They finally set foot on land in Les Sables d’Olonne. 15 skippers from the Arctic Vendée docked this Thursday after a grueling and above all shortened race up to iceland due to weather conditions that were too difficult for a majority of the fleet. The event was the first qualifier for the next Vendée Globe 2024.
– Yves-Rene Tapon
We manage to get caught up in the adventure. Charlie Dalin
The top three Charlie Dalin winner over Apivia in front Jeremiah Beyou on Charal and Thomas Ruyant on Linkedout escaped the brunt of the storm, but the question arises about the viability of the course. “In the team we try to make it as less adventurous as possible by planning everything, the equipment, the sails, and in fact we manage to get caught up in the adventure from time to time.” smiles Charlie Dalin, winner of this 2nd edition after winning the Bermuda 1000 Race in May. With his lead, the Le Havre suffered less than his pursuers, escaping the brunt of the storm: “I really realized that I was on the side of Iceland when I arrived in the fjord, a magical landscape, it was never dark”.
– Yves-Rene Tapon
This time it was not doable, that’s for sure. Jeremiah Beyou
If the first skippers could have passed and rounded Iceland, the bulk of the stretched fleet could not have. All therefore recognize the legitimate decision of the race direction to definitively stop the event. “This time it was not feasible for sure, it was a complicated route, already we went up there it was already not bad” confides Jérémie Beyou.
Finished 11th on Guyot Environnement Water Family in Vendée Benjamin Dutreux will long remember images of this edition where some of its veils have been torn: “We found ourselves in the middle of the glaciers, it was cold, I was in the heart of the depression, this moment seemed completely out of time“.
We will reorganize the Arctic Vendée in 4 years. Alain Leboeuf
So Should the Arctic Vendée be maintained on this initial route? Response fromAlain Leboeuf, president of the departmental council of Vendée and of the SAEM Vendée organizer of the event: “We will learn from what happened but the will is intact. It’s the skippers themselves who will learn the lessons (…) We are really in an adventure race, it’s a preparation race for the Everest of the seas. We will reorganize the Arctic Vendée in 4 years, we must undoubtedly always prepare better.”