Vendée Globe

A great race is born

Les Sables d'Olonne, 26th November 1989. Thirteen skippers, all overcome by some powerful emotions, a subtle mixture of apprehension and excitement, are busy on their boats. The final checks before starting out on the single-handed trip around the oceans of the world... with no stopovers allowed. Among them, some regular competitors, some foreigners and some hopefuls on this Great Maritime Adventure. "A marvellous range of mad yachtsman aboard their strange craft", is how Titouan Lamazou described them. Lamazou, who was to leave his mark on this first edition open to pioneers and experienced ocean racers. One hundred and nine days and 24,000 miles later- at the helm of "Ecureuil d'Aquitaine II", a modern Bouvet-Petit design - the yachtsman from Béarn, who was sometimes a painter, sometimes a sailor and voyager, was the first to cross the finishing line as the final winner. From the third day of the race on, from Cape Finisterre, he led the way. His determination to win never left him. The oceans were responsible for eliminating or slowing down his rivals, such as Philippe Jeantot, one by one. Having problems with his broken gooseneck, the man behind this first Vendée Globe lost ground. He then got bogged down in the weather system in the Doldrums.

Following in the wake of the first winner, back in Les Sables d'Olonne, came Loïck Peyron's Lada-Poch III. The yachtsman from La Baule, the multihull genius, finished his exemplary round the world trip thirty hours later, having rescued Philippe Poupon, whose ketch, "Fleury Michon X", turned over on her side in the forties. It would not have taken much for Loïck - with an additional bonus for coming to the aid of "Seafaring Phil" - to upset the victory plans of the "hazelnut nibbler" and his "Ecureuil (Squirrel ) d'Aquitaine II". Right up until they were making their way up the Atlantic, Loïck stuck to the heels of the leader, threatening him until the very end. Third: Jean-Luc Van den Heede, at the helm of "36.15 MET", a Harlé design in aluminium. Spartan in appearance, this monohull corresponded to the budget of this old sea dog, who won the admiration of everyone down in the sixties. In these extreme latitudes, the tough bearded guy had to chop his way through the ice in amongst the icebergs. The Maths and Physics teacher from Lorient, an amateur yachtsman, achieved something quite extraordinary on this race around the three capes. The label "VDH" was to become famous. Two months later, Jean-François Coste, on board "Cacharel", completed his first Vendée Globe. For him, this was a victory. He experienced his adventure getting to know Eric Tabarly's "Pen Duick III". He was the seventh man home out of the thirteen contenders. The remaining six had some bad luck and bad seas, from the Bay of Biscay to the Deep South. But that year, for this first great race, the oceans were rather kind to these single-handed pioneers. No irreparable dramas occurred on the high seas.

« On the morning of the start, there were thirteen of us not really knowing where we were going. Among them there was a winner, some runners up, some lucky ones and some unlucky ones, and someone had to finish last. We all knew that, and everyone had done their utmost to fulfil their dreams. Some succeeded, some will manage it next time.
What we did not know was what no one dared mention.
But the sea did not take anyone, it simply gave.
So everything turned out fine...
A very good story with a happy end »

Jean-François Coste-Extract from the preface of "Vendée Globe" published by Denoël

Final positions 1989-1990
1 - Titouan Lamazou (Fra, Ecureuil d'Aquitaine II) : 109j8h48'50''
2 - Loïck Peyron (Fra, Lada Poch) : 110j01h18'06''
3 - Jean-Luc Van den Heede (Fra, 36.15 MET) : 112j01h14'00''
4 - Philippe Jeantot (Fra, Crédit Agricole IV) : 113j23h47'47''
5 - Pierre Follenfant (Fra, TBS-Charente Maritime) : 114j21h09'06''
6 - Alain Gautier (Fra, Generali Concorde) : 132j13h01'48''
7 - Jean-François Coste (Fra, Cacharel) : 163j01h19'20''

Eliminated
Patrice Carpentier (Fra, Le Nouvel Observateur), damage to automatic pilot (Falklands)
Mike Plant (U.S., Duracell), received help on Campbell Island (New Zealand)

Retired
Bertie Reed (South Africa, Grinaker), damaged rudder
Jean-Yves Terlain (Fra, UAP), lost his mast
Philippe Poupon (Fra, Fleury Michon X), turned over
Guy Bernardin (U.S., O-Kay), suffered from toothache