There were already five different nationalities represented by the 15 sailors registered by mid-December. Alongside eight French competitors (1), there are seven from other countries: three British sailors (Samantha Davies, Mike Golding and Alex Thomson) two from Switzerland (Bernard Stamm and Dominique Wavre), an Italian (Alessandro Di Benedetto) and a Spaniard (Javier Sanso).

Mike Golding (GB, Gamesa)
Mike will be setting out on his fourth Vendée Globe, aboard his Owen Clarke designed boat launched back in 2007, which was considerably modified after her dismasting (with Jean Le Cam as skipper) in the last Barcelona World Race. A very serious contender, as we must not forget that Mike finished seventh in 2001 and made it all the way to the podium (3rd) in 2005. He was forced to retire in Perth (Australia) in 2008. Determined to break the French stranglehold on the race, with all his experience, "Goldfinger" is back again aiming for the top spot.

Alex Thomson (GB, Hugo Boss)
With his 2007 Farr-designed boat built by Mark Turner and sailed previously by Guillermo Altadill, Sébastien Josse and Roland Jourdain – who won the Route du Rhum aboard her - Alex Thomson has just taken second place in the Transat Jacques Vabre. He also finished second in the 2007 Barcelona World Race. This will be his third Vendée Globe, but he was forced out in 2004 and 2008 after suffering damage. The day he makes it all the way round, Alex will be a real threat.

Samantha Davies ( GB, Savéol)
The only woman so far registered, Sam will be sailing on Roland Jourdain’s 2004 Lombard designed boat, which has already taken part in two Vendée Globe races. Modified by Ronan Lucas and the designer Juan K, the boat raced in the Barcelona World Race under the name of Neutrogena. The boat certainly knows her way around the world and Sam, who finished fourth in 2009, will be determined to climb up a step onto the podium. In terms of communication skills, the young British sailor is a welcome addition to the race, as she won everyone over last time with her charm.

Bernard Stamm (SUI, Cheminées Poujoulat)
The most Breton Swiss sailor will, with Javier Sanso, be one of the two non-French sailors with a brand new boat. In the case of Stamm, we are looking at a Juan K designed monohull built at the Décision yard in Switzerland, which was launched in the autumn of 2011. It was a huge blow to see him collide with an unidentified floating object in the Transat Jacques Vabre, as this led to a serious ingress of water. However, the boat can be repaired and Bernard remains upbeat. A very serious contender: although he was forced to retire from both of the Vendée Globe events in which he has taken part, few sailors can boast such a list of achievements with in particular his two amazing wins in the solo round the world race with stopovers. If luck stays with him this time, he will be a serious contender for victory.

Dominique Wavre (SUI, Mirabaud)
Like Mike Golding, Dominique Wavre will be setting off on his fourth Vendée Globe. If we look at his results, he has every right to be optimistic: 5th in 2001, 4th in 2005 (retired in 2008). This will in fact be his sixth round the world race, as he also took part in both Barcelona World Races, making it to the podium in 2007 (3rd). His boat is an Owen Clarke designed monohull from 2006 and was built in New Zealand for the 2008 Vendée Globe. He will certainly be aiming for a place on the podium or more than just that.

Javier Sanso (ESP, Acciona)
This will be Javier’s second Vendée Globe (retired in 2000 on Old Spice) and this time, he will be aboard a brand new boat designed by Owen Clarke and built in New Zealand. The distinctive feature is that this will represent a real technological challenge for the Spaniard, now in his forties: he aims to complete the Vendée Globe without using any fossil fuel. There will not be any diesel on board. He will be producing his energy just using wind turbines, hydro-generators, a fuel cell and solar panels. But that will not stop him from being a true competitor, as we saw with his fourth place in the 2007 Barcelona and his third place in the 2009 Transat Jacques Vabre.

Alessandro Di Benedetto (ITA, Team Plastique)
The Italian is entering the world of IMOCA sailing after four amazing achievements: two Atlantic crossings, a Pacific crossing on a beach cat (Hobie Cat) and to top it all, a round the world voyage in 268 days aboard a boat measuring just 6.5 metres. This brilliant sailor will be setting out aboard the former Sodebo (a Finot-Conq design) built for Thomas Coville in 2000, which was later sailed by Sébastien Josse in 2004 and Arnaud Boissières in 2008. The boat knows her way around the world... as does the skipper.

Aiming to take part

Among those still trying to complete their budget to be able to set sail from Les Sables d'Olonne on 10th November, there are many other talented sailors from around the world, as thirteen others have expressed their interest. From Britain, there is Dee Caffari, who wishes to compete again after her experience in the last race, Brian Thompson, currently taking part in the Jules Verne Trophy attempt aboard the maxi Banque Populaire V. He would also like to return after his 2008 Vendée Globe, as would Steve White. Three other British sailors, who do not yet have experience of IMOCA sailing, but have competed successfully elsewhere particularly in Class40, are also hoping to take part: Phil Sharp, John Mackay and Oscar Mead.
A lot of talks are going on too in Spain with four sailors with a lot of experience of 60-foot IMOCA sailing, aiming to compete. They are Alex Pella, who would appear to already have obtained part of his budget, Guillermo Altadill – the most successful of the Spanish contingent - Juan Merediz and Pachi Rivero. The Belgian sailor Christophe Bullens (who sailed the first leg of the Velux Five Oceans) is also looking for partners as is the Pole, Kris Owczarek.

But the next official entrant in the Everest of the Seas may well come from Germany. We are talking about Boris Herrmann, a hard-working sailor, who showed his determination winning the 40-foot round the world race and has already set up an organisation to ensure he finds the required funding. He is said to be in serious talks…

We leave the final word to the Race Director, Denis Horeau: "This time, once again, there will be between 30 and 40% of the line-up from outside of France and maybe even more. They are fascinated by this unique event. For them, it is much tougher to get in the training required to succeed in the Vendée Globe, as not many of them have been through the Figaro circuit, which is so instructive. But I can see to that there are a certain number of contenders aiming to return to the race: once they have competed in this race, they tend to want to come back for more! "

(1) Vincent Riou (PRB), Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire), Marc Guillemot (Safran), Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3), François Gabart (Macif), Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel), Arnaud Boissières (Akena Verandas), Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (sponsor TBA).