François Gabart’s pre-registration has just been ratified by the Vendée Globe race directors. The skipper of the MACIF monohull has become the fourth competitor to be officially registered for the 2012-2013 Vendée Globe, which starts on Saturday 10th November from Les Sables d'Olonne. Winner of the solo Transat B to B, François Gabart is currently preparing his monohull and will take part in the Europa Race in May.

Vincent Riou and his team have got the year off to a busy start. The winter refit began two weeks ago and the monohull was completely stripped down. Deck hardware, hydraulics, engine, electronics... everything is being looked at. Over a nine week period, all the parts will be examined, cleaned up and replaced, if signs of excess wear are spotted. In addition to the usual jobs carried out during a winter refit, some changes are being made to the cockpit. The training sessions and the various races over the past two years have enabled Vincent and his team to identify changes that can be made to fine tune the monohull for the Vendée Globe. This is therefore a very important refit, as the clock is ticking and the shore team is focusing on getting the boat back in the water on 15th March. PRB is due to compete in the Europa Race, the crewed race around Europe, in early May.

Loïck Peyron and the crew of the maxi Banque Populaire V grabbed the Jules Verne Trophy last night for establishing a new crewed round the world record. Peyron completed the round the world voyage in 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds, averaging 26.51 knots over a total distance of 29,002 miles. He has therefore set a new outright record around the world, beating by 2 days and 18 hours the record which had been held since 2010 by Franck Cammas and the crew of Groupama 3.

Bruno Retailleau, President of the SAEM Vendée and everyone involved in organising the Vendée Globe wish you every happiness in 2012.

Jérémie Beyou has just been elected Breton sportsman of the year. He has been rewarded both by the Regional Government in Brittany and by the journalists at the daily newspaper Le Télégramme. He received this award for his win this summer in the Solitaire du Figaro and then in the Transat Jacques Vabre this autumn alongside Jean-Pierre Dick.

The Vendée Globe has just launched a competition, which is open to the general public to offer an invitation for two people to attend the start of the Vendée Globe on Saturday 10th November 2012. All you have to do is answer three simple questions about the class of boat taking part in the Vendée Globe, the name of the only skipper to have won the race twice and the town and French department, which host the finish and you could be the lucky winner and experience the excitement of the start.

To enter, click HERE