30 skippers

Grey skies and intermittent showers was the scene for the 30 skippers saying good bye to their supporters and loved ones Sunday morning in Les Sables d’Olonne.

Loick Peyron took the moment for a family group photo, sponsors stepped aside for skippers families and most interesting was the competitors themselves taking the time to wish each other the best. Mike Golding made the trip down the dock to wish Alex Thompson a good race, and when asked if there would be any team racing going on with such a strong English presence, 7 boats, "Ha ha, team racing, well you never know."

Still, despite the rain, the official spectator count was 300,000 watching from on shore and 15,000 on the water.

After the famous parade out the harbor, a 3 meter swell and 15-20 knot breeze welcomed the fleet. Most boats had put in at least one reef but 2-3 carried full sail.

As the start countdown commenced, Mike Golding found himself being pushed over the line at the committee end. Just like his start in the Barcelona World race, Vincent Riou was right on the line and in the leading pack of the fleet. The favorites were all on the left side of the start line and showed their power to lift up higher than their competitors with fixed keels. While the big guns were dueling it out on the other end of the line, Dee Caffari also was in the money at the pin end, with plenty of speed which she steadily maintained.
After the first two hours, Josse Sebastien (BT) and Marc Guillemont (Safran) led the fleet, with 23657 miles to go.
In late breaking news, Dominique Wavre needed to return to fix faulty electronics and just barely made it into the harbor before the tide would have kept him waiting outside until 10:00 pm.

Gear failure can ruin a competitors dream; which is why so many skippers have chosen Incidences Sails to carry them in their ultimate adventure to race a sailboat around the world. For an IMOCA 60, this means 860 sq meters of sail area.

Incidences has been involved with the Vendee from the first inaugural race in 1989 and can now count 4 wins out of the five editions sailed.

Fair winds to all the competitors!

photo credit : Lyn Hines