The early rain was torrential at times but the smiles shared between the 40 skippers, the important dignitaries and the thousands of visitors waiting patiently more than made up for the inclement weather. The race village for the tenth edition of the Vendée Globe was inaugurated officially at 0900hrs this Saturday morning.
And from that moment on it is time to enjoy the substantial village all the way through until the start on 10 November. It was a major landmark for this record breaking Vendée Globe this Saturday morning. After several weeks of hard work building up a Vendée Globe village which across all around the pontoons to over 30,000 m2, was inaugurated.
The 40 skippers, the last of whom had arrived yesterday in Les Sables d’Olonne were there. Alongside them, the President of the Vendée Globe and the Vendée Departmental Council, Alain Leboeuf, the co-president of Sodebo Patricia Brochard, the mayor of Les Sables d’Olonne, the mayor of Les Sables d’Olonne and president of Les Sables d’Olonne Agglomeration Yannick Moreau and the vice-president of the Pays de La Loire Region, Isabelle Leroy, were present.
They welcomed the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau. A member of the Barnier government, he is well known at the Vendée Globe, having served as President of the Vendée Departmental Council from 2010 to 2015 and officiating during the seventh edition (2012-2013). After a hearty embrace with Alain Leboeuf, Bruno Retailleau symbolically cut the tricolour ribbon to mark the inauguration.
“Thank you Minister we are incredibly lucky to have you here,” said Alain Leboeuf. “You know the Vendée Globe so well, this great popular celebration for our department, for our country and much more.”
Afterwards, the procession went to the Espace du Département de la Vendée, an impressive 1200 m2 exhibition that allows visitors to immerse themselves in the history of the race and discover all the skippers.
After this visit, they headed to the pontoons. The rain came and went hardly dampening the spirits even though everyone present knew that the sailors would face much worse during the solo non stop round-the-world race. Alain Leboeuf made a point of introducing each of the skippers to Bruno Retailleau. “We wish you all the best,” the minister repeated to all the sailors.
Briton Sam Goodchild ‘lit’ a fire on one of his navigation screens aboard VULNERABLE. Benjamin Ferré (Monnoyeur Duo for a Job) jumped aboard Freelance.com with Guirec Soudée, as did Benjamin Dutreux (GUYOT Environnement – Water Family) on Coup de pouce with Manu Cousin. Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé Prévoyance), at the end of the pontoon repeated again he “has the best seat”, even if gusts of wind make the place slightly less hospitable.
And so with the village open everyone has the chance to visit the the pontoons and discover all the stands present in the village. Admission is free but you need to book your e-ticket on the official website before your visit – and everything has been designed to offer a 360° immersion in the world of the most iconic round the world sailing race. And with the skippers all present it is a great day to visit the pontoons.
Chinese skipper Jingkun Xu (Singchain Team Haikou) could not conceal his delight, reflecting that four years ago he was on the pontoon as a visitor with a big dream and today here he is meeting visitors as a skipper in his own right: “This is my second time in the village. The last time I was a visitor. This time I am a skipper and so I feel great. I am already a little bit stressed and nervous but I am excited and today is a big day. The boat is almost ready, but you know how it is, you never stop working on a boat.”
Likewise Swiss skipper Ollie Heer was here last time but was part of Alex Thomson’s technical team. He too sees his dream become a solid reality as visitors queue up at Tut Gut to meet him and ask for signed photos, “Four years ago I was here with Alex Thomson and we were parked over there. I was a worker trying to get the boat ready. It was ready and we were very, very confident in the boat. And then just after the New Year I was one of the first to go to Cape Town. Four years ago I had a kind of concept in my head I could be here with my own campaign and so it feels amazing to be here. And then when we were bringing the boat back from Cape Town he encouraged me to go for it. Two months later the thing solidified and now here we are. That feels fantastic.”
And Pip Hare, sporting a black eye after a minor incident on delivery from Poole to Les Sables d’Olonne, considers the next three weeks as a chance to find time for herself after a very stressful build up: “I am relieved to be here. It is a line in the sand. We are all the time trying to push forwards and push over the last three and a half years and now we are at a point where we are just finessing. It is time for me to get my head in the game. For the next three weeks I will focus just on me, which will be nice. I will run a lot, I have brought a lot of gym kit to do circuit training in the garden, I will go wingfoiling. I have been told my face has to heal up (Pip injured her eye on the delivery) before I go out. For me to be here is like a holiday. I run the business from my home town in England and so here I can relax and focus on me.”
