Vendée Globe

Only ten days left before the start. The skippers are turning up one by one in the harbour in Vendée, while the shore teams are busy from first light, before the crowds, who certainly do not seem to have been put off by the rain, invade the pontoons. For these assistants, the major jobs have all been done and now it is time for a few final touches.

This morning (Thursday) on Groupe Bel, it was the rigger, who was hard at it: «I´m putting a sheath on the halyards, where they leave the mast. They are starting to become a little fluffy, and we want to be doubly sure, as they have to last for three months.» As for Delta Dore, which saw the return today of Jérémie Beyou, the atmosphere was fairly quiet: apart from the food, everything has now been stowed. There will be one final sea trip next week to see how the green and white monohull behaves now that she is loaded. It is similarly calm on the deck of Paprec-Virbac 2 where they are now sticking on labels, while Jean Pierre Dick is bent over the computer screens. «A little nit-picking, a little bit of fiddling, as there are always possible improvements, but in fact, the boat has been fully ready since late July,» said Julien Penven. The men on Maisonneuve came up with a similar argument: «A boat is like a house. It´s never really finished. Basically, Maisonneuve could more or less set sail tomorrow. But we´ll keep finding jobs to keep us busy and we´ll be checking things over and over again.» On Roxy, the instruction manuals and procedures are being written down for Sam Davies and one final climb to inspect the mast is planned. In the cockpit of Cheminées Poujoulat, while Bernard Stamm, who has returned, is busy at a meeting, they are taking apart the winches.

These final days spent preparing the boats are also an opportunity to take care of a few little surprises on board, by stowing away or hiding presents that the skippers will dig out at Christmas. Thus, Erwan Steff has already taken care of the Christmas meals and presents for his skipper, Yann Eliès.

The toil continues and gradually the pace is building. Most of the skippers will be back in Les Sables d’Olonne this weekend and will be preparing to go through the whirlwind of activity during the final countdown to the start.

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