My old mate Ronnie Simpson was on the phone, having just pulled into Halifax, Nova Scotia, after a short hop from Portland, Maine. It was the first week of September, and he was en route to A Coruña, Spain, aboard his newly renamed Open 50, Shipyard Brewing. On October 28, he would start the Global Solo Challenge—a nonstop, singlehanded round-the-world race with a rolling, pursuit-style start for boats from 32 to 60 feet. 

“We were seeing a lot of cyclonic ­activity,” he told me, describing the suddenly bustling North Atlantic ­tropical-weather picture. “I think it was the right decision.”

Knowing Ronnie, he’d definitely given it a lot of considerable thought. Because as I’d come to learn, he basically has one speed: fast forward, with dispatch. 

I’d last sailed with Ronnie almost exactly a year earlier, when he rolled into Newport, Rhode Island, aboard his new ride, then called Sparrow, at the outset of his campaign. We enjoyed a wild, windy outing in what he openly described as a training trip: “We’re doing a lot of ­learning here today.” 

And he was clear that he was ­competing in the Global Solo Challenge with a broader goal in mind: to win it and then find sponsorship for an Open 60 for the next running of the Vendée Globe race, in 2024. “If doing [the Global Solo Challenge] on an Open 50 was the endgame, I probably wouldn’t be here,” he’d said. “I consider this my shot for the Vendée. I don’t know why I’m so driven to do that race, but I wake up every day and I want to do it, and I go to sleep every night and I want to do it.” Understood. And, I must say, Ronnie’s track record for getting stuff accomplished is pretty stellar. 

I first met Ronnie in a professional sense, as his former editor here at Cruising World, where he chronicled his incredible journey as a sailor in a series of articles starting with a piece called “From Fallujah to Fiji.” It was a detailed account of a decade-long odyssey that began with his enlistment in the US Marine Corps just days after graduation from high school, and it recounted the day in Iraq when his Humvee came under attack and he was nearly blown to smithereens. 

Quite by accident (or was it fate?), he found solace in sailing. He bought a 41-foot cruising boat that he abandoned in a hurricane, and he purchased a ­succession of small boats aboard which he raced alone to Hawaii and later rambled across the Pacific to Hawaii. With that background, he became a pro sailor and rigger, and notched more than 130,000 nautical miles leading up to his entry in the Global Solo Challenge. 

After his visit to Newport this past year, he ambled down the East Coast and then knocked off his solo 2,000-nautical-mile qualifying sail, which concluded in Portland, Maine. There, all sorts of magic unfolded. 

He met a local girl named Marissa and fell in love. She introduced him to Fred Forsley, the CEO of Portland’s Shipyard Brewing Company, which agreed to become his title sponsor. At the Maine Yacht Center, run by accomplished fellow solo sailor Brian Harris, he knocked off a long list of projects, including major structural repairs, to get his 50-footer race-ready. 

“Brian and the whole staff at MYC made me feel like family. They were a massive help,” he says. “Shipyard Brewing has a long history of supporting returning veterans, going back to World War II. I found this amazing girlfriend, a perfect sponsor, a bunch of new friends and an awesome boatyard, all in Portland, where I plan to return after the race.” Wow. Maine, man. 

With his close association with the nonprofit veteran-affairs ­organization US Patriot Sailing (which owns Shipyard Brewing), Ronnie remains true to his beginnings. He could still use ­support. Interested parties can follow his ­voyage and contribute to his cause by visiting ronniesimpsonracing.com or ­uspatriotsailing.org. They all have a long way to go on such a worthwhile mission.

With that, the day after we spoke, Ronnie was back underway across the North Atlantic. The plan was pretty straightforward. He had places to go. He had races to crush. 

Herb McCormick is a CW editor-at-large.

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By now, of course, we’ve all come to realize that the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the world in ways previously unimaginable, and as we go into the first uncertain winter with the coronavirus, nobody knows what lies ahead. One of the ways in which our lives have changed is the way in which we consume sports—admittedly a small item in the grand scheme of things. But sports have always been important to me, going far back to my own athletic career, the highlight of which was captaining my college football team (back in those ancient times when the ball was a rock, but still….).

