The Everest of the Seas is “the” race in vogue. With boats going ever faster and a public that has never been so numerous to follow the adventures of the sailors, including the three Swiss: Justine Mettraux, Alan Roura and Oliver Heer.
You’d probably have to be a bit crazy, or totally fascinated, to stay zen in the Vendée Globe village. Like the solo sailors, the groups, families and visitors, ranging in age from one month to almost a century, have a resilience and patience that would make the most assiduous Buddhist monk pale. A three-hour queue to access the legendary pontoon of the most mythical of ocean races. Barely less to climb the mast at the Charal stand, sponsored by Jérémie Beyou. It will take almost as much to recover from his emotions and find a corner table at the Brasserie du Globe. The Vendée Globe is more fascinating than ever. After a 2020 edition cut short by the pandemic, it’s as if everyone has an unquenchable thirst for adventure. Even if it’s by proxy.
“Make us dream”
Never in the memory of loyal followers – journalists, press officers, technicians, sailors – has the start of a race been so exciting. It’s both fabulous and very exciting,” says Alan Roura, in tears on the day of the start. It’s thanks to all these people who are here in their thousands that we’re lucky enough to experience such emotional moments as this start.” After three weeks of excitement, the port of Les Sables-d’Olonne emptied like an unclogged sink. In a final whirlwind of emotion, the 40 boats paraded through this unique channel. “Rock around the Globe” said a banner. “Make us dream,” expressed another.
Freed from the crowds, the sailors performed like never before to meet the expectations of the hundreds of thousands of people who had often spent the night standing in line to be in the front row of this Sailing Week parade. Among them, the three Swiss sailors taking part in this tenth Vendée Globe were in for a real treat. Justine Mettraux, supported by her entire family and a host of supporters who had come to Vendée, had a hard time regulating the moisture in her eyes. “Leaving the Port, the Chenal, it was great,” she says. It’s all great emotion and pleasure. I’d been waiting to experience this moment for so long.”
Justine Mettraux in the mix
Once launched in the race, Juju the machine set off as expected. From the first tacks, the first nights, the first gusts of wind that were slow in coming, she did everything right. Three weeks spent in the top 10 when it wasn’t the top 5. She impressed everyone and shared her joy of sailing in videos in which she seemed particularly fulfilled. It’s as if this race was made for her, as she’s never stronger than when she has to decide everything on her own.
But the Vendée Globe is not all fun and games. Every day brings its own set of problems to be solved as quickly as possible. To avoid the small bolt that sticks turning into a mast that cracks. For La Genevoise, it was the loss of an essential sail (the J0) that caused her to drop out of the leading group. Even without it, I knew that in a pure speed race, my boat simply couldn’t keep up with the averages of the last foilers,” she explained as we approached the Cape of Good Hope. In a fixed situation like this South Atlantic crossing, you just have to be patient and wait for more complex situations to present themselves so you can make your moves and sail cleanly.”
In its first weeks of life, this 10th Vendée Globe offered an unprecedented spectacle at the head of the race. By the time it rounded the first of the three capes, only one competitor had retired (Maxime Sorel, with an ankle injury). According to Justine Mettraux, “The ideal and rather mild conditions of the first few weeks largely explain this small number of retirements. Apart from rounding Cape Finisterre, there were no major gales. And we’ve also noticed that the boats are now all very well prepared.”
©Gauthier Lebec
Cascade of records
If records have already been broken in Les Sables-d’Olonne, with 1.3 million visitors, TV audiences on the rise, and a version of the virtual race that is putting a strain on many households, what can we say about the pure performances of the frontrunners in the IMOCA class? Even before entering the Southern Ocean, the 24-hour distance record has been improved on an almost daily basis by the latest-generation IMOCA boats. By the time this final magazine of the year went to press (November 30), Frenchman Sébastien Simon had taken the top spot on Groupe Dubreuil, with a supersonic performance of 615 miles covered in 24 hours.
Unsurprisingly, all the favorites were able to reach averages of over 22 knots. Charlie Dalin, Sébastien Simon, Thomas Ruyant, Yoann Richomme, Jérémie Beyou, Nicolas Lunven, Sam Goodchild, Yannick Bestaven and Paul Meilhat set a hellish pace in the South Atlantic, causing a first skimming. Alan Roura was not spared this selection from the front, losing the thread of his race as he crossed a zone of calms on the descent to the equator. After three weeks of racing, he could put a cross on his top 10 ambitions. As for the 3rd of the Swiss Musketeers, Oliver Heer, he was still on course to reach his destination, no matter when, and he knew that, like all the others, he would be welcomed as a hero in Les Sables-d’Olonne by a record crowd. Wanna bet?
