On Monday, November 8, the 2020 edition of the VENDEE GLOBE Around The World sailing race begins from the French town of Les Sables d’Olonne.  This race is the Holy Grail of Solo Sailors. 33 boats are registered for the race that will sail down the Atlantic, around the Cape of Good Hope, across the Southern Ocean passing south of Australia, rounding Cape Horn, then climbing up the Atlantic back to France. The course is 40,000 kilometres and will take the fastest boats about 75 days to complete. 

The current record dates back to 2016-17 and is held by the Breton Armel Le Céac’h, who completed the 24,000 nautical miles (over 44,400 kilometres) in 74 days, 3 hours, 35 minutes and 46 seconds, after an interminable battle with the Brit Alex Thomson, who secured the second spot.

Most of the skippers are French but there are four Brits, one Italian, one Swiss, one Japanese, one German, one Fin,  and one Spaniard.  6 of the sailors are women

The boats are high tech sailing machines, 60 feet long, weighing 9 tones, and capable of maintaining 30 Knot speeds for extended periods of time. 

Single handed! No Stops! This race is Epic. If you are interested in following the race you can download the VENDEE GLOBE 2020 App from the App Store for free. I will post regular updates on this Blog which interested parties may enjoy. Here is one of the boats. 

https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en