Vendée Globe 2008/2009
The Vendée Globe is a non-stop one-handed sailing regatta around the world, which was held for the sixth time in 2008/2009 . Founded in 1989 by Philippe Jeantot , the regatta takes place every four years. This time the start was on November 9, 2008 at 1 p.m. in Les Sables-d'Olonne (France). The winner of the 2008/2009 event is Michel Desjoyeaux ( Foncia ), who made the non-stop circumnavigation of the world with a total distance of 28,300 nautical miles when he won on February 1, 2009 at 4:11 p.m. in 84 days, 3 hours, 9 minutes and 8 seconds, which corresponds to an extraordinary average speed of 14.02 knots.
Regatta course
The start and finish is Les Sables-d'Olonne on the French Atlantic coast. The route goes around the Cape of Good Hope , Leeuwin and Hoorn on port and Antarctica on starboard . The compulsory route points were determined by the race management in cooperation with the participants. The winning time of the last competition was 87 days, 10 hours, 47 minutes and 55 seconds (Vincent Riou, "PRB", 2004/2005), average speed 11.3 knots.
Boat class
The participating yachts are monohulls between 59 and 60 feet long, or approximately 18 meters. They must comply with the rules of IMOCA for boats of the Open 60 class.
Attendees
Thirty skippers signed up for this race (including two women). Traditionally, most of the participants came from France . The only German-speaking participant was Norbert Sedlacek from Austria. Bernard Stamm and Dominique Wavre from Switzerland took part. In order to be admitted, participants had to complete a qualifying race.
The 30 participants:
course
After a stormy start immediately after the start of the race in the Bay of Biscay , where mast breaks on several yachts and collisions occurred with wind speeds of up to 55 knots and seven meters of swell, the participants passed Madeira , the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, the intra-tropical convergence zone (also known as doldrums in the Atlantic Ocean ), the equator and the zone of the trade winds around the Cape of Good Hope . The next course stage ran eastwards between the 40th and 50th parallel south, that is in the zone of the Antarctic icebergs , towards Australia (Cape Leeuwin). The prevailing storms here claimed new victims. In addition to the two Swiss participants Dominique Wavre and Bernard Stamm, three other boatmen have now suffered damage to their racing equipment: Jean-Pierre Dick ( Paprec-Virbac 2 ) broke the rudder while in the lead, Mike Golding ( Ecover ), who had been the first to report a broken mast, Baptiste Dejeanty ( Maisonneuve ) gave up after a furious race to catch up because of various problems with the two autopilots and the rigging.
South of Cape Leeuwin , Yann Eliès ( Generali ) broke his thigh while working on the forecastle and had to be evacuated by the Australian frigate HMAS Arunta . The race management had previously instructed Marc Guillemot ( Safran ) to come to Eliès as the closest race participant. The boat, the Generali , initially left to its own devices, could no longer be salvaged because the radio signal system has apparently failed and the boat could therefore no longer be located. It was given lost.
Lying in third place, a few days later the boat of Sebastian Josse ( BT ) was listed so badly by an extreme wave that the mast plunged into the water and all tracking devices were torn off. As Josse found cracks on the cabin deck and the mast bracket as well as damage to the port steering gear during a closer examination of the damage, he gave up the race and headed for New Zealand . Also due to an extreme wave, Derek Hatfield's boat ( Algimouss ) also got a strong list with mast immersion, which tore off the port rigging.
On January 1, 2009, Jean-Pierre Dick ( Paprec-Virbac 2 ) finally had to give up the race. A few days earlier the starboard rudder had broken, which he could still repair with on-board resources. On New Year's Day, after the collision with an unknown floating object, the port rudder tore off and Dick decided to call at the next port for safety reasons. On January 4th, Jonny Malbon ( Artemis ) also had to give up the sails: Irreparable damage to the mainsail and various other problems forced him to give up.