Despite COVID-19, the NBA and MLB somehow made it through successful (if abbreviated) seasons. In years past, I would’ve been on my seat devouring the NBA Finals and the World Series, but not this year. Watching sports played in empty stadiums and arenas, for me at least, holds little appeal; it makes for passable reality television but holds little emotion compared with epic games played before real, packed houses.

But this month—at least at press time—a competitive sporting contest was scheduled to get underway on November 9 that I am well and truly looking forward to: the ninth edition of the anything-goes, wild-and-woolly quadrennial Vendée Globe singlehanded around-the-world race. (One notable change for 2020: The pre-race “village” in Les Sables-d’Olonne, which in a normal year attracts tens of thousands of rabid fans, was basically scrapped.)

Think about it: Marathon, offshore solo yacht racing is pretty much the perfect game for a pandemic. You can’t get much more “socially distanced” than alone on a sailboat somewhere between Australia and Antarctica. And modern technology—using real-time tracking software, high-quality video and images from the far Southern Ocean, daily first-person blogs and reports from the skippers, and more—makes following the race not only possible, but also highly interactive and entertaining.

The race itself, now contested in skittish, outlandish IMOCA 60s, many with foils to add thrills, speed and sleepless nights—they are the undisputed answer to the question of what is the scariest, loudest, most uncomfortable sailboat on any ocean—provides plenty of drama in its own right. If past editions are any indication, there will be no shortage of casualties, crashes, rescues and retirements; it’s like a waterborne NASCAR race, with the added degree of difficulty of never stopping and lasting a few months. You need to check the “I’m nuts” box before even contemplating a Vendée campaign.

The sport of solo long-­distance racing was actually invented in the 1960s by a crew of what became household names in Merry Old England, where it originated: Chichester, Hasler, Knox-Johnston and the like. That all changed, basically, when a couple of Frenchmen from across the English Channel—the equally legendary Bernard Moitessier and Eric Tabarly—threw their watch caps into the ring and showed the fine tea-drinking chaps a thing or two.

Today, the sport is ­completely dominated by the French, where it’s every bit as big as football and basketball in this country: Every Vendée has been won by a Frenchman. Twice, however, an English sailor has almost barged in the door: In 1990, Michel “The Professor” Desjoyeaux was the winner, but a wee British lass named Ellen MacArthur was right behind him, and stole the show. And in the last race, charismatic Englishman Alex Thomson darn near pulled off an upset, also finishing second.

Thomson is a veteran campaigner who has sailed a string of boats called Hugo Boss, titled after his menswear sponsor. He’s well-known for YouTube stunts such as climbing his mast on a steep heel in a tailored suit and diving into the sea, but he’s also one helluva sailor. He’s back again this year, probably his last swing at a Vendée victory after multiple attempts, and is one of the prohibitive favorites. But there are plenty of great stories sprinkled through the fleet of 33 entrants, including a half-dozen skilled and ­dauntless women skippers.

Let’s face it, the pandemic has made many if not most of us landlocked to a high degree. And in almost every circumstance, I’d rather be on a bike or a stroll than parked behind a computer screen more than I already am. But this Vendée should provide a salty smack in the kisser or two, even if it’s a virtual one. Though from afar, I’m fully planning to hook in and hang on.

Herb McCormick is CW’s executive editor.

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SAILING – VENDEE GLOBE 2017 – MISCS ARRIVALS

It was more than mere survival instinct that kept Kiwi Conrad Colman battling to the bitter end of his Vendée Globe solo, nonstop, round-the-world race. At some 715 miles, or about three days, before he was expected to finish, the mast of his boat, Foresight Natural Energy, came crashing down at around 2200 UTC on February 10.

Colman had already overcome too many challenges to throw in the towel so close to home, to let a dream expire, when the spar went over the side in huge seas and 35- to 40-knot winds, 250 miles west of Lisbon, Portugal. His life had been dominated for the past dozen years by his drive to compete in solo ocean racing’s pinnacle event. The pursuit of the Vendée Globe required him to move from the United States to Brittany, France, and recently saw him mortgage his financial future and that of his hugely supportive wife, Clara, in order to make the starting line.

Once he had managed to cut the worst of the rig debris free, Colman, who celebrated his 33rd birthday in December, during the race, could do nothing. Conditions remained dangerous for two days. Even so, there was never a moment for brooding regrets. Rest was essential, and Colman did all he could to sleep. Between naps, he made a plan of how he would step his boom as a jury rig, set a remaining ­portion of his mainsail and fashion a jib from his storm sail.

Two further complications compounded his situation. He was attempting to complete the race as the first-ever skipper to use only sustainable energy sources — hydro and solar power — and strictly no fossil fuels at all, and the slow speeds and gray overhead conditions meant he would soon run short of power. And Colman, a strict vegetarian, was already very low on food and had been rationing his remaining supply for several days.

The first task was to make a composite repair to the carbon boom, which had been crushed when the mast collapsed and went over the side. Thereafter it was another 48 hours before Colman could step the boom as a mast. It was on Valentine’s Day, the day he had hoped to cross the line for a romantic reunion with his wife, that he got the mast stepped. During the preceding decade, Colman worked to build his armory of skills as a sailmaker and race-team shore crew member. All of his skills came into play during his rig repair.

Turning the sail 90 degrees, he used the second reef reinforcements for the head and the tack, and another existing reinforcement became the new clew. The leech of the old mainsail was now the foot of the new sail.

“I spread out the new edges as best I could, rubbed the salt off with my clothes, laid down long rows of double-sided tape and then taped over the seam again for security,” reported Colman while he was still at sea. “Reinforcements were placed where the sail would be tied onto the boom, which was now the mast. I cut out a batten pocket from another piece of the sail and glued it down with flexible epoxy. It sounds simple, but it took me a whole day. As the forecast was thankfully for mainly running and reaching until Les Sables, I spent a little extra time to make a square head for the main, which gave me a little extra surface area. I think it’s the only square-headed main in the history of jury rigs!

“I was working in such a cramped space that I never saw the whole sail at once until the mast was up,” Colman continued. “That’s also because I tied the main to the mast instead of making a halyard to hoist it after the new mast was in place. That added a lot of weight when I had to put the whole lot on my shoulder to help hoist it vertically. In comparison, the storm jib was easy. Simply unfurl, change the luff cable and hoist.”

Colman had more than 72 hours of very mixed winds and sailed as close to the contrary northeasterly wind as he could. He then spent 36 hours almost completely becalmed. Finally the wind swung to the north and northwest. That the “Crazy Kiwi” — the moniker he used — spent hours working out clever sheeting arrangements, with a spiderweb of rope and Spanish windlasses to flatten his main and gain a hard leech, was typical of his drive and spirit.

Colman’s heroic welcome back to Les Sables d’Olonne was huge and emotional, with hundreds of fans lining the entrance channel and in the spectator fleet. He had simply invested too much of himself in the Vendée Globe to fail. Once ashore, he revealed that additional motivation had come from memories of his brother who had died two years earlier and the legacy of his father, who died falling from a mast when Conrad was 11 months old.

Colman’s race ended with an epic adventure. But he had already proved able to punch above the potential of his untested, older boat and his shoestring budget by sailing fast, smart and capably. He plans to be back in 2020.

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When the Vendee Globe sailors plan their meals, they need to eat more to compensate for the energy they require, which is much more than someone sitting in an office, and even more than the average sailor. It is thought that the daily energy requirements of a Vendée Globe sailor is around 4000 calories on average, and can even get up to 5000 calories or more .

Freeze-dried food and ready meals

Plan for more? It’s not as simple as that. They want to have just the right amount, as they have to pay attention to the weight taken aboard, as this can seriously affect performance. The weight of the food is far from being unimportant: 120 to 180 kilos of supplies (with the cleaning and personal hygiene products). When they calculate the ideal amount, the favourites work on the basis of 80 to 85 days of food, with the others taking more with them. We must not forget the timing either. We don’t have the same needs or desires in the tropical heat as in the wilderness of the Southern Ocean. That is why some skippers only trust themselves when preparing their supplies. In any case, they always want to keep a close watch on what is going aboard. If they get someone else to do the job for them, it’s usually someone very close to them, who knows them well, or a dietician. Morgan Lagravière explains, “It’s essential to eat well. It’s one of the pleasurable moments, as well as being our fuel, as it gives us energy. I haven’t handed this task over to someone else entirely, as I believe it is important for me to be involved in selecting the food and how I stow it on board.” Fabrice Amedeo has been working with a sports nutritionist, Virginie Auffret. She explains, “To understand what Fabrice needs, we examined his eating habits ashore and during races. That enabled me to draw up menus to suit his needs. The aim is to avoid excessive weight loss, while allowing him to enjoy the food, by studying the quality of the dishes and what they bring him.”

