The ninth edition of the Vendée Globe will start from Les Sables d’Olonne on Sunday the 8th of November 2020. There are finally 37 candidates hoping to be at the start of the next Everest of the Seas race but after some intense interest and declarations, no Irish campaigns will make the start line.
Just a few years back ago, there were as many as four Irish solo sailors with campaigns intent on following in Enda O'Coineen's wake to become the first Irish sailor to complete the world-girdling course but after a rigorous application process, none are in the final line up.
In 2017, the Galway Bay sailor made history when he became the first Irish sailor to make the Vendee start in the gruelling non-stop single-handed race around the world but lost his mast and retired off the New Zealand coast.
It's all been enough to prompt Afloat's WM Nixon to ask if the Irish lost the run of themselves aiming for the Vendee Globe?
Four years later, however, there is no shortage of interest regardless of the Irish no show but hope lives on for an Irish 2024 campaign.
The 2020 edition of the race already promises to be very rich : nine new boats, a real confrontation between shipyards, half of the fleet equipped with foils, a record number of nationalities at the start, six women candidates, a great champion in disabled sports, and the return of the unmissable leading figures in off-shore racing.
This 2020-2021 vintage should be exhilarating and proves more than ever that the Vendée Globe is a real sporting and human adventure.
As announced by the President of the Race, Yves Auvinet, during the 1st skipper briefing on the 3rd of October, only 34 of them will be able to take the start on the 8th of November 2020.
Details are here
