All news

The Vendée Globe unveils its very first mascot: Adélie the penguin

The Vendée Globe, the famous solo sailing race around the world, is proud to present its very first mascot: Adélie, the penguin. Endemic to Antarctica, the South Pole continent that sailors circumnavigate on their round-the-world voyage, the Adélie penguin is directly threatened by global warming. Adélie has been chosen to be the spokesperson for the Vendée Globe's commitment to ocean preservation.

Manchot adélie sur la banquise
Un manchot adélie sur la banquise
© Nelly Gravier, Communication TAAF

Adélie embodies the family-friendly and accessible dimension of the Vendée Globe, while conveying a strong message about ocean preservation. 

Terre-Adélie, where this species of penguin is found, is part of the TAAF, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands - an ocean partner of the event - as are the Crozet and Kerguelen archipelagos, the Saint-Paul and Amsterdam islands, and the Éparses islands. These archipelagos have a strong link with the Vendée Globe: the ship Marion Dufresne, used to supply the TAAF scientific bases, has been involved on numerous occasions in rescue operations for Vendée Globe skippers in difficulty in this region. 

The Terre-Adélie district has no inhabitants, but scientists work there around the clock, supported by technical staff from the French Polar Institute (logisticians, cooks, plumbers, electricians, machine operators, etc.) and the TAAF (district manager, telecom technicians and doctors). On the other hand, there are plenty of penguins! Several articles will be dedicated to this species in the "Ocean" section of the race website, to raise awareness of the threats posed by global warming. 

Adélie the penguin on the antarctica ice floe
Adélie the penguin on the antarctica ice floe

a mascot to meet in the village

To the delight of young and old alike, the mascot will be wandering around and handing out gifts in the race village from its opening on October 19 to its closing on the evening of the sailors' departure on November 10. 

Made in france

"To convey messages in favor of preserving the oceans, it was obvious for us to choose French manufacturing" explains Alain Leboeuf, President of the Vendée Globe and the Vendée Department. Indeed, the Adélie mascot was designed and manufactured in France. Even better, the plush toy version, available for sale in limited quantities on the official store, is also Made in France! 

 Vendée Globe store

Share this article

Latest news

Les deux IMOCA VULNERABLE

Pooling resources within teams: together it's everything!

Sharing part of the technical team, pooling the design office, the data to be analysed and certain areas of activity... What if sharing resources was a boon, a performance advantage? In any case, that's the choice made by Beyou Racing with Charal (Jérémie Beyou) and TeamWork-Team SNEF (Justine…
Violette Dorange et sa gourde Gobi

GOBI, a technical supplier committed to zero waste

In line with the environmental commitments it unveiled at its press conference at UNESCO last February, the Vendée Globe has approached Gobi to design its official water bottle, in order to eliminate the use of plastic bottles in the 2024 village.
Sodebo

Sodebo, VandB: partnering a boat and the Vendée Globe, how do they complement each other?

One has been a major partner of the Vendée Globe (Sodebo) for 20 years, the other a brand new official supplier (VandB). But these two companies from the Pays de la Loire region are contributing in their own way to the dynamism of the most iconic of round-the-world races. Alongside this support,…
Damien Seguin, JO de Londres

Damien Seguin: "feeding off the energy of the Olympics"

He is the most "Olympian" of the Vendée Globe skippers. The APICIL Group sailor has competed in four Olympics and won two gold medals. He will be part of the French Paralympic team's support team and will be attending events in Lille and Paris this week. But first, he looks back at the excitement…
Illustration départ du Vendée Globe

100 days to go

Objectively, time is quantified by units such as seconds, minutes, hours, days and years, and is rigorously managed by clocks and calendars. Today, only 100 days remain until the start of the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe! Subjectively - time can stretch or contract according to our activities,…
Musée de la Marine

"Solo around the world” exhibition at the musée de la Marine

From 16 October to 26 January, to mark the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe, the Musée National de la Marine in Paris-Trocadéro is devoting a major exhibition to the single-handed round-the-world race.
Paul Meilhat à bord de son IMOCA Biotherm

Paul Meilhat: ‘France can beat its record number of medals at the Olympic Sailing Games’

Sailing has a long history in the Olympic Games. Events were planned for the Athens Games in 1896, but were not held because of the weather. But four years later, the first competitions took place at the Olympic Games in Paris. That was 124 years ago, 89 years before the first Vendée Globe. Sailing…
Les équipes Sellsy

Sellsy as a committed and responsible technical supplier

Sellsy, a La Rochelle-based company offering a 100% French solution to simplify commercial and financial management for small and medium-sized companies and renowned for its commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR), has signed up as a technical supplier for the Vendée Globe 2024.