Vendée globe, The ultimate challenge
“Because it’s there!” This was the response of English mountaineer George Mallory when asked why he was so determined to climb Everest. The 13 sailors who set off from Les Sables d’Olonne on November 26, 1989 in glacial northeast winds to compete in the inaugural Vendée Globe Challenge, as it is known at the time, follow in Mallory’s footsteps when they answer this strange question: “But why sail around the world on your own, without any stopovers and without any assistance?” Without a doubt, the world’s oceans make it possible to prove that the sea is round. But to head out on your own, in a race, with the waves and clouds as your only companions for three or four months? Why?
This crazy idea had taken shape three years earlier in the minds of a handful of French sailors during a stopover in the antipodes. They were competing in a British solo round-the-world race, marked by four port stops. And they felt that these stopovers on land disrupted the rhythm and cost a lot of money. Why not adopt a pure regatta approach and recreate the first round-the-world race, launched nearly 20 years earlier by the British, a long ocean route which Bernard Moitessier had abandoned when he was so close to winning?
Philippe Jeantot, two-time winner of the round-the-world race with stopovers, managed to put this ultimate challenge together. He secured support from the Vendée department, the city of Les Sables d’Olonne and some local businesses. They were all unaware that they were creating the largest, most unforgiving and most beautiful sailing race, which would go on to captivate the public’s imagination for decades to come.
Because the idea is simple: setting out alone from Les Sables and returning after rounding the three legendary capes on the other side of the world, Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn. Because the principle is unforgiving: immediate disqualification if you touch land or receive any offshore assistance. Because the challenge is terrifying: facing the fierce Roaring Forties around Antarctica alone on board an 18 meter racing yacht requires courage and tenacity, pushing each skipper to their limits and beyond.
Pushing beyond? The 13 heroes competing in the first “Vendée” quickly realized that the extraordinary was ordinary here. Pushing yourself to the limit was the unwritten rule with this race. Pierre Follenfant suffered rudder damage on the first night in the treacherous Bay of Biscay, not knowing that he would sail around the world with a half-destroyed rudder. Loïck Peyron rushed to the aid of Philippe Poupon, whose boat was capsized like a beach dinghy in the middle of nowhere, maneuvering solely under sail to help his competitor right his boat. Patrice Carpentier, deprived of his autopilot, weathered the storms of the Great South, manning the helm day and night. Alain Gautier repaired, on his own, a vital part of his mast, clinging on to his spar, tossed around mercilessly by the large swells.
These are just a small selection of the day-to-day exploits accomplished, unbeknownst to those on land, by the 13 pioneers from the first Vendée Globe, at a time when there was no satellite internet or GPS.
Titouan Lamazou, an artist, poet and relentless competitor, was the first to return to Les Sables d’Olonne after 109 days at sea. He sailed up the channel between the harbor walls, cheered on by a crowd who were flooded with emotions. Each of his 12 companions, bound together by an invisible rope, whether ranked or not, received the same triumphant welcome. They had all just written a new page in history.