We should not forget that food has an influence too on our sleep. The nutritionist, Eve Tiollier, who works with Jean-Pierre Dick, explains, “alongside the bags of food offering the recommended daily intake, Jean-Pierre has an additional bag, in which he has sweet food or protein-rich food, which encourage him to sleep or on the contrary, stay awake.”

One bag a day

While some, like Arnaud Boissières only take aboard freeze-dried food, for many skippers, the supplies include 40 to 50% vacuum packed meals and 50-60% freeze-dried. Even if the latter has made considerable progress ove the past ten years in terms of variety and taste, they tend to be less appreciated by the skippers than the ready prepared meals. They do however offer a number of advantages: they don’t take up much space, they are very light and fulfil the nutritional requirements… particularly as the fresh water that is used to prepare them is supplied by the desalinator. They just have to heat it up on the ring (camping stove), stir in the sachet and it’s ready. Erwan Steff, director of Yann Eliès’s Quéguiner-Leucémie Espoir team explains, “The supplies are divided up into seven watertight bags weighing a total of 175 kilos. The date is marked on them for Yann, remembering that he will eat different ly depending on the conditions and the temperature. Inside there are little zip bags corresponding to the day’s meal.” Of course, all that has to be stacked depending on which tack the boat is on to balance the boat, just as they do with the sails. Jérémie Beyou, Vincent Riou and many others use a similar approach in organising their food. Sébastien Josse has been spoilt, as he is taking on board meals prepared by Julien Gatillon, Michelin starred chef of the 1920 restaurant in Megève. “What he cooks is really delicious,” Sébastien told us before giving us another anecdote, which tells us a lot about the psychological importance of food on board: “Once, I managed to keep an orange until I got to New Zealand. You protect it like a valuable item, and when you bite into it, it’s magic!”

A few necessary goodies

Then there is another important aspect to consider with the food. The question of pleasure. This is in fact vital, as it affects the mood and therefore the performance of the skipper. Alex Thomson has already calculated with his coach, Lawrence Knott, that he may lose around twelve kilos during the race and has therefore adapted his supplied accordingly. But he has not forgotten peanuts, as “when the going gets tough, the simple pleasure of opening a packet of peanuts can be the highlight of the day!” Some take sweets, chocolate, jelly babies, fruit pastilles, hazelnuts… in other words something to nibble. Others like Vincent Riou take on board vacuum packed cold meats, which is their little pleasure for the day, while others go for cod liver, sardines in oil or tins of pâté. And we must not forget the foie gras for Christmas, the special bread from Les Abers or la Trinité, which can be kept for the first fortnight of racing.

To conclude this subject, while what is available has come a long way – you can find practically every dish possible freeze-dried and their taste has vastly improved. There has also been scientific progress. Kito de Pavant will be monitored during the race to analyse his nutritional situation. Professor Patrice Darmon, Head of Endocronology, specialising in the metabolism and food at the Hospital in Marseille, explains that this study is not only useful for drawing up diets for skippers to improve their physical performance and mood, but also this will be a way to find better solutions for feeding people in extreme conditions, who undergo repeated stress and/or people with irregular work hours.”

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Vendee Globe- JP Dick

Jean-Pierre Dick on Virbac-Paprec 3 finished fourth in the Vendée Globe arriving with no keel. He received a huge welcome to Les Sables d’Olonne today. Here are his key quotes and thoughts:

The Vendée Globe welcome afforded to fourth placed Jean-Pierre Dick by a huge and passionate crowd was one worthy of a race winner. Having sailed more than 2500 miles with no keel, having lead the race – his third participation – and having been among the top three for most of the course, all clearly inspired a big, partisan crowd to take to the channel into the heart of Les Sables d’Olonne this afternoon to welcome JP.

