Sables d'Olonne, Arctic and Vendée. The hardest thing is not to remember these three names but to place the third in the right order. The Vendée-Articque-Les Sables d'Olonne, preparation race for the next Vendée Globe will start on Saturday and will allow a fleet of 22 imocas to resume competition on the high seas at a time of the year when the skippers were said to have completed two transatlantic races.
"I find myself dreaming of a world where I would be returning from my second deckchair", says Clarisse Cremer (Banque Populaire X). For the route, no mystery, it's almost in the name: a departure from the Sables, a passage not far from the Arctic Circle, a hook by the Azores to snap the wind at the high pressure and a return to Vendée fifