The Vendee Globe Race

By Martin Dinham

November this year sees the start of the Vendee Globe, the solo around the world race that is arguably the pinnacle of competitive ocean racing achievement. Competitive solo circumnavigations have captured the publics imagination ever since Robin Knox Johnson won the inaugral Golden Globe race in his ketch Suhaili back in 1969. Since then though the technology involved in the boats, the speeds and the pressures have increased almost beyond recognition and it is unlikely that Knox Johnson and his peers would recognise the space age, carbon fibre, computer assisted machines of todays sailors.

The 2008 race has a strong British contingent. Possibly the highest profile British entry is Alex Thomson in his boat Hugo Boss. Thomson is probably most famous for his rescue by fellow Brit Mike Golding in the last race after his boat struck problems in the Southern Ocean, but the latest Hugo Boss is a well funded campaign and Thomson has already circumnavigated in her (albeit double rather than singlehanded), meaning she is among the best prepared boats in the field. Golding is also back for another attempt at the race (his last effort also ended in failure after a dismasting) in his latest boat Ecover. The quieter and more self effacing Golding probably doesnt have the "rock star" profile of Thomson, but Golding is the most experienced of the UK entrants and must be amongst the favourites for overall honours. The two other British entrants with new boats are very different campaigns.

The first is Dee Caffari, famous for being the first woman to circumnavigate the world, solo, the "wrong way". Caffari has a big budget campaign and her new Open 60 Aviva is the sistership to Mike Goldings boat. She is however extremely inexperienced in ocean racing in comparison to the rest of the field, so this event is likely to be a steep learning curve for the 34 year old ex teacher. Brian Thompson by contrast is an ultra experienced ocean racer, 46 years old with 4 circumnavigations under his belt. His boat, Pindar is probably the most radical design in the race and to date has shown brief bursts of speed in between major problems (including a dismasting). It remains to be seen if Thompson can be consistently competitive and keep Pindar together. The second woman amongst the "big name" British entries is Sam Davies, the worlds leading female ocean racer and one of the very fastest ocean racers full stop. She is only 33 years old and her boat Roxy is a generation behind the races more modern designs, but Davies is experienced and talented and could well spring a surprise or two in the race. Jonny Malbon and Artemis Ocean Racing have a big budget, but their campaign has been dogged by problems and their radical new boat has had more than a few teething issues. Malbon is also relatively inexperienced in solo racing, so will be up against it in this race.

Britains seventh entry into the race is a stark contrast to the other four and their big budget professional campaigns. Steve White is almost a throwback to the corinthian days of sailing with a small team and a shoestring budget. His boat, Spirit of Weymouth is a ten year old design and his campaign has been struggling for cash since inception, but it's well run and White is an experienced sailor having come from a background (like Thomson, Golding and Caffari) of Chay Blyths Challenge business. He will be hoping to spring the odd surprise on the bigger names and to increase his profile with a view to securing funding for a real push at the 2012 event.

All the British skippers face a stern challenge with 30 entrants in this most testing of events. Favourites include Bernard Stamm, Vincent Roux and Michel Desjoyeaux, all of whom have won other around the world races. The start gun fires at Les Sables d'Olonne on November 9th and only then will we begin to see how the race will shape up.

by; Martin Dinham of http://www.nare.co.uk

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