Meet the Vendée Globe Racing Fleet

The Vendée Globe is arguably the pinnacle of solo ocean racing. On November 10, 40 skippers will set out from Les Sables d’Olonne, France, with the aim of sailing nonstop, unassisted around the world. Many will not make it. In recent years, the race has had an attrition rate between 20 and 30%, with everything from sinking to electrical failures ending campaigns. While the podium always reflects the best of the best, in a race this tough, for most skippers just getting to the finish line is the ultimate goal, and no matter where you look in the fleet, inspirational stories of grit and passion abound. Winning the race is one thing, winning the hearts of spectators is another.

The fleet of IMOCA 60s is dominated by the French, but in total, this year’s 40 skippers will include 11 nationalities, among them Japan, China, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden, and Hungary. Conrad Coleman will sail under the joint flags of the United States and New Zealand and will be the only American in the fleet. The fleet will also include six female skippers and two para-athletes.

In recent years, American offshore racing has really started to come into its own, as seen in particular with 11th Hour Ocean Racing’s victory in The Ocean Race, and Cole Brauer’s record-setting solo circumnavigation in the Global Solo Challenge. If this has put you in the mood to follow the Vendée Globe, but you’re not sure exactly where to start, here are some unsung campaigns to get excited about.

Kojiro Shiraishi

Though this will be Kojiro Shiraishi’s third Vendée Globe campaign, he’s been involved with offshore racing since before the Vendée Globe even existed. He worked on the shore crew for his mentor Yukoh Tada’s BOC Challenge-winning campaign, which still inspires his racing today. “Watching my first BOC Challenge was incredibly emotional. I made so many friends during the Newport stopover, and we’re still in touch today,” Shiraishi remembers. He was back in New England, this time for his own campaign, last spring when sailing the Transat CIC and NY-Vendée.

Shiraishi, who speaks neither English nor French, says being the only Japanese sailor in the fleet has never been a problem for him. “They have been very welcoming. There have never been any issues. We are all competitors. The only difference between us is that they carry a fork with them, and I have chopsticks,” he jokes. There are a few other cultural nods aboard DMG Mori, such as the temple hanging on his bulkhead or the rope tunnels that bracket his helm station, which are painted red to evoke the image of a Shinto temple.

“Maybe it’s the Japanese thinking, but we want to make things that last a long time, not just things that go as fast as possible. The main goal isn’t necessarily to win, but to teach. We want to bring young sailors in,” he says. To that end, the team has two bases for emerging sailors, one that races a Mini 6.50 out of Japan, and a French location that has two more Minis and a Figaro. This provides a pathway for young Japanese sailors to compete against the European cohort that tends to dominate the offshore scene. Mentorship was a huge influence on Shiraishi, and giving back is an essential component of his campaign.

“In the IMOCA class, even if we compete in the same race, all of the boats are really different, and the people are really different. But at the end of the day, there’s only one ranking. That’s what makes it unique.”

Follow along on Instagram @kojiro.shiraishi

Sam Goodchild

Sam Goodchild’s calm, understated way of talking about his campaign belies that this has been his dream since childhood, reading about it in magazines at just 14 years old. He got his first taste of the Vendée Globe at 18 aboard Mike Golding’s boat and has never looked back, working on numerous other offshore campaigns, such as Phaedo and Spindrift. He then sailed the first three legs of The Ocean Race with Holcim-PRB, which gave him critical IMOCA experience. Now, 20 years after that first seed was planted (he will turn 35 about a week into the race), Goodchild will be headlining his own campaign. His team is part of a joint endeavor with French skipper Thomas Ruyant, and he will be sailing Ruyant’s former boat, built in 2019 (then called Linked Out).

“We’ll be the only boat ever to do a fully integrated two-boat campaign,” says Goodchild, adding that this arrangement lets the two sailors share resources and expertise, like their design and communications offices. Both boats are sponsored by cybersecurity company Advens, “but instead of putting their brand on the sail, they wanted to put their mission. We need to embrace our vulnerabilities in order to improve,” Goodchild says. “In the 21st century, we’re starting to ask ourselves what we’re doing with our lives and what impact we’re having. It’s nice to support something that’s got a goal and a meaning.” Both his boat and Ruyant’s are officially named Vulnerable, though his is green with “For the Planet” livery, while Ruyant’s is blue with “For People” livery.

Goodchild’s boat is an all-arounder, and though he days it will never be the fastest boat, it will also never be the slowest. He’s hoping that consistency will be the key to doing well in a race that lasts for months. His goal is to finish, and he foresees the biggest obstacle being finding a balance between pushing for performance and sailing conservatively enough to keep the boat healthy.

Follow Vulnerable on Instagram @goodchildsam

Clarisse Crémer

Clarisse Crémer is currently the fastest woman to solo circumnavigate unassisted, having finished the 2020 Vendée Globe in just 87 days. From the moment she finished, she says she had one goal: get back out there.

The path wasn’t easy, and when Crémer’s maternity leave impacted her ability to get the necessary qualifying miles and consequently her sponsorship deal, there was an international outcry. Fans demanded that the race organization reconsider systemic barriers that might affect female sailors more their male counterparts. Soon, she had a new sponsor in L’Occitane en Provence and was back on her way to the start line.

Crémer says she learned a lot with her previous campaign and has been able to outfit her IMOCA (formerly Apivia, which took line honors in 2021) better. She says the boat excels in light air, upwind, and in transition zones, while downwind and big seas can be a challenge. To make things more comfortable, she has added a proper bed, a bucket seat, and a fully enclosed cockpit. Making life onboard palatable is essential in a race this long, where it’s critical to keep both the mental and the competitive edge for months on end.

