Please select your home edition
Edition
Doyle_SailWorld_728X90px_SY TOP

Vendée Arctique: Thousands honour Vendée Globe skippers in Les Sables d'Olonne

by Vendée Globe 5 Jun 2022 05:22 PDT 3 June 2022
Thousands honour Vendée Globe skippers in Les Sables d'Olonne © ALEA

Tens of thousands of partying, passionate Vendée Globe race fans and well-wishers lined Les Sables d'Olonne's Grand Plage, the main sea front promenade, last night (Friday) to honour the heroic 2020-2021 skippers.

Emotions and celebrations suppressed by the pandemic for over a year came bursting to the fore and the joyous celebrations carried on late into a beautiful early summer night.

Carried along the seafront on two floats, 28 of the 33 skippers, were greeted by a raucous public, gathering about 50 000 persons as the parade passed nearly two kilometres along the Georges-Clémenceau promenade. It was the perfect way to honour the skippers on the eve of the official opening of the race village of the Vendée Arctic race, the first qualifying race for the Vendée Globe 2024. The colourful parade of street artists, acrobats and musicians shared the theme of the four elements, earth, water, air and fire.

Clutching the Vendée Globe trophy throughout last night's parade, the race winner Yannick Bestaven was probably the skipper most of the crowd wanted to see. Smiling broadly, he acknowledged, "It's great to see so many people turn out and it is nice to share that with the public. It is thanks to these people that the Vendée Globe received so much media coverage and so we owed them this party that we had not been able to do because of confinement. It's a real joy. And of course, there are plenty of memories that came back, but I'm mostly focused on the future. The fireworks after the parade reminded me of my finish, certainly. It was wonderful. To relive that with all our friends of the Vendée Globe, it was great."

Local hero Benjamin Dutreux who finished ninth on the last race grew up in the Vendée, lives locally, keeps his boat here and co-owns a boatyard just up the coast from Les Sables d'Olonne. He enthused, "It is nice to see so many people touched by the Vendée Globe it fills your heart to feel so followed. The race is such a great adventure. We get so caught up in the game, even if we are discreet by nature, we want to share, to have fun with people. So here we have our big party."

Under slept and slightly bleary eyed aboard her IMOCA Medallia this morning, but absolutely delighted to have had the chance to receive the welcome and passion of the Les Sables d'Olonne crowds, and to have shared a special party time with all her fellow skippers Britain's Pip Hare said this Saturday morning, "It was incredible. I had no idea what to expect and so I was just a little nervous since it has been over a year since we finished. I thought there might be one little lady looking out from behind her curtains, but of course this is Les Sables d'Olonne! For me it was nice to get a chance to share and celebrate the other skippers and really feel part of something all together. It doesn't really compensate for the fact there were only a few people out in the Channel when we came in and left but we were part of something unique in time, our race is set in time I am OK with that. That emotion has been and gone."

Finland's Ari Huusela remains, as ever, 'Super Happy' and loved the welcome, "It was nice to wrap up the race like that. It was just great. To feel the passion makes all the hard work, the pain worth it. The people were so happy to see us it was and is something really extraordinary. It is great to see people happy to see us and show how much they care. And it was lovely to see the other skippers and be with them as I did not have much of chance."

An impressive fireworks show set off at the entrance to the legendary channel finally closed the evening. And this morning the start village opened its doors. The extensive village is free access and there is the chance to walk Port Olona's famous pontoon and see the 25 IMOCAs on the race dock poised and ready to take next Sunday's start of the 3,500 nautical miles race into the hostile northern latitudes.

The race village is open for three weeks. The Department of the Vendée region stand host an exhibition highlighting the skippers, the race, its course and the area of the Vendée, an epicenter of sailing. There is a giant photographic exhibition of the images of explorer-photographer Florian Ledoux. 'Under the Pole' shares images of scientific expeditions and the equipment used, including its underwater capsule. There is a 200m2 synthetic ice rink, a Virtual Regatta Inshore challenge. The race village is open until June 26th.

Related Articles

An evening honouring the Vendée Globe heroes
On Saturday, May 10, Les Sables d'Olonne will once again come alive to celebrate On Saturday, May 10, Les Sables d'Olonne will once again come alive to celebrate the epic journey of the Vendée Globe and pay tribute to the skippers of the 2024 edition, during a spectacular evening filled with emotion and festivity. Posted on 5 May
Vendée Globe: A record-breaking 10th edition
An unprecedented level of competition The 10th edition of the Vendée Globe ends on an exceptional note, from a sporting, popular and media point of view. The level of competition has never been so high. Posted on 26 Mar
Vendée Globe - It's a wrap
Belgian skipper Denis Van Weynbergh is back in Les Sables d'Olonne Belgian skipper Denis Van Weynbergh completes solo non stop round the world passage but finishes outside the 2024 Vendée Globe ranking. Posted on 8 Mar
Vendée Globe 2024 Documentary
An extraordinary event recaptured over 52 minutes There were 40 solo skippers who set off on November 10 in front of a cheering crowd, for a race that will go down in history. Posted on 8 Mar
Fabrice Amedeo finishes 32nd in the Vendée Globe
Only Belgian skipper Denis Van Weynbergh (D'Ieteren Group) is now left racing Former political journalist turned ocean racer Fabrice Amedeo completed his second Vendée Globe today (Tuesday) when he crossed the Les Sables d'Olonne finish line at 14h UTC to take in 32nd place. Posted on 4 Mar
Manuel Cousin finishes 31th in the Vendée Globe
The 57 year old ocean racer completes his second successful Vendée Globe After 111 days and 38 minutes racing since leaving Les Sables d'Olonne on 10th November French skipper Manuel Cousin crossed the finish line of the Vendée Globe today at 1240hrs UTC. Posted on 1 Mar
Armel Le Cléac'h: “An epic race with a great win”
Le Cléac'h is a true Vendée Globe legend Armel Le Cléac'h won the 2016 Vendée Globe and held the Vendée Globe record for eight years. That was until Charlie Dalin came along and finally smashed it out the park this time. Posted on 28 Feb
Complex final miles for the three musketeers
Cousin, Amedeo and Van Weynbergh are into their last days racing in the Vendée Globe The last three skippers competing in the Vendée Globe are into their last days racing. Manuel Cousin (Coup de Pouce, 31st) is expected to finish on Friday. Posted on 25 Feb
Jingkun Xu finishes 30th in Vendée Globe
First Chinese skipper to finish the race Emerging jubilant from a cold final night at sea Chinese skipper Jingkun Xu fulfilled a goal which has possessed him for many years when he crossed the finish line of the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe this Tuesday morning at 0708 hrs. Posted on 18 Feb
Oliver Heer finishes 29th in Vendée Globe
Swiss German solo racer fulfils a childhood dream Swiss German solo racer Oliver Heer fulfilled a childhood dream, one which he has harboured since growing up sailing as a youngster on Lake Zurich. Posted on 17 Feb
Zhik 2024 DecemberArmstrong 728x90 - A-Wing XPS - BOTTOMSelden 2020 - FOOTER