VENDÉE GLOBE 2020 X FRIENDLY FRENCHY: THE EVEREST OF SEAS

Posted On: nov. 4, 2020

Categories: News

The Vendée Globe is THE largest single-handed, non-stop, unassisted round-the-world sailing race. It is nicknamed by the public the Everest of the seas! Its departure will take place this Sunday 8th November 2020 from Les Sables d'Olonne at 13h02. A rendezvous not to be missed!
The 2020-2021 edition has already set a participation record with 33 skippers gathered around a challenge of 28,000 nautical miles or 52,000 kilometres!

TO SET THE SCENE

IMOCA IMOCA monohull yachts (18.28 metres) with a 4.50m draught. These monohull yachts are the most powerful on the planet!

This round-the-world race exposes the solo sailors and their boats to a climatic journey with extreme sailing conditions where they will have to deal with wind, waves, swell and ice.

The course crosses the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean to return to the starting point in the Atlantic. It represents approximately 28,000 nautical miles or 52,000 kilometres! The public nicknames it the Everest of the Seas.

The Vendée Globe record was achieved in 2016. It is held by the Breton Armel Le Cléac'h with a course completed in 74 days (74 days 03 hours 35 mn 46 s) with 27,455 miles covered on the water at an average speed of 15.43 knots (around 28 km/h).

VENDÉE GLOBE X FRIENDLY FRENCHY 

For this new edition, Friendly Frenchy had the pleasure of creating Les Lunettes en coquillage® X Vendée Globe for this new edition 2020 - 2021.

They are available for sale on our online shop and the official shop of the Vendée globe 2020.

Our Ecume model will also take off on board L’Occitane en Provence with Armel Tripon whose home port is located very close to us, in la Trinité-sur-Mer

Inspired by the colours of the boat, this model exclusively dedicated to Armel and his team is made with
high performance technical glass adapted to the constraints of navigation.


Labelled Origine France Garantie, they were manufactured by our French glass partner, Dalloz Creations.

Lunettes Vendée Globe

THE COURSE

As expressed by the Vendée Globe organisation, the race route through the three capes (Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn) is punctuated with stages with singular conditions that expose the solo sailors to the autumn coolness of the French coasts, the equatorial heat, the tropical deluges and the polar cold of the Antarctic.

Parcours Vendée Globe

The first 
From Les Sables d'Olonne to the Cape of Good Hope situated at the extreme south of South Africa.

The participants have to deal with the Azores High in the North Atlantic, then the St. Helena High in its southern equivalent.

The main difficulty of this "stage" is to make the right strategic choices by keeping the low pressure zones at a distance to avoid the strongest winds without getting stuck in the high pressure zones with the calm waters of the Azores High.

The second
Between Good Hope and the Horn

The challenge is to take advantage of the weather phenomena coming from the west to be pushed quickly between Good Hope and the Horn.

The third 
The ascent of the Atlantic Ocean

It is similar to the first one with the St. Helena and Azores anticyclones to be bypassed. We're also going to have to manage the passage from one hemisphere to the other: it's the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) commonly known as the Doldrums. Dreaded by sailors, the warm and humid air masses of both hemispheres meet there and generate very unstable air where flat calms and thundery squalls alternate.

A CHALLENGE: CROSSING THE FINISH LINE

The sense of the sea will make the difference in terms of the skippers' appreciation of the weather data as they are not entitled to any assistance. They will be alone on board to choose their route according to the weather files they receive.

If there will be only one winner, it is already a victory to take the start of such a race with an extraordinary commitment from the skippers, their teams and their sponsors. The health situation we are going through makes this challenge all the more admirable.

Finally, considering the immense challenge of the Vendée Globe course, every finisher will have won!

Coming to the end of this sailing race is already a feat. In previous editions, many solo sailors have been forced to abandon after breaking their mast or keel, colliding with floating objects (UFOs), or capsizing.

We wish them all the best, give them all our support and thank them in advance for the escape at sea that they will bring us ashore! 

THE LIST OF THE 33 SKIPPERS REGISTERED FOR THE VENDÉE GLOBE 2020

Armel TRIPONL’OCCITANE EN PROVENCE
Fabrice AMEDEONEWREST – ART & FENÊTRES
Romain ATTANASIOPURE – BEST WESTERN
Alexia BARRIER:  4MYPLANET
Yannick BESTAVENMAÎTRE COQ IV
Jérémie BEYOUCHARAL
Arnaud BOISSIÈRES: LA MIE CÂLINE – ARTISANS ARTIPÔLE
Louis BURTONBUREAU VALLEE 2
Didac COSTA: ONE PLANET ONE OCEAN
Manuel COUSINGROUPE SETIN
Clarisse CREMERBANQUE POPULAIRE X
Charlie DALINAPIVIA
Samantha DAVIESINITIATIVES-CŒUR
Sébastien DESTREMAUMERCI (Face Ocean)
Benjamin DUTREUX: OMIA - WATER FAMILY 
Kevin ESCOFFIERPRB

THE 10 KEY PASSAGES OF THE VENDÉE GLOBE

1. The Bay of Biscay

2. The Trade Winds

3. The Doldrums

4. The descent of the South Atlantic

5. Antarctic Exclusion Zone

6. The Indian Ocean

7. The Pacific Ocean

8. Le Cap Horn

9. The Ascent of the South Atlantic

10. The Ascent of the North Atlantic

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