Vendée Globe

Promotional exercises, sponsorship sessions, decorating time: it feels like holiday time has finally arrived for the competitors registered for the next Vendée Globe. Let there be no mistake however, as for many boats, the summer is synonymous with a refit and whilst the majority of the skippers are counting on August for some relaxation before the final busy period, others are planning on summer classes in order to ensure they are going to be top of the class this autumn.

Work underway
Some boats are undergoing a refit at the moment or will be in the next few weeks. Changes to the appendages on Safran, a change of keel for Téménos 2, a summer overhaul for Akena Vérandas and Groupe Maisonneuve... Dominique Wavre has thus moored up in La Rochelle, where he is about to have a new keel fitted. This work has been scheduled for some time, but will force Dominique to carry out another 1500-mile qualifier before 1st September. This is what Kito de Pavant is currently doing on board his Groupe Bel, as the Verdier design was fitted with a new mast a few days ago. As for Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty, he is taking advantage of the holiday period to go out sailing for a few days between modifications being carried out in Lorient. As for Yannick Bestaven, he decided to opt for the Transat Quebec Saint-Malo to test the recent changes made to his Cervin EnR and carry out some final adjustments.

Public relations and meetings
Several monohulls took part in the maritime festival, Brest 2008. Only Jean Le Cam stuck around afterwards, because he was the guest of honour at the Douarnenez Maritime Festival. Thus, VM Matériaux was centre stage at the heart of the festivities. Douarnenez 2008 resulted in some unusual meetings, such as Jean and Mikaël Novokov, the Captain of the four-masted barque, Kruzenshtern, the world’s second largest sailing ship. The Russian officer was able to try his hand sailing the Lombard designed monohull. It has been suggested that the forthcoming Vendée Globe will be closely followed in Kaliningrad.
Michel Desjoyeaux was awarded the Medal of Honour for work at sea by Charles Claden (nicknamed Carlos), the emblematic captain of the Abeille Bourbon, the high seas tug, which patrols the Channel Approaches, off Ushant.
To finish, Jean-Pierre Dick has been taking part in the French TV programme, Fort Boyard, which is set on an old fort off the Atlantic coast. The yachtsman from Nice could be proud of his performance in the contest.

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