For the moment, between 12 and 14 of the skippers, who took part in the last Vendée Globe are expected to line up at the start of the 2009 Transat Jacques Vabre in Le Havre on 8th November to set sail for Puerto Limon (Costa Rica). Among them, the two-time winner of the Vendée Globe, Michel Desjoyeaux, who will be taking Jérémie Beyou aboard his Foncia, as well as Marc Guillemot (Safran) with Charles Caudrelier, Samantha Davies (Artemis) alongside the French sailor Sidney Gavignet, Roland Jourdain (Véolia Environnement) with Jean-Luc Nélias, Arnaud Boissières (Akena Vérandas) with Vincent Riou, Marc Thiercelin (DCNS) with Christopher Pratt, Armel Le Cléac'h (Brit Air), Sébastien Josse (BT) with Jean François Cuzon, and finally Kito de Pavant (Groupe Bel), who has chosen to join up with the young Figaro racer François Gabart. At the moment three British competitors, Dee Caffari, Mike Golding and Alex Thomson, are also on the provisional entry list.

It is the end of an era for Bruce Schwab, who was the first American officially to complete the Vendée Globe back in the 2004-2005 race. After two round the world races aboard his 60-foot custom-built boat, Bruce sailed his monohull around the Caribbean this winter, but the Foundation, which has been financing the project is experiencing the effects of the global economic crisis and Bruce is now forced to sell his faithful Ocean Planet. Indeed, the situation has reached the point where her owner would like to make a quick sale.
 

After becoming the first single-handed woman to sail non-stop around the world in both directions, Dee Caffari has just set a new monohull record for the Round Britain and Ireland course. With a completely female crew, including Samantha Davies, Miranda Merron and Alex Sizer, she completed the voyage in 6 days, 11 hours, 30 minutes and 53 seconds, beating the outright monohull record set in May 2004 by Solune. 

Dee Caffari, the skipper of Aviva: " The outright speed record was always our goal and I am ecstatic that we accomplished our aim. In sport, as in many areas of life, choosing the right team is vital to success and over the last six days, Aviva has had a strong, focussed team aboard pushing her every inch of the course. We have all given it 110% and clear communication has played a key part in this achievement. It has very much been a team effort and having the other three girls with me has been a blast."

Samantha Davies: " It was fantastic to be onboard Aviva for this record breaking trip. We pushed ourselves and the boat hard but it was definitely worth it to finish inside the record. I think I'm almost as exhausted after this trip as I was after the Vendée Globe - although that's probably as much from the constant chatting as the sailing!"

At 18h local time on Sunday 21st June, 53 boats lined up for the start of the fifth SNSM Record, raced again this year between Saint-Nazaire and Sainte Marine. Among them there were five Imoca monohulls, which took part in the last Vendée Globe: Michel Desjoyeaux's Foncia, Roland Jourdain's Véolia Environnement, Marc Guillemot's Safran, Armel Le Cléac'h's Brit Air and Arnaud Boissières on Akena Vérandas (ex PRB) accompanied by Vincent Riou and Jean Le Cam. They are due to finish on Tuesday.

Aboard the monohull Aviva attempting to beat the Round Britain and Ireland record, Dee Caffari, Sam Davies, Miranda Merron and Alex Sizer are currently climbing up the North Sea coast and this morning were sailing off Newcastle around 3 hours behind the monohull record held by the French sailor, Jean-Philippe Chomette. Sam Davies admitted yesterday evening that it felt rather strange to be sailing on another boat and with a crew after so many hours of solo sailing. Since the start on Monday evening, the wind has remained light, but as they make their way north towards the Shetlands, it is due to strengthen with gales forecast. Sam added that her faithful companion, Lucky the duck was also on board, but has not been feeling very comfortable on the nav desk, as Aviva seems to bounce around more violently than Roxy. More to follow…

Since being relaunched last month and after sea trials, Hugo Boss has been busy on trips out around the Solent with guests on board, but Alex Thomson has also sailed a lot further, as he recently delivered her all the way to Monaco, where she took part in the festivities surrounding the F1 event with the McLaren team. Among the guests, who went aboard during this stop in the Mediterranean, Lewis Hamilton and his family. During the return trip to England, Hugo Boss had a stopover in Barcelona to carry out some PR work with the Spanish press. A few days after her return to Gosport and she has just set off again to head for Germany to take part in Kiel Week. Alex will be flying out to join the crew before sailing her home to take part in Cowes Week and the Fastnet Race. This will indeed be the first major event for Alex aboard Hugo Boss since he was forced to retire from the 2008-2009 Vendée Globe.