The skipper, who is originally from Nice and only really took to the IMOCA class 10 years ago, left Les Sables d’Olonne 88 days ago as one of the favorites and returned one of the outstanding heroes. Dick took disappointments in his stride but they took their toll on his overall performance. First, he recalled, he lost a key small gennaker in the water—one which would have been his reaching workhorse in the South which forced him to re-think his strategy at times. Then he struggled with a jammed halyard hook, which left him unable to set the optimum headsail for some time. He eventually climbed the mast of Virbac-Paprec 3 several times to free it but lost more miles. His problems were capped when he lost his keel on the evening of 21st Janaury.

And so his fourth place reflects the incredible tenacity of JP Dick.

He concluded with a Chinese proverb: 
“The goal is not in the goal but in the pathway.”

Jean-Pierre Dick on the podium:

On stopping in Galicia: ” It was very difficult in the north of Spain to try and get some rest. I had to try and make the most of that time to get the rest because it had been so stressful around Cape Finisterre with big waves because there was a good chance of the boat capsizing then. I managed to get the sail reduced, but yes it was really tough. I was really pleased to stop there and get some rest.”

On the welcome back, mooring in Spain and sailing with no keel: “The welcome here has been extraordinary. That transition between being alone and arriving here makes me so proud to be here. The main feeling I have is pride, I am so proud just now of getting my boat back here across the finish line. It was not easy and I was not sure I would finish and so that is important too. And also finishing in a good position, that is important too. You have to really want to do it. And really dig deep into yourself to bring the boat home. I really tried to work the depression but it was not easy without a keel. It is this race which lets you do that and it is this public which appreciates it, it is just magical. So you can just about make it without a keel but only if you are super safe with reduced sail and then you can rest a bit, but as soon as you get more than 20% a heel then you have to be careful, you can heel too much and so you have to keep a small headsail area and the mainsail reefed right down to what you need. We like going fast as a racer, you want to go fast. So obviously when the wind gets up you want to go faster. And so you have to change your thinking. Three days on the mooring and you are rested and then you have to remember to go along slowly.”

On safety and security changes since the last Vendée Globe and the most stress, at Cape Finisterre: “Looking at the IMOCA today we did a lot of preparation inside the boat and with Jean Le Cam’s experience, I have changed a lot of the inside so I can close a lot of the compartments to make it more secure. You have a survival suit, and iridium phone, and there are a lot of advances in security, and so you know that you grab the right things. That luxury was not available to people in the past. Things have really moved on and that is good. You can have special alarms and can speak on the VHF over long distances which makes you feel more secure. Cape Finisterre really was tough, a bit cross swell, fishing boats which don’t show up on the AIS, the automatic positioning system, but you cant sleep. There are boats all around you, there are cargo ships all around. At one point I crossed a bit cargo and they go straight on. They don’t see you and they go straight on. I saw him on the AIS. I had three or four minutes to change course, but it was close. I should have been ahead but chose not to.”

Advice on sailing with no keel and going on: “Marc Guillemot and Roland Jourdain gave me advice, as much as I could gather which would be useful. Marc and I had a long chat, and he said it really you who makes the decision. I tried sailing like that but he said you are the one who makes the decision and it worked out in the end. The tough question was whether to carry on to Les Sables d’Olonne or to stop. That was a difficult and tough decision to take. There are dangers in stopping too, so going in to the right place, finding a mooring at the right time without too much tide and wind.”

On mooring and using the engine : “It is strange to come in at night. Thankfully there was not too much wind to do the manoeuvres but I had to use the engine for one or two minutes because I was getting too close to the wall. You could not let go on the mooring for a minute. There was 35-40kts on the mooring and I went and swam around to put some extra rope around the mooring and so now here I am.”

Looking at his race, the good and the bad: “I must say I was not expecting a Vendée Globe like this. I was really well prepared but the toughest things I had were when the loop on one of my sails broke in the south and I can remember at the time I was trying to get some rest and I was looking up through the hatchway to see that the sail was alright and suddenly there was nothing there. The sail had fallen into the water and gone under the boat and got stuck. That was just when I had moved into the lead. I had taken a good option and with that sail in the water it was my key sail. My small gennaker which I would rely on in the 25-30 knots of wind in the south, I lost it and so I had to rethink how I would use the other sails. So psychologically that was hard, realising that I would really have to fight to win and it was not really going to be possible. I did my best but did lose a few miles, maybe 50 or 60 miles where I just did not have much luck. I then got stuck in an anticyclone and Francois and Armel managed to get ahead about 500 miles and I just could never get back. I made to 250 miles, bit by bit, but then I had a few other technical issues. I had to go up the mast two or three times to fix a hook which was stuck. There was a really big swell in the south and going up the mast there I went up a few times and it is impressive and managed to fix it in the end without losing too much ground and then I had the problem with the forestay when the strop.”

