Les Sables d'Olonne, France, 10 November 2024. The hours leading up to the start of any ocean race are always full of anticipation and excitement. But for the Vendée Globe, the solo circumnavigation of the world without stopovers or assistance, this is amplified. It is the toughest and most complex of all the ocean races, a huge crowd, an oceanic crowd in fact, gathers to welcome the skippers and this adds to the excitement for the protagonists and all those present. It is perhaps the family and friends who entrust their loved ones to the ocean who will suffer the hardest farewell, for they will have no choice but to return here, to Les Sables d'Olonne, to await their arrival in 80 days or more. Of course, technology helps, they will be constantly informed of their position, and even the boats are changing, they are faster and more connected, but certain emotions are extraordinarily similar to those of the past, when sailing ships left ports all over the world for long and dangerous voyages.
Perhaps a slightly different emotion will be experienced by two French skippers, Clarisse Crémer - in the past at the centre of a sensational media affair because she was abandoned by her sponsor after becoming a mother and with her qualification in jeopardy - and her husband Tanguy Le Turquay: both will be taking part in the race, but will be leaving their two-year-old child ashore, presumably with his grandparents. This is what the Vendée Globe is all about, unique human stories, each individual skipper with his own.
At the Vendée Globe, the carpet is not red, but the skippers are cheered like movie stars as they parade one by one along the quayside, announced by loudspeaker, each one greeting the crowd, Giancarlo Pedote imitating the approach to the ring, he who used to box. Everyone pays homage to the coveted Vendée Globe trophy, some just looking at it, some bowing like the Japanese Kojiro Shiraishi in his traditional kimono, some touching it, some kissing it. And then there is the legendary exit from the channel between the crowd that had arrived during the night to take their places at the edge of the long quay in Les Sables.
The skippers wave goodbye at the bow, some with a smile, others with tears of emotion and happiness, like Violette Dorange, 23, the youngest competitor in the history of the Vendée Globe, perhaps still in disbelief that she is there, in the middle of the channel, leaving Port Olona, and not at the edge applauding her idols, as she has always done. Make a mental note of that name, because it is clear that she will be the media star of this tenth edition. Her boat dates from 2009, has no foils and was lent to her by none other than Jean Le Cam, the 'grandfather' of the Vendée Globe, who is back for this edition with a brand new boat, but without foils - it is pointless to insist on the technologies of the new generation of sailors - built in Italy by Persico Marine.
The skippers take to the open sea and among the magnificent 40 - there would have been more if not for the limited number - stand out: .... Captain Hook! He is Damien Seguin, who wears this costume to joke about his disability: he was born without a left hand, but this did not prevent him from finishing 7th in the last edition, the first disabled sailor to enter and finish this race. His example was followed by Captain Jacky, aka Xu Jingkun, who waved to the crowds in his traditional Chinese costume, with no qualms about showing off his missing left forearm, which he lost at the age of 12. He is already a star in China and can bring the message of inclusion through sailing to a huge audience.
At 1.02 pm - to provide live broadcast for the 1 pm TV News on the first French channel on Sunday - the tenth Vendée Globe started in unusually light air. Fair winds to all!
Giuliano Luzzatto
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