Cape Horn passage times

Some skippers are better than others at switching off some of the critical brain functions, trusting the innate instincts and just letting the IMOCA go fast. When everything is telling them to take the foot off the accelerator they are able to just maintain that life on the absolute edge for longer…

His channel was very different…very, very different. After being forced to head for shelter in La Rochelle last Sunday due to a big storm, as did Clarisse Crémer, today the Vendée’s own Benjamin Dutreux finally enjoyed a triumphant return into the Les Sables d’Olonne channel. Tens of thousands of…

While the skippers are now progressively finishing into Les Sables d’Olonne, the start and finish port for the Vendée Globe. Few people appreciate that the nearby Olonne marshes form a veritable laboratory for blue carbon. Coastal salt marshes are low-lying, gently sloping lands found along…

Another new day has dawned on the tenth edition of the Vendée Globe. As the 81st night at sea comes to an end and any one of the 20 skippers still at sea who harboured hopes of getting round within the time set by Jules Verne have to readjust their timings today. For the skipper who is in next,…

Sam Davies, she of the seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm, was running on fumes this morning when her tech team took over Initiatives Coeur. She feel asleep immediately, she told us in her press conference. And what little rest she managed to snatch this morning sustained her through her…

It was a happy and relieved Boris Herrmann who visibly enjoyed his return up the Le Sables d’Olonne channel, who loved and cherished his reunion with his loved ones and his team. And facing the international media’s cameras and microphones, the German skipper talked about the hard times. His race…