And from his Press Conference:

Overall, “it’s a wonderful feeling. I’m back home. Somehow you forget all of these faces a little bit when you’re alone and far away during three months. It’s a real pleasure to see everyone. It’s a great. It’s going to be one of my best memories.”

One of his last races with IMOCA? ” I’m proud of my races in the IMOCA. It’s been a great adventure. Single-handed sailing is incredibly hard on you mentally. You have to deal with yourself; you must know how to do everything. My dream was to win the Vendée Globe; I didn’t manage to do it… yet!”

Scariest moment: ” The scariest moment was when I lost my keel. I had to fill my ballasts very quickly. It was a very complicated moment. Fortunately, I managed to do it well. There was a lot of water in the hole and I couldn’t see that much. I don’t know how it happened. It was suppose to be its last world tour. According to our calculations the keel was supposed to hold and that’s why we decided not to change it. It cost a lot of money. We had our contract with Virbac Paprec and we don’t renegotiate it every single day when we need something.”

Stop in Galicia: “My stop in Galicia was epic. When you sail into the IMOCA class, it’s not easy to come close to the coast. It was a tough decision. I chose this port because I though it was a good shelter. The most difficult part was to secure the boat. There were 35 knots of wind. I dived in order to attach my mooring line to a buoy. So it was very complicated. Remember what happen to Bernard Stamm, 4 years ago.”

Mast climbing: ” When you climb up the mast, you have to trust your automatic pilot. If I was up the mast when I lost my keel, I don’t know what would happen.
What did I learn? When something bad happen and you manage to deal with it, you certainly get more and more confidence in yourself. I thing I learned to be more methodical.”

Third or fourth place? ” I’m a true competitor. My goal was to win this race, I finally changed it in to an adventure. I wanted to be in the top three, and I didn’t manage to do it. So regarding the sporting aspect it’s a failure. Now, I managed to bring the boat back to les Sables and this is a great thing. Anyway, I think it will now be complicated for me to recover from losing my third place.”

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Vendee Globe- Francois Gabart winner

The 100,000 spectators who converged on the otherwise quiet resort town of Les Sables d’Olonne Sunday for the finish of the Vendée Globe had a lot to be excited about: Francois Gabart (aboard MACIF) became the youngest sailor to win the around-the-world solo race, completing the 28,647 mile-long trek in a record time of 78 days and two hours.

After Gabart tied up his boat and came onshore, the spectators continued to stand and wait in the damp winter weather along the port canal and dock to witness the arrival of Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire). They didn’t have to wait nearly as long to greet the second place winner compared to past races because Le Cléac’h completed the race just three hours and seven minutes after Gabart did, which was the shortest time ever between the first- and second-place finishers.

The spectators greeted Gabart with loud cheers and blasts of fog horns as Gabart waved from his boat as it motored down the canal and to the dock where thousands more spectators squeezed behind a fence to greet him.

The best the vast majority of the spectators could hope for was to just get a brief glimpse of Gabart as he went past them through the canal or when he reached the dock, which was more than 100 yards from the crowd. The first sailor to arrive after completing the race has also drawn thousands of spectators to Les Sables d’Olonne every four years since the first Vendée Globe in 1989-1990.

After leaving her house at 6:30 am Sunday to drive over three hours to Les Sables d’Olonne with her niece, Michelle Lebure Oriolo, who is in her sixties, said that her “strong connection to the sea” explained much of her passion for the race.

“Everything about this race is interesting,” she said. “It is as thrilling when they leave the dock for their great adventure as it is when they arrive. I also love hearing and reading about the problems and perils they face when at sea.”

After spending over 78 days alone living on what largely amounts to a 60-foot drum with a mast and sail that is as comfortable and sparse as a jail cell, Gabart told me by phone the other day that he was a bit apprehensive about returning home where he would be greeted as a national hero if he were to win the race.

