List of skippers getting longer with six months to go to Vendée Globe

by BM / PG - Mer and Media on 6 May 2016 The list of skippers who are registered and have fulfilled their marine obligations is getting tantalisingly longer. Sébastien Destremau and Peter Heerema have just qualified by completing the Calero Marinas Solo Transat. Meantime, Alan Roura, who has just finished this same course, is now waiting for his boat to be issued with its IMOCA measurement certificate so he too can receive his official validation.

Yann Eliès, set sail last night on his delivery trip to New York, where Alex Thomson has just arrived. With just six months to go till the eighth Vendée Globe, we run through those skippers who have already qualified, and those yet to do so.

Reminder: to participate in the upcoming Vendée Globe, skippers must successfully complete both their administrative registration form and their qualification, the latter of which can take the form of a solo 1,500-mile passage or a 2,500-mile transoceanic race according to past sailing experience. Furthermore, every skipper has to provide a valid IMOCA measurement certificate for the Vendée Globe 2016/2017, a document which certifies that their boat is fully compliant with the class rules.

The first twenty-seven skippers to be fully registered in administrative terms, in chronological order, have priority over the other projects. Indeed, a waiting list has been created as a result (see our previous article).

This week, some new sailors have qualified for the Vendée Globe and thus rank among these first twenty-seven official entries. These include Sébastien Destremau (Face Ocean), who last Sunday won the first Calero Marinas Solo Transat between the Canaries and Newport, thus securing his qualification ticket.

By opting for a fairly direct course close to the great circle route in this transatlantic race, which had just three entries, Sébastien Destremau clearly made the right choices. He is the seventh entry on the list of twenty-seven. It’s a similar scenario for Dutch sailor Pieter Heerema, who finished second in this same transatlantic race aboard No Way Back, and is the 26th entry for the Vendée Globe 2016/2017.

However, the same cannot be said of the third and final skipper participating in this Calero Solo. Indeed, the young Swiss sailor Alan Roura, aboard his IMOCA “Un Vendée pour la Suisse”, is waiting for IMOCA to issue his boat with a class measurement certificate so his entry can be validated.

Meanwhile, Briton Alex Thomson has made New York after singlehandedly delivering his new foiler Hugo Boss from the Canaries. This course enabled him to complete his marine qualification element. Alex is entry number 21. It is worth noting that Romain Attanasio (No.27) and Morgan Lagravière (No.4) have already completed their 1,500-mile qualification.

Sixteen qualified to date
In total, sixteen of the twenty-seven entries for the Vendée Globe have completed both their registration form and their marine qualification (read the list below). For the 11 others yet to make their qualification official, they either have to finish a transatlantic race or sail a 1,500-mile passage singlehanded aboard the boat they intend to sail in the Vendée Globe. They are all in the process of making this a reality. Eric Bellion (Comme un Seul Homme, eighth entry) has set off on his 1,500-mile qualifier, Arnaud Boissières (La Mie Câline) will do the same just after the Armen Race.

For his part, Yann Eliès set sail yesterday aboard his 60-foot Quéguiner – Leucémie Espoir across the North Atlantic. Indeed, at 16:00 GMT, he cast off from Lorient, Brittany bound for New York, where he’ll take the start of the Transat New York-Vendée (Les Sables) on 29 May 2016.

Finally, as we’ve written previously, The Transat bakerly, which set off from Plymouth in the UK on Monday, could be the opportunity for three more skippers to qualify: Paul Meilhat (SMA), Richard Tolkien (44) and Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire).

Assuming all goes well for these sailors and that each of them complete their journey, there would be just three of the list of twenty-seven entries still to complete their qualification: Nandor Fa and Jean Le Cam (1,500-mile course to be sailed singlehanded) and Stéphane Le Diraison who must complete a solo transatlantic passage. The Transat New York-Vendée (Les Sables) is a great opportunity for him to do just that.

Finally, among the projects readying themselves in a bid to join the waiting list (beyond the 27th entry), it’s worth noting that Didac Costa completed his 1,500-mile solo passage last week via a big looped circuit around the Mediterranean. Meantime, Jean-François Pellet (Come in Vendée), who must sail a transatlantic passage, has confirmed his entry in the New York – Vendée (Les Sables). Finally, New Zealander Conrad Coleman just has to sail a 1,500-mile solo passage.

The 16 officially qualified entries to date
No.1 - Jérémie Beyou (Maître Coq)
No.2 - Tanguy de Lamotte (Initiatives Cœur)
No.3 - Vincent Riou (PRB)
No.4 - Morgan Lagravière (Safran)
No.7 - Sébastien Destremau (Face Ocean)
No.9 - Jean-Pierre Dick (St Michel Virbac)
No.10 - Fabrice Amedeo (Newrest-Matmut)
No.11 - Sébastien Josse (Edmond de Rothschild)
No.13 - Thomas Ruyant (Le Souffle du Nord)
No.15 - Kito de Pavant (Bastide Otio)
No.17 - Bertrand de Broc (MACSF)
No.18 - Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée)
No.20 - Rich Wilson (Great American IV)
No.21 - Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss)
No.26 - Pieter Heerema (No Way Back)
No.27 - Romain Attanasio