Vendée Globe

October 18. 2008 at 12:17The fishermen set the ball rolling

Yesterday evening at around 6, the Vendée Globe skippers and a many fishermen got together for a drink organised by the Local Fishermen's Committee in Les Sables d'Olonne. The aim of this informal get together was to sign an agreement under which the 2008 Vendée Globe will be opened by local fishermen. Since the first edition of the Vendée Globe, fishermen have always worked alongside the event, but for the 2008 edition over the past few months, the Vendée public-private partnership and the fishermen have been working together to find a way to convey the sense of openness and local action around the event. What finer display of solidarity of seafarers than to see professional fishermen and ocean racers getting together than a round the non-stop single-handed world race. That is wonderful, as the 2008 Vendée Globe with its 30 monohulls lining up for the start will more than ever be a close collaboration between these two worlds, for whome the sea is a common workplace. On D-Day, Sunday 9th November, these giants of the oceans will have to be led out of the harbour with the tide limiting procedure, thus leaving the shore teams of each boat just four minutes to make their way out of the harbour channel in Les Sables. From their exit, the skippers will be well escorted, as the fishermen will be guiding them to the start line and bringing their dream to life.

October 18. 2008 at 09:47Everyone in Les Sables

On Saturday morning at nine, Yannick Bestaven (Aquarelle.com-Charente Maritime) was the next to last skipper to enter the harbour channel in Les Sables d’Olonne, and shortly all thirty will be in place for the three weeks of preparation before the start of the Vendée Globe. On Friday evening, Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) and Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eigthy) arrived at dusk. And then this morning, the public were able to see Bernard Stamm´s Cheminées Poujoulat, Sébastien Josse´s BT, Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty´s Maisonneuve and Marc Thiercelin´s DCNS. Now only missing to complete the line-up is the British yachtsman, Steve White (Spirit of Weymouth), who was just off Les Sables d’Olonne at 9h30.

October 18. 2008 at 09:04A fine weekend

Superb weather for the inauguration of the Vendée Globe village! While a front is attempting to come down from the English Channel towards Les Sables d’Olonne, it will only manage to create light cloudy conditions for a time on Saturday and on Sunday we are expecting some brilliant sunshine. The temperatures may feel a little colder, but remain pleasant exceeding 18° in the afternoon and at around 7°C at dawn. The light to moderate easterly wind is expected to back northerly for a time on Saturday afternoon, but we will rarely see winds above ten knots. Tide times in Les Sables d’Olonne Saturday 18th October: coefficient 93 - 88 High tide: 7h20 – 19h51 Low tide: 1h15 – 13h42 Sunday 19th October: coefficient 81 - 74 High tide: 8h08 – 20h49 Low tide: 2h01 – 14h31

October 17. 2008 at 20:33Four more!

At high tide this Friday evening, four more boats entered through the harbour channel in Les Sables d’Olonne: Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement), the Basque, Unai Basurko (Pakea Bizkaia), the Swiss sailor, Dominique Wavre (Temenos II) and Marc Guillemot (Safran), the last yachtsman to arrive at seven. Several other monohull skipers are due to moor up in Port Olona at nightfall, such as Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) and Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat)…

October 17. 2008 at 13:34Let the celebrations begin

In the Vendée Globe village, dances and music from around the world will be bringing to life the pontoons and the bar: the organisers of this sixth edition really wanted to make this Vendée Globe village a place of celebration at the heart of Les Sables d’Olonne. Music and dance events from countries with a maritime tradition (Ireland, South Africa, Mexico, Colombia), will be taking place throughout the day and evening in the village.

18th-19th October: Ireland
The village will open to the sound of the « Clasac » band from Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th October. Made up of more than 300 young men and women simply bursting with energy, the most enthusiastic of whom will be heading for Les Sables d’Olonne to excite the visitors with their tap dancing. The 26 best dancers and musicians from the Company will be taking the stage with the charming delights from Irish bards and traditional dances.
« Clasac » will be bringing along the Gaelic touch from that country with its mild oceanic climate and green pastures, which is known for its highly distinctive music.

25th-26th October: South Africa
The blood of those Swazi warriors that overcame the powerful colonial and military strength of Victorian England still runs through their veins. Dressed in sumptuous costumes, the 25 artists belonging to the «Matsamo cultural group» take us back in time. With the rhythm of their drums and their melodic and poetic songs, they will be offering visitors to Vendée some moments from the daily life of a people, who used to be the most powerful in Africa.

