This morning at ten, in the Palace Cinema in Les Sables d'Olonne, the thirty solo competitors who will tomorrow be lining up at the start at 13h02 (French time) attended their final briefing in front of the media.
They came on foot, by bicycle or by car. Alone or accompanied by TV cameras. The thirty sailors, many of whom had just had a haircut, listened to the final safety recommendations for the start. Some final technical points and the weather forecast were discussed. A few had some last minute official papers to sort out, before they were wished "Fair wind and a good Vendée Globe" by Philippe de Villiers, the President of the SEM Vendée organisers.
As requested by the skippers, Sylvie Viant, the President of the Race Committee, will be setting up the start line so that the thirty sailors can set off westwards on the port tack - the sailors have agreed to start on port, in order to avoid having to put in a rapid tack. The start sequence will begin at 12h54, eight minutes before the gun is fired at 13h02. The sixth Vendée Globe looks set begin with some very rough conditions forecast...

The skipper of Delta Dore gave a final press conference at one today in the Vendée Globe village.

Talking about his experience…
«I think that it is better to have had a lot of solo experience rather than round the word crewed experience. So I think I'm in with a chance.»

How his children see the round the world voyage
«I showed pictures of the boat to my two boys. For the five-year-old, sailing around the world means being with the dolphins. In general, if he does a picture of me on the boat, he draws a hoop so they can jump through it.»

What should spectators out on the water wear on Sunday for the start? «Boots, hoods and don't forget the medicine to avoid getting your clothes dirty...»

Weather around Les Sables d’Olonne is very wet and windy. The forecast for tomorrow’s start at 1302hrs (local/1202GMT) is for a SW’ly wind of between 15 and 20 knots, but that is due to increase fairly quickly in the afternoon to 30-35 knots with gusts up to 40 knots during the night. The sea state will be moderate at first, then rough and very rough during the night. After that the fleet will cross a cold front in the Bay of Biscay then they will have to tack maybe in the middle of Monday, then the wind will veer and decrease very quickly and from Cape Finisterre, then it will be lighter winds. (Sylvain Mondon, MeteoFrance, Race Meteorlogists)

This morning (Saturday) will be the final opportunity to listen to the programme Live from the Pontoons from Port Olona. At eleven (French time), Pierre-Louis Castelli and Frédéric Ottenhof will be talking to Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, Patrice Carpentier, Hervé Laurent, Sébastien Josse, Richard Silvani and Philippe de Villiers.

From Monday, each morning at eleven you will be able to listen to the radio session with the Vendée Globe skippers broadcast live from Race HQ in Paris on the official website www.vendeeglobe.org.

Sam Davies (Roxy) will be setting sail on Sunday at 13h02 (1202GMT) on the IMOCA Open 60 that won the previous two editions of the Vendée Globe: «I'm feeling fine. I know I'll feel stressed in the final hours leading up to the start. After all the excitement of the past few weeks, suddenly you find yourself alone and you don't know if you are happy, sad or nervous. In the beginning, I wanted to win, but today my goal is more personal: I want to beat the boat's record (87 days 10 hours 47 minutes and 55 seconds) held by Vincent Riou. I've written it down on the entrance to the cockpit to make sure I keep that in mind. It is a long race and there are often a lot of breakages, so we never know… »

Several thousand virtual skippers have already registered to line up for the start of the 2008 Vendée Globe. You too, can try your hand at sailing around the world from the comfort of your home or office. To register for the Virtual Regatta: http://www.virtualregatta.com/index_vendee.php?langue=EN