Jean le Cam ( VM Materiaux ) gave an emergency signal in the early morning of January 6th - in third place. A little later, the automatic emergency signal system was activated. Then the contact broke off. An aircraft belonging to the Chilean naval rescue units flew over the scene of the accident in the morning and found that the yacht had capsized, lost the keel bomb and drifted upwards. An oil tanker also set course for Le Cam's last known position 200 nautical miles west of Cape Horn. At first there was uncertainty about the fate of the skipper. Le Cam was rescued at 18:00 UTC by competitor Vincent Riou ( PRB ). During the rescue operation, however, the port boom tore off at PRB . Riou then set course for the Beagle Channel to bring Jean Le Cam ashore where Isabelle Autissier happened to be waiting for them (in Puerto Williams ). Shortly after 8 p.m. local time, Riou then informed the race management that his boat had broken its mast due to the damaged outrigger. Immediately afterwards, the Chilean speedboat Alacalufe was set off from Puerto Williams to tow the wrecked yacht, which was about 50 nautical miles from the port, into the port. Since the mast break occurred in connection with the rescue operation and Vincent Riou was third at that time, the race management decided to award Vincent Riou a third place, which he shared with the third-placed driver.
Michel Desjoyeaux ( Foncia ), one of the most successful sailors in the world, won the Vendée Globe 2008/2009 on February 1, 2009 at 4:11 p.m. with a winning time of 84 days and 3 hours, which compared to the winner of the previous event, Vincent Riou, represents an improvement of almost three days. Armel le Cléac'h ( Brit Air ), who arrived in Les Sables d'Olonne on February 7th at 8:41 a.m., finished second with a time of 89 days, 9 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds, an average speed of 12, 7 knots (and thus still below the winning time of 2004/2005).
Marc Guillemot ( Safran ) discovered on February 8th, 2009 that - after the keel suspension had already started - his keel bomb had also disappeared. This damage has so far occurred in a total of four participants. But Guillemot continued the race and survived the last 1000 nautical miles in moderate winds alone with his ballast tanks to compensate for the wind pressure in the sails. Despite the handicap, he achieved an average speed of over ten knots on several days and ultimately came third.
Samantha Davies ( Roxy ), who arrived in Les Sables d'Olonne on February 14, 2009 at 0.41 am, finished fourth with a time of 95 days, 4 hours, 39 minutes and 1 second, which corresponds to an average speed of 12 knots. Although she reached the finish before Marc Guillemot ( Safran ), he was awarded 3rd place, as he had been awarded a time credit of 50 hours (net) for his course deviation in the rescue of Yann Eliès. Third place was also awarded ex aequo to Vincent Riou for his work in the rescue of Jean le Cam, in the wake of which Rious Boot PRB - in third place - suffered irreparable damage. Brian Thompson ( Bahraini Team Pindar ) was fifth, Dee Caffari ( Aviva ) sixth . This makes her the first woman to have managed the one-handed, non-stop circumnavigation of the world in both directions.
Of the 30 boats originally launched, 19 had to give up due to various material damage (as of February 15, 2009). This quota was reached in 1996 when two thirds of all boats had to give up. In 2000 and 2004, "only" a third were eliminated.
The Austrian Norbert Sedlacek reached the finish on March 15, 2009 and came in 11th and last place.
A legal dispute has arisen over the rescue of Jean le Cam, as Vincent Rious sponsor PRB, contrary to initial promises, was left alone with the resulting damage to the PRB and the costs for its return transport to France totaling 750,000 euros. In the meantime, PRB has filed a claim for damages in order to have a court establish which of the other parties involved (race organizer, VM Matériaux etc.) is legally obliged to pay at least part of the costs incurred.