“I was struggling with my mental health at the start of the last Vendée Globe. I was standing at the bottom of a mountain looking up, and it took a full 15 days to get my head straight,” she says. This time, armed with more knowledge and confidence, she plans to be tactically more aggressive than last time.

“Every system that you cross, every mistake that you make, it teaches you something. It’s very hard to accept the technical issues. I really struggled last time with that uncertainty. As things break down, you’re constantly mourning for the boat you had yesterday,” she says. “But I’m more confident now. You learn a lot about the weather, the strategy, but the biggest thing you learn is how to deal with the mental side of it.”

Her first goal is to finish, but beyond that, she hopes to be in the top 10 and stay competitive with the other boats of the same generation.

Follow the campaign on Instagram @loccitane_sailing_team

Oliver Heer

A dismasting during the 2023 Transat Jacques Vabre set Oliver Heer back nearly 7,000 miles on his Vendée Globe qualifying track. The remaining events on his calendar became must-finish races.

Then, during the Transat CIC, disaster struck again. Heer’s boat rolled, and he suffered a complete electronic blackout. Unwilling to give up his chance at qualifying, he managed to rewire the solar panels so that he could use the autopilot for a few hours when it was sunniest. Even when it was bright out, this left him hand steering over 18 hours a day. He used paper charts to navigate. “I was so, so happy to arrive. There were times when I was not sure I would make it. The lesson is to never give up, there is always a way to get the boat to the finish line.”

The Swiss sailor approaches his racing with a humble optimism that distills down to pure grit when push comes to shove. Heer did not make a top 39 spot that would have guaranteed his position on the starting line of the 2024 Vendée Globe, and the 40th spot goes to a wild card team selected by the organizers. “It wasn’t an easy choice, as [all the remaining] skippers are extremely deserving…After careful consideration, I’ve decided between them in the order of the mileage rankings,” explained Alain Leboeuf, President of the Vendée Department and the Vendée Globe. Because he dragged himself to the finish of the Transat CIC instead of retiring, Heer was the final addition to the fleet, securing the 40th spot.

His boat Tut gut., which is an older generation non-foiling IMOCA, can point a lot higher than the foiling boats, he says. It does well upwind and in light air but lags when reaching.

Follow along on Instagram @oliverheeroceanracing

If none of these sound interesting to you, don’t worry. There are plenty of other skippers to root for. Consider Sam Davies, the Vendée veteran racing for a lifesaving children’s charity, or Boris Herrmann, The Ocean Race legend who won hearts in 2023. Other familiar faces from The Ocean Race will also be there, including Benjamin Dutreux, Paul Meilhat, Justine Mettraux, Damien Seguin, Charlie Dalin, and Sébastien Simon. Seguin and Jingkun Xu are each competing as para-athletes. Pip Hare’s honest, delightful social media is sure to charm spectators just as it did in 2020-21. Violette Dorange will be setting out on her first around-the-world race at just 23 years old. 

As is always the case in the Vendée Globe, it’s about more than who makes the podium. With so many inspiring stories, this is sure to be a race to remember. 

Here’s the complete list of entrants:

Fabrice Amedeo (Nexans - Wewise) – FRA

Romain Attanasio (Fortinet - Best Western) - FRA

Eric Bellion (STAND AS ONE) - FRA

Yannick Bestaven (Maître CoQ V) - FRA

Jérémie Beyou (Charal) - FRA

Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline) - FRA

Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée) - FRA

Conrad Colman (MS Amlin) – USA/NZL

Antoine Cornic (Human Immobilier) – FRA

Manuel Cousin (Coup de Pouce) - FRA

Clarisse Crémer (L’Occitane en Provence) - FRA

Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) - FRA

Samantha Davies (Initiatives-Cœur) - GBR

Violette Dorange (DeVenir) – FRA

Louis Duc (Fives Group - Lantana Environnement) - FRA

Benjamin Dutreux (GUYOT environnement – Water Family) - FRA

Benjamin Ferré (Monnoyeur - Duo for a Job) - FRA

Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE) – GBR

Pip Hare (Medallia) - GBR

Oliver Heer (Oliver Heer Ocean Racing) – SUI

Boris Herrmann (Malizia - Seaexplorer) - GER

Isabelle Joschke (MACSF) - FRA/GER

Jean Le Cam (Tout commence en Finistère - Armor-lux) - FRA

Tanguy Le Turquais (Lazare) – FRA

Nicolas Lunven (Holcim - PRB) – FRA

Sébastien Marsset (Foussier) – FRA

Paul Meilhat (Biotherm) - FRA

Justine Mettraux (TeamWork - Team SNEF) – SUI

Giancarlo Pedote (Prysmian) - ITA

Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) – FRA

Alan Roura (Hublot) - SUI

Thomas Ruyant (VULNERABLE) - FRA

Damien Seguin (Groupe APICIL) - FRA

Kojiro Shiraishi (DMG MORI Global One) - JPN

Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) - FRA

Maxime Sorel (V and B - Monbana – Mayenne) – FRA

Guirec Soudée (Freelance.com) – FRA

Denis Van Weynbergh (D’Ieteren Group) - BEL

Szabolcs Weöres (New Europe) - HUN

Jingkun Xu (Singchain Team Haikou) – CHN

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November/December 2024