Sailors aim for record round-the-world time

CONTEMPLATING re c ord times, or just the vastness of the world’s oceans, 29 skippers were given of a noisy sendoff yesterday as they launched the latest Vendee Globe contest, an insane, non-stop, solo race around the world.

Once they left Les Sables d’Olonne, the top athletes and adventurers from 10 countries were to face a hazardous future in the eighth “Everest of the Seas” covering 21,638 nautical miles (40,073 km) through the toughest seas and the three great capes – Good Hope, Leeuwin and the Horn.

Ever y thing has been done to ensure the 18.5 metre (60 feet) monohu l ls ca n reach unprecedented speeds wit h the winner expected back on Fr a nce’s At la nt ic coa st by Januar y 20.

Pr i nce A lber t of Monaco lau nched t he race at 12 : 02 GMT) yesterday, wit h “ver y good conditions” forecast by race director Jacques Caraes. Hu nd r e d s o f t h o u s a nd s packed t he por t a nd su rrounding coast line.

Organisers estimate the Canary Islands off the coast of northwestern Africa will be reached in three and half days and Cape Verde in six, the fleet crossing the Equator a further two days later.

Only 71 sailors out of 138 have managed to finish the race which has taken place every four years since 1989.

A particular hazard is the traffic and fishermen in the Bay of Biscay, a passage that French challenger Sebastien Josse “fears the most”.

This year up to 10 competitors can challenge with their state-of-the-art boats. Others such as the four over-60s are there for the adventure.

A ll prev ious winners have been French, with the closest a non-French sa i lor hav i ng come bei ng Br it a i n’s El len MacArthur, who was runnerup in 2001.

This year’s race will have no women for the first time in two decades, while the average age of competitors is 44.

The 20 French skippers are joined by nine from Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.