Finish
| space | Attendees | nationality | Ship name | date | Time | Distance in nautical miles | sailed time | Average speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michel Desjoyeaux |
 France
|
Foncia | 02/01/2009 | 16:11 | 28,300 | 84 days, 3 hours, 9 minutes, 8 seconds | 14.02 knots |
| 2 | Armel le Cléac'h |
France
|
Brit Air | 02/07/2009 | 08:41 | 27,233 | 89 days, 9 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds | 12.7 knots |
| 3 | Marc Guillemot |
France
|
saffron | 02/16/2009 | 01:21 | 28,400 | 95 days, 3 hours, 19 minutes, 39 seconds (-50 hours credit for Yann Eliès rescue) | 12.4 knots |
| 3 | Vincent Riou |
France
|
PRB | 08/01/2009 | - | - | - | - |
| 4th | Samantha Davies |
 United Kingdom
|
Roxy | 02/14/2009 | 00:41 | 27,470 | 95 days, 4 hours, 39 minutes, 1 sec. | 12.0 knots |
| 5 | Brian Thompson |
United Kingdom
|
Bahrain Team Pindar | 02/16/2009 | 08:31 | 28,700 | 98 days, 20 hours, 29 minutes, 55 seconds | 12.1 knots |
| 6th | Dee Caffari |
United Kingdom
|
Aviva | 02/16/2009 | 14:12 | 27,900 | 99 days, 1 hour, 10 minutes, 57 seconds | 11.8 knots |
| 7th | Arnaud Boissières |
France
|
Akéna verandas | 02/22/2009 | 14:35 | 27,840 | 105 days, 2 hours, 33 minutes, 15 seconds | 11.0 knots |
| 8th | Steve White |
United Kingdom
|
Toe in the water | 02/26/2009 | 12:38 | 28,200 | 109 days, 0 hours, 39 minutes, 55 seconds | 10.8 knots |
| 9 | Rich Wilson |
 United States
|
Great American III | 03/10/2009 | 12:43 | 28,600 | 121 days, 0 hours, 41 minutes, 19 seconds | 9.8 knots |
| 10 | Raphaël Dinelli |
France
|
Fondation Océan Vital | 03/14/2009 | 14:34 | 28,150 | 125 days, 2 hours, 32 minutes, 24 seconds | 9.4 knots |
| 11 | Norbert Sedlacek |
 Austria
|
Nauticsport-Kapsch | 03/15/2009 | 17:33 | 27,707 | 126 days, 5 hours, 31 minutes, 56 seconds | 9.1 knots |
Dropped participants
| Attendees | nationality | Ship name | date | reason | place |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yannick Bestaven |
France
|
Aquarelle.com | November 11, 2008 | Broken mast | Bay of Biscay |
| Marc Thiercelin |
France
|
DCNS | November 11, 2008 | Broken mast | Bay of Biscay |
| Kito de Pavant |
France
|
Groupe Bel | November 11, 2008 | Broken mast | Bay of Biscay |
| Alex Thomson |
United Kingdom
|
Hugo Boss | November 13, 2008 | Hull tear | Bay of Biscay |
| Jérémie Beyou |
France
|
Delta Dore | November 26, 2008 | Broken rigging | equator |
| Unai Basurko |
 Spain
|
Pakea Bizkaia | December 7, 2008 | Broken rudder | Cape of Good Hope |
| Loïck Peyron |
France
|
Gitana Eighty | December 10, 2008 | Broken mast | Kerguelen Archipelago |
| Dominique Wavre |
 Switzerland
|
Temenos | December 12, 2008 | Damage to the keel hanger | Kerguelen Archipelago |
| Bernard tribe |
Switzerland
|
Fireplace poujoulat | December 13, 2008 | Rudder suspension | Kerguelen Archipelago |
| Mike Golding |
United Kingdom
|
Ecover | December 16, 2008 | Broken mast | before Cape Leeuwin |
| Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty |
France
|
Maisonneuve | December 16, 2008 | Damage to both autopilots and rigging | before Cape Leeuwin |
| Yann Eliès |
France
|
Generali | December 18, 2008 | Thigh injury and broken ribs | south of Cape Leeuwin |
| Sebastien Josse |
France
|
BT | December 29, 2008 | Mast and deck damage, rudder damage | Pacific |
| Derek Hatfield |
 Canada
|
Algimouss | December 29, 2008 | Rigging damage | Pacific |
| Jean-Pierre Dick |
France
|
Paprec-Virbac 2 | January 1, 2009 | Breakage of the starboard rudder, loss of the port rudder | Pacific |
| Jonny Malbon |
United Kingdom
|
Artemis | January 4, 2009 | Irreparable mainsail damage | Pacific |
| Jean Le Cam |
France
|
VM Matériaux | January 6, 2009 | Capsized due to loss of keel bomb | Cape Horn |
| Roland Jourdain |
France
|
Véolia | February 2, 2009 | Surrender after keel bomb loss | South Atlantic |
Individual evidence
- ↑ Vendée Globe: Historic second Vendee Globe victory for Desjoyeaux , February 1st 2009, retrieved (Engl.) 17 February 2009
- ↑ Message on the homepage of the PRB team ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (from April 1, 2009)
- ↑ After Jean le Cam was rescued on January 8, 2009, irreparable damage and the race stopped (see history)
