost, responsible for designing some of the world's most innovative racing boats. Their designs presently hold many of the World Speed Sailing records.
Thomas Coville is a French yacht racer.
Virtual Regatta is an online web browser sailing race simulator, though the development of a mobile app version of the game has seen a significant number of users shift to this platform in recent years.
Acapella is an historic trimaran sailboat, designed and built by Walter Greene in 1978 and later renamed Olympus Photo.
Alex Pella is a Spanish yachtsman. In 2014 he became the first and only Spanish to win a transoceanic single-handed race, the Route du Rhum. Alex Pella made history once again, on the 26th of January 2017, when he broke, with the rest of the team, the absolute round-the-world speed sailing record, known as the Jules Verne Trophy., aboard the sophisticated maxi-multihull IDEC 3. They circumnavigated the planet in 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds.
Alain Gautier is a French professional offshore sailor. He is best known for winning the 1992–1993 Vendée Globe. He currently heads Lanic Sport Development which was founded in 1989, specializing in the preparation of and assistance to offshore racing teams including those of Ellen MacArthur in 1998 and Isabelle Joschke in 2019. He headed with Bertrand Pacé the Aleph challenge for the 34th America's Cup in 2013 but the team never got the funding required. It competed in the America's Cup World Series on supplied AC45 catamarans before withdrawing.
Foncia 2 is a IMOCA 60 Class offshore racing monohull sailing yacht launched 2010.
Philippe Poupon, is a French professional offshore yachtsman, born on 23 October 1954 in Quimper, France. He competed 1989–1990 Vendée Globe where he was rescued by Loick Peyron he then went on to finish 3rd in the 1992–1993 Vendée Globe which is the pinnacle solo round the world race. He is one of the most successful sailors with three Figaro wins to his credit, winner of the Ostar, the Route du Rhum, the Route of Discovery, the record of the Atlantic. His early experienced was a crew for Eric Tabarly onboard Pen Duick VI for the 1977–1978 Whitbread Round the World Race. Since 2009 he has embarked on his boat Fleur Australe on an expeditions aimed at raising public awareness of the protection of the oceans.
Paul Meilhat is a French sailor and navigator. He was a high level 49er dinghy sailor with Olympic aspirations before moving into offshore sailing. From 2015 to the end of 2018 he was skipper of the IMOCA 60 - SMA and he competed in the Vendee Globe.
Mike Birch was a Canadian navigator.
The Route du Rhum is a single person transatlantic race the 2022 race was the 12th edition and had six classes with 138 boats taking part. The events status as a qualification for event for the Vendee Globe lead to the largest most competitive fleet of IMOCA 60 class yachts gathered todate. In his first attempt at the race Charles Caudrelier took line honours in a new race record time on the Maxi Multihull Edmond de Rothschild in six days, 19 hours and 47 minutes.
The Route du Rhum is a single person transatlantic race the 2018 race was the 11th edition and had six classes with 123 boats taking part.
Mike Birch - Olympus
Mike Birch (CAN)
Michel Malinovski (FRA)
Philip S. Weld (USA)
Jacquin Coello (ESP)
Klaus Schrodt (GER)
Jean-Jacques Vuylsteker (BEL)
Paolo Martinoni (ITA)
Herman Brinks (NED)
Pierre Fehlmann (SUI)