Please select your home edition
Edition
Mackay Boats 728x90 TOP

29,173nm - impressionistic cinematic treatment of Vendée Globe that changes perceptions of our sport

by Ed Gorman / IMOCA Globe Series 4 Nov 2022 03:17 PDT
29173 NM, by Romain de la Haye-Serafini and Vincent Bonnemazou © IMOCA Globe Series

The opening shots of the 2020-21 Vendée Globe fleet, ghosting along before the start in dense fog, sets the scene and imprints on the viewer's mind the idea that these sailors are about to enter another world.

Then we see Thomas Ruyant exploding with energy on his cockpit pedestal, as he trims the sails on LinkedOut in the early stages of a race he was destined to finish in fourth place on the water, but then be relegated to sixth on corrected time.

What none of us knew when he set sail was that his IMOCA was bristling with 13 cameras and microphones as part of a project to create a cinematic record of his voyage from multiple angles.

The resulting hour-long film, 29,173 NM, by Romain de la Haye-Serafini and Vincent Bonnemazou, is stunning, disturbing, shocking even, as we see Ruyant experience, at times, what seems more like an exercise in torture than sport.

We all know that solo IMOCA racing is an extreme activity but this compilation of immersive fly-on-the wall footage, with a nod to techniques pioneered by Stanley Kubric, changes our perspective. The new foiling boats are known to be uncomfortable and noisy and this telling of the Vendée Globe brings that home, like nothing before it.

We see Ruyant climbing his mast, struggling with broken halyards on the foredeck, being flung about down below and trying to sleep, with the boat crashing and banging, alarms shrieking and lights flashing. Is he a sailor, a soldier in the trenches, a laboratory animal, a lone astronaut lost in space, or someone taking part in some kind of bizarre experiment?

We also see some remarkable footage of the boat thundering along in the Southern Ocean. There were cameras on LinkedOut's outriggers, and the section south of New Zealand is some of the most dramatic and effective Southern Ocean sailing footage ever recorded. That is not just the content but the quality too - despite being regularly drenched in salt water, the cameras continued to record extraordinary images. Never before has an IMOCA 60 looked so powerful but also so vulnerable, as it ploughs through breaking waves with white water cascading along its decks.

The aural element of this film is fascinating because this is a project that is as much about sounds as visuals. There is almost no dialogue, but instead a pulsing electronic soundtrack supplied by the musician Molécule (aka De la Haye-Serafini himself), which takes as its inspiration the percussive repertoire of LinkedOut's carbon-fibre hull and rig.

While the insistent beat was, at times, overly imposing, it was powerful in the way it picked up on the chatter and clatter from the boat and the way it presented modern IMOCA racing as more warfare at sea than a serene journey around the world. Repeatedly the beat would build to a thundering crescendo, indicative variously of exhaustion, danger, or the deadly combination of both. In one long trippy sequence the soundtrack and images dissolve into a kaleidoscope of colour, inviting us to share the vivid dreams of a light-sleeping solo sailor.

Funded by Advens, the cyber-security company and the LinkedOut sailing team's main sponsor, this project is, in some ways, a highly intrusive Big Brother-on-the-ocean style record of Ruyant's voyage. But, to his credit, the 41-year-old skipper and TJV winner, who had to activate the cameras at moments of drama, was happy for the film-makers to use any of the footage they harvested at the end of the race.

The wiry Frenchman comes across as a hugely capable single-hander, quite happy in his own company and full of energy and determination to keep his race on track. We see him during moments of sheer enjoyment, shouting out loud with frustration at the top of his rig, clean-shaven and bearded. We also see him wrung out with exhaustion, trying to sleep and repeating movements like a sleep-walker, as he drifts in and out of consciousness.

Anyone working in the IMOCA field should see 29,173NM, the producers of which are still hunting for a cinema distribution deal. I have been writing about solo sailors for more than 25 years and it has changed my view of what this sport is about. These men and women take on remarkable challenges in a dangerous and threatening environment and on complex machines that can break at any moment - we should never under-estimate their courage and determination, or the shock they experience when they come back after living on the edge for months at a time.

Related Articles

Onboard reporters in the Course des Caps
Enjoying the challenge of bringing the race to life In the Course des Caps - Boulogne sur Mer - Banque Populaire du Nord, the Onboard Reporters, or OBRs, are back doing a wonderful job of bringing IMOCA racing to life with pictures, videos, interviews and reports from the boats. Posted on 3 Jul
Tom Dolan in the Course des Caps update
The IMOCA 60 Charal has "Switched to Full Throttle" Irish offshore sailor Tom Dolan is now four days into racing aboard the high-performance IMOCA 60 Charal, skippered by French sailing legend Jérémie Beyou, as part of the prestigious Course des Caps. Posted on 3 Jul
The Ocean Race Europe to showcase new race tracker
Developed with PredictWind to revolutionise race coverage The Ocean Race, often described as the toughest test of a team in sport and widely recognised as a leader in impactful ocean health initiatives, and PredictWind, a global leader in marine weather forecasting, are collaborating on a new race tracker. Posted on 3 Jul
Oliver Heer confirms 2028 Vendée Globe ambition
The Swiss skipper aims to return for the 2028 edition of the legendary solo race with a newer boat After completing the Vendée Globe 2024 on his first attempt, Oliver Heer, the Swiss-German skipper of Tut gut Sailing, has confirmed his intention to return for the 2028 edition of the legendary solo race. Posted on 3 Jul
Rolex Fastnet Race: Offshore classics set to race
IRC Zero has a rich seam of ocean-going history running through it IRC Zero has a rich seam of ocean-going history running through it. While French round the world race legend Jean-Luc Van Den Heede (aka VDH) isn't competing in the Rolex Fastnet Race, two of his former steeds will be on the IRC Zero start line. Posted on 2 Jul
Course des Caps Update: A promising start!
The eleven crews have begun their grand tour around the British Isles The Course des Caps - Boulogne-sur-Mer - Banque Populaire du Nord, which set sail from the shores of northern France, marks the first race of the 2025 season and kicks off the new edition of the IMOCA Globe Series Championship. Posted on 2 Jul
Team Malizia starts Course Des Caps
Challenging race around the British Isles Team Malizia set sail today from Boulogne-sur-Mer, kicking off the inaugural Course des Caps race in light winds and challenging conditions with a solid start. Posted on 29 Jun
Holcim-PRB set off on the Course des Caps
With Nicolas Lunven, Franck Cammas, Annemieke Bes, Alan Roberts, and onboard reporter Anne Beauge Today at 2:00 PM (French time), the IMOCA Holcim-PRB set off on the Course des Caps Boulogne sur Mer - Banque Populaire du Nord, a challenging route of over 2,000 nautical miles around the British Isles. Posted on 29 Jun
Rolex Fastnet Race at 100 – the making of a giant
At present 469 yachts have entered this special edition - a far cry from its humble origins in 1925 One month remains until the 26 July start of the Rolex Fastnet Race, this year celebrating both its centenary as well as that of the club it spawned: the Royal Ocean Racing Club. Posted on 27 Jun
Crew dynamics will be decisive in Course des Caps
Just two days to go before the start of the first race of the eagerly-awaited 2025 IMOCA season With just two days to go before the start of the first race of the eagerly-awaited 2025 IMOCA season, all eyes are on Boulogne-Sur-Mer as 11 crews prepare to race around the British Isles in the Course des Caps-Boulogne sur Mer-Banque Populaire du Nord. Posted on 27 Jun
Lloyd Stevenson - AC INEOS 1456x180px BOTTOMBarton Marine Pipe GlandsPredictWind - Wave Routing 728x90 BOTTOM