29th Oct-2nd November: Mexico
The «Mariachi Cocula» Group was formed in 1993 by four fans of Mexican music, who wanted to make it more widely known through their regular performances. For the Vendée Globe Village, the group will be made up of twelve dancers and musicians (guitar, vihuela, guitarrón , violin and trumpet) and they will be playing some popular music from some of Mexico´s top composers and musicians: José Alfredo Jimenez, Agustin Lara, Javier Solis, Vicente Fernandez, Consuelo Velasquez…
3rd - 8th November: Colombia
Colombia is to America what Greece is to Europe, the motherland of the Arts with its culture dating back over several millennia. The traditional ballet troupe « Antioquia », founded in 1989, has the aim of spreading Colombian traditions in Europe and around the world. Proud of their triple heritage (Indian, Spanish and African), the 26 dancers in the Antioquia troupe, will be creating a magical atmosphere in the Vendée Globe Village with a ballet worthy of the world´s top ballet companies.
Each day, dancers, singers and musicians will be inviting the visitors to discover the wealth of musical and dance traditions from these maritime regions from around the globe:
Noon – 5 p.m.: Parade and procession with shows being performed on three stages spread around the Vendée Globe village
3.30 p.m.: World dance and music classes
An opportunity for the general public to try for themselves some of the dances and instruments from the guest country in the bar. A show bringing together the public and the artists will be the climax of this introductory session.
9 p.m.: Show open to the general public in the bar-restaurant "Le Vog."

October 17. 2008 at 12:3618 moored up

With the exception of Alex Thomson's Hugo Boss, which is moored in the commercial harbour following the collision this morning with a fishing boat, sixteen Vendée Globe monohulls are now in place in Port Olona. The latest arrival was Armel Le Cléac’h's BritAir, which made her way through the entrance channel in Les Sables d’Olonne this Friday morning at around eight, just before her draught of 4.50 metres would have limited her in these spring tides. As for Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada), he has gone out for the day in order to test his new sails. He wil be returning to port this afternoon with some other skippers, who are on their way to the port for the start of the Vendée Globe. Currently in Les Sables d’Olonne are: Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel) Raphaël Dinelli (Fondation Océan Vital) Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas) Rich Wilson (Great America III) Derek Hatfield (Algimouss-Spirit of Canada) Norbert Sedlacek (Nauticsport-Kapsch) Dee Caffari (Aviva) Vincent Riou (PRB) Mike Golding (Ecover 2) Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac) Yann Eliès (Generali) Jonny Malbon (Artemis) Samantha Davies (Roxy) Jérémie Beyou (Delta Dore) Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air) Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss)

October 17. 2008 at 12:30Light show

Based on a scenario Bruno Seillier, set up by the « Spectaculaires, les allumeurs d’images » company, the multi-tech show using video and laser projection will light up the monohulls moored in Port Olona as they are about to set sail around the world. Entitled « Vendée Globe, the Everest of the Seas », this light show will begin on Saturday 18th October at 19h15 to celebrate the opening of the Vendée Globe village. Lasting eleven minutes, using 34 4.5 kW skytracers, six 20,000 to 30,000 video projectors, two 40W lasers, a Line Array sound system and sixty LED projection lights fed using more than 50 kilometres of cable, this show will be repeated every evening until the eve of the start at 19h15, 19h45, 20h15 and 20h45, and will be visible throughout the marina in Les Sables d’Olonne.

October 17. 2008 at 08:56Dawn arrivals

It was at five this morning that four monohulls entered Port Olona to moor up after arriving on a very light breeze. Jean-Pierre Dick (Paprec-Virbac) was the first to turn up in les Sables d’Olonne, followed by Yann Eliès (Generali), Jonny Malbon (Artemis) and Samantha Davies (Roxy). Then at around 6h30, it was the turn of Jérémie Beyou (Delta Dore), Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) and Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) to come ashore. Other skippers are expected on the tide this evening (between four and ten o´clock) such as Marc Guillemot (Safran), Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty), Armel Le Cléac’h (Brit Air), Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement), Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat)... The boats must all be moored up in Les Sables d’Olonne by the tide on Saturday morning.

October 17. 2008 at 08:52A fine day

For the arrival of the majority of the boats in Les Sables d´Olonne, it looks like being a sunny day. A few clouds are expected in the afternoon, but the temperature remains mild (around 18°C) and there is a pleasant north-easterly breeze resulting from a high pressure area over France. The wind will remain fairly light, around ten knots this morning and easing off this afternoon. This weekend, the temperatures will once again be very pleasant and the forecast is for sunny weather with a light to moderate easterly wind. Tide times in Les Sables d’OlonneFriday 17th October: coefficient 101 - 98High tide: 6h39 – 19h04Low tide: 0h32 – 12h56Saturday 18th October: coefficient 93 - 88High tide: 7h20 – 19h51Low tide: 1h15 – 13h42

October 16. 2008 at 12:23PRB has reached Les Sables

The winner of the last edition of the Vendée Globe moored up this Thursday at the pontoon in Port Olona: She was the ninth Imoca monohull to reach Les Sables d’Olonne. Vincent Riou delivered his new PRB, a Farr design from the latest generation, with the help of his shore team, from Port la Forêt. We can add that all of the boats and their skippers will be present at the latest on Saturday morning for the inauguration of the Vendée Globe Village by Philippe de Villiers at ten. Many yachtsmen plan to leave their home port this evening (Thursday), to arrive in Vendée on Friday morning. That is the case for Michel Desjoyeaux, who is expected around breakfast time tomorrow morning…