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.
The sport and practice of single-handed sailing or solo sailing is sailing with only one crewmember. The term usually refers to ocean and long-distance sailing and is used in competitive sailing and among cruisers.
The IMOCA, is a 60ft development class monohull sailing yacht governed 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 class is recognised by World Sailing.
Mike Golding is an English yachtsman, born in Great Yarmouth and educated at Reading Blue Coat School. He is one of the few yachtsmen to have raced round the world non-stop in both directions. He held the solo record for sailing round the world westabout between 1994 and 2000.
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.
Bruce Schwab is an American sailor and ocean racer. He circumnavigated the globe twice on his Open 60 racing yacht OceanPlanet becoming the 240th and then the 254th solo sailor to do so. Schwab is the first American to officially complete the famous Vendée Globe Race (2004–2005).
Samantha "Sam" Davies is an English yachtswoman.
The first around the world sailing record for circumnavigation of the world can be attributed to the surviving crew of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition, including the last captain Juan Sebastián Elcano who completed their journey in 1522.
Mike Plant was an American single-handed yachtsman. He competed in the BOC Challenge and the Vendée Globe, a single-handed non-stop race around the world. After five years of single-handed sailing, he logged over 100,000 miles at sea and set the record for the fastest solo circumnavigation by an American, with a time of 135 days. In 1992, Plant was preparing to compete in his second Vendée Globe and fourth single-handed circumnavigation aboard Coyote, a powerful Open 60 sloop, and was lost at sea while delivering Coyote from New York Harbor to Les Sables-d'Olonne, France for the starting line. Coyote was found 32 days later, turtled, without the 8,400 lb lead bulb that should have been attached to the keel. At the time of his death, Plant was one of only six people to have completed three solo circumnavigations, joining Bertie Reed, Guy Bernardin, Jean-Luc Van Den Heede and Philippe Jeantot. and Jon Sanders. On September 6, 2002, Plant was inducted into The Single-Handed Sailing Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.
François Gabart is a French professional offshore yacht racer who won the 2012-13 Vendée Globe in 78 days 2 hours 16 minutes, setting a new race record. In 2017 he set the speed record for sailing around the globe, in 42 days 16 hours 40 minutes and 35 seconds, finishing on 17 December. He was sailing solo in the 30 metre Trimaran Macif.
Dídac Costa is a yachtsman who competes in ocean racing. He was the first Catalan and the second Spanish yachtsman to finish the Vendée Globe, the non-stop solo round-the-world sailing world race. He was the first Spanish yachtsman to complete the two IMOCA 60 class round-the-world yacht races: solo in the 2016–2017 Vendée Globe and double-handed at the Barcelona World Race 2014–15. He is the protagonist of the feature documentary Open Ocean (2021), which chronicles his 2016-17 and 2020-21 Vendée Globe campaigns.
The 2020–2021 Vendée Globe was a non-stop round the world yacht race for IMOCA 60 class yachts crewed by only one person. It was the ninth edition of the race, which started and finished in Les Sables-d'Olonne, France. The race began on 8 November 2020, with the first finishers completing the course on 27 January 2021 with the 25th and final yacht to complete the race arrived on 5 March 2021.
Yannick Bestaven is a French offshore sailor. He won the Transat 6.50 in 2001, was twice winner of the Transat Jacques-Vabre, and won the Vendée Globe in 2020-21.
The 2012–2013 Vendée Globe was a non-stop solo Round the World Yacht Race for IMOCA 60 class yachts and the seventh edition of the race.
The 2000–2001 Vendée Globe is a non-stop solo Round the World Yacht Race for IMOCA 50 and IMOCA 60 class yachts. This is the fourth edition of the race starting on the 9th November 2000 from Les Sables-d'Olonne.
The 1996–1997 Vendée Globe is a non-stop solo Round the World Yacht Race for IMOCA 50 and IMOCA 60 class yachts this is the third edition of the race starting on the th November 1996 from Les Sables-d'Olonne.
The 1992–1993 Vendée Globe was a non-stop solo Round the World Yacht Race for IMOCA 50 and IMOCA 60 class yachts, and started on the 22nd November 1992 from Les Sables-d'Olonne.
Norbert Sedlacek Koch is an Austrian adventurer and offshore sailor born on 27 January 1962 in Vienna.
Bertrand de Broc is a French professional sailor born on 23 September 1960 in Quimper. He has long resided in Combrit in the Finistère. He has competed in four Vendee Globe's completing the 2012-2013 Vendée Globe in 9th place.
The IMOCA 60 class yacht SODEBO savourons la vie, 25 was designed by Finot-Conq and launched in October 1998, after being made by Kirié in France. The boat was lost in 2016 while on charter to Richard Tolkien when he abandoned ship after suffering an injury to the head. The wreckage was found near Porto Rico.
