History
Philippe Jeantot of France won the first two BOC Challenge races but didn't like the way that race was broken into stages. He felt a non-stop around-the-world race would be much more of a challenge and, since none existed at the time, he decided to start his own.
The result was the Vendée Globe. The race was inaugurated on November 26, 1989, when 13 sailors left the French port of Les Sables d'Olonne, on the Bay of Biscay.
The course is essentially an old clipper ship route that goes west-to-east around the Cape of Good Hope and south of Australia to Cape Horn and then up through the Atlantic back to France. Competitors are not allowed to receive any outside assistance and may not draw up beside a dock or another vessel, although they are allowed to stop at anchor.
Seven of the 13 starters finished the first race. Titouan Lamazou led most of the way, though he finished less than a day ahead of Loïck Peyron. Philippe Poupon, whose vessel capsized in the Southern Ocean, was rescued by Peyron.
The second race, in 1992, drew 15 entrants from seven countries. One of them, Mike Plant of the United States, was lost at sea while sailing across the Atlantic to France, so there were only 14 starters. Just four days into the race, the body of Nigel Burgess was found off the coast of Spain. He had presumably fallen overboard in the heavy weather that plagued the first several days of the race.
Seven entrants finished. Alan Gautier led for virtually the entire race. His first challenger, Bertrand de Broc, was forced out in New Zealand. Then Philippe Poupon gave chase, but his boat was dismasted near the finish and Jean-Luc van den Heede ended up in second place, with Poupon taking third.
The third Vendée Globe began in November of 1996. Weather was again bad at the start, knocking out two of the fifteen starters very quickly. Six others fell victim to the always dangerous Southern Ocean. Two suffered rudder damage from ice and three capsized. Gerry Roufs of Canada and his Groupe LG2 simply vanished.
Christophe Auguin in Geodis had a rather easy victory, finishing nearly eight days ahead of his nearest rival. Catherine Chabaud, who placed sixth, was the first woman to finish the race.
New rules governing stability were in place for the race that started in 2000. A record 24 sailors and boats entered. There was an early duel between two Frenchmen, Yves Parlier and Michel Desjoyeaux. However, Parlier was forced to drop back when his craft was dismasted and Ellen MacArthur then gave chase to Desjoyeaux. After they re-entered the Atlantic, MacArthur caught up and they exchanged the lead several times.
But MacArthur had to slow down to make repairs after her boat hit a semi-submerged container and Desjoyeaux got home first. MacArthur, at 24 the youingest sailor ever to start the race, finished second. Desjoyeaux broke Christophe Auguin's record by more than 12 days. The top four finishers all had faster times than Auguin's former record.
In 2004, the race was limited to vessels in the International Monohull Offshore Class Association's Open 60. Previously, Open 50 class boats had also been allowed. There were 20 entrants in this fifth edition of the Vendée Globe.
The race began on November 7 and all of the starters lasted until December 5, when Hervé Laurent withdrew. Four more entrants were forced out over the next two weeks.
For most of the 27,000 miles, the race was a duel between Jean le Cam and Vincent Riou. Le Cam led most of the way, but shortly after they re-entered the Atlantic Riou took the lead and Mike Golding began moving up on the leaders.
On January 10, 2006, Golding went into the lead for a short time, dropping back into third after his mainsail halyard broke. Le Cam went back into the lead the following day, but held it for only about eight hours. Riou then became the leader for nearly three weeks.
The morning of January 31, le Cam again went ahead of Riou. This time, he was able the lead for only five hours. Riou reached the finish first on February 2, about 6 1/2 hours ahead of le Cam. Golding finished third, another 22 hours back.
The top five finishers all broke the record that had been set in 2002. Riou's time was more than 5 days better than that record.
The next Vendée Globe will begin in November 2008 and finish in February of 2009.