Vendee Globe, world's toughest sailing regatta, sets off

The starting signal for the world's toughest solo yacht race was fired shortly after 1 p.m. on Sunday. The 40 participants — 34 men and six women — will sail around 44,000 kilometers (24,000 nautical miles) nonstop to the southern Atlantic Ocean, circle the Antarctic and head back to France. The adventure has taken place every four years since 1989.

Around 2 million visitors have flocked to the "race village" in Les Sables-d'Olonne, open since October 19, on France's west coast. Incidentally, 33 of the 40 participants are French citizens.

The starting procedure followed a precise schedule. From 8 a.m., the yachts left the harbor at 3-minute intervals. Thousands of fans lined the canal, cheered on the sailors and watched the yachts set sail for the Atlantic.

The youngest participant this year is 23-year-old Frenchwoman Violette Dorange. She is fulfilling a childhood dream. Even as a little girl, she stood on the quay wall in Les Sables-d'Olonne to see off the Vendee heroes and heroines who are so revered in France. If she completes the race, she will be the youngest ever participant to do so.

Germany's Boris Herrmann is taking part for the second time. The 43-year-old is sailing a new yacht and has good prospects of a top place. Right at the start, the experienced extreme sailor fell back to last place due to technical problems. But by Tuesday, the Hamburg native was in ninth place — some 68 nautical miles behind the leader Sam Goodchild from France.

At the ninth Vendee in 2020/2021, Franco-German sailor Isabelle Joschke had to abandon the race off the coast of Brazil due to hydraulic damage, after she had completed around 80% of the route. She completed the circumnavigation after repairs in Salvador da Bahia, but dropped out of the ranking due to the delay. This time, she hopes to make it to the end.

The adventurers will live alone on their boat for two-and-a-half to three months, and will also spend Christmas at sea without their families. The journey begins in France in late autumn and heads through the Atlantic to the Cape of Good Hope, Africa's southernmost point. The course will then take the sailors between Australia and Antarctica, around Cape Horn and back to the starting port.

The sailors must prepare for all eventualities. With high physical and mental stress and little sleep, it's important to correctly assess difficult weather conditions and the associated risks. The South Pacific is particularly feared, where participants have already had accidents. The sea there is home to icebergs, whales and severe storms, and is far removed from all shipping routes.

For safety reasons, the 60-foot (18.28-metre) high-tech yachts are balanced in such a way that they right themselves again after capsizing. The Imoca-class yachts are also equipped with special monitoring systems to protect skippers from collisions with dangerous flotsam and marine life.

Many unpredictable challenges await the participants of the Vendee Globe, which some see as one of the last great adventures of our time. The record to beat is 74 days. Whether it will be broken this year remains to be seen. Boats are getting faster and faster, but it also depends on the winds and the sailors' skills.