The Most Dangerous Sport
According to r2k:
The vendee globe, an around the world solo race on a monohull. Among the most dangerous of sports, these are some very serious people. The most recent race is over....[The picture shows] a 60 or so foot boat btw... So that gives you a feel for the water conditions.
From the race organizers (or organisers or whatever) themselves:
In theory, the Vendée Globe is an utterly simple affair. Its fundamental principles come down to a few sentences, compared to which even the roughest logbook would seem sophisticated. A sailing race around the world, for singlehanders, without any stopover. That’s it. In theory at least, because beyond these words start great stories.
Official supplier of legends since 1989, this race has impressed the maritime world and the public in general, to the point where even the strongest superlatives seem unable to define it. The sea also has its mythical summit, created 15 years ago by a sailor, two times winner around the world (BOC Challenge, with stopovers), who refused to rest on his laurels.
Philippe Jeantot wished to go further, to give a new dimension to the world of maritime adventure… “Time, he wrote, is a necessary factor to attain perfect harmony with one’s sailboat. We had to forget about stopping. A round-the-world race, without stopovers or assistance, such were the conditions to reach the desired communion. For the first edition, we set off towards the unknown. None of the 13 sailors who crossed the starting line in 1989 had the experience of a solo journey exceeding 100 days” *.
On November 7 th, 20 navigators will set sails aboard their monohulls, heading towards the three great capes, marking the southern tips of the African continent, Australia and America. The Vendée Globe will start, for the 5 th time, from the harbour of Les Sables d’Olonne, where it was born. And as far as the rest of the story is concerned… well, it’s up to the sailors themselves now.
This is such a tough race that even the last place finisher is a hero:
The crowds out for Karen
Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 10:50 PM
In spite of her late arrival, a large crowd celebrated the arrival of Karen Leibovici, the thirteenth and final arrival in the Vendée Globe. Many other skippers turned out to offer their congratulations and express their admiration: Raphaël Dinelli and Benoit Parnaudeau, who only recently arrived themselves, but also Jean Pierre Dick and some from previous races,including Isabelle Autissier, Catherine Chabaud, Jean-Luc van den Heede and Alain Gautier.
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