Just a few weeks ago, Gabart was just another name people who followed the Vendée circuit heard of or read about. Those who followed the yacht racing circuit in France would likely only know that Gabart came in second in Le Figaro race in 2010. But suddenly, Gabart has become a national celebrity in France.

However, Gabart seemed relaxed and smiled often when he first tied up to the dock where hundreds of reporters crowded him, many holding microphones and cameras a few inches from his face. He kept up his cheerful demeanor while managing to hold at least three press conferences almost immediately following his arrival. He didn’t even look haggard after sleeping in cycles of two hours per 24 hours during the past 78 days while undergoing extreme physical and mental stress that goes with completing a Vendée Globe, often called the Everest of offshore sailing.

But despite Gabart’s cheerful demeanor, he had just experienced many hardships and struggles just to complete the Vendée, likening the race to running in a marathon that lasts for months. During my conversation with Gabart not long after he passed Cape Horn, he said he had suffered “many, many” breakages and spent a substantial amount of time just fixing things.

The worst is when everything goes wrong at once, Gabart said during the press conference Sunday. “Tough nights are among the most difficult moments, especially when you know it’s just the beginning of the race,” Gabart said. “My priority was to do my best to make sure each problem was taken care of, so I don’t have too many at the same time. I look back at my race and wonder how I was able to handle all those issues and twists of fate, either at the same time or one after the other.”

As for the crowd, Gabart said that he was still taken aback somewhat, even though he knew what it would be like because he was at the dock to greet Michel Desjoyeaux in 2009, when he won the Vendée Globe for second time.

“You’re never prepared for such a thing. You just don’t realize how many people you affect when participating in such a race,” Gabart said. “It’s great, because if there wasn’t that, we’d just be crazy people competing in a pointless crazy race.”

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Vendee Globe- Sam Davies

On Saturday, November 10, 20 boats crossed the line in Les Sables d’Olonne, France, at the start of the 2012-2013 Vendee Globe. The event, held every four years, has been dubbed “the world’s toughest race.” And for good reason. The solo, non-stop race first heads south from France, goes below the major capes—the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin, and Cape Horn—and then heads back up the Atlantic to France. Typically, at least half of the skippers are forced to retire early, and this year is proving no different.

Marc Guillemot, aboard Safran, had to turn around the first evening of the race after the boat lost its keel. At a press conference upon his arrival back in Les Sables d’Olonne, Guillemot said, “The keel had done between 23,000 and 25,00 miles. We trained with it before the last Transat Jacques Vabre in 2011, we did the B2B, went around the British Isles, and then four or five thousand miles in conditions which were not always easy. So, given that all it had been through, I left with confidence and no competitor would consider leaving without a lot of confidence in your keel.”

After a terrifying collision with a fishing trawler, Kito de Pavant sailing_ Groupe Bel_ was also forced to retire. Fortunately, he was not hurt and was able to make it in to port in Cascais, Portugal, with the boat still in one piece and the skipper safe and sound.

On day five, Saveol skipper Sam Davies, who came in 4th place in the 2008-2009 Vendee Globe and is the only woman competing in this edition of the race, was sailing in 25 to 30 knots, with gusts up to 40 when her boat was dismasted. “I was getting ready to put my foul-weather gear on as the squall was just finishing and the wind was dropping,” Davies recalls. “The boat jumped off the top of the top of a wave, and that’s when I had the impact, and then the boat came upright, and suddenly there is no more wind in your rigging.”

Another collision with a fishing boat on Wednesday morning forced Bureau Vallee captain Louis Burton to head back to the start line. He had hoped to repair the boat and start the race again, but conditions were such that he had to divert to La Coruna, Spain, and abandon the race.

Currently, Acciona 100% EcoPowered skipper Javier Sanso is heading toward the lee of Canary Islands to retrieve the main halyard. “Today has been pretty entertaining preparing all the material to go up the mast tomorrow in the shelter of the Canary Islands,” Sanso explained. “I just need some sheltered water without waves for a few hours and I think I’ll be back again 100 percent. I’ve been able to sleep a full 2 hours—a real luxury!”

The current leaders are Armel Le Cleac’h aboard Banque Populaire, Francois Gabart on MACIF, and Bernard Stamm, aboard Cheminees Poujoulat, but there are many, many miles to go. Check out the Vendee Globe website for news updates and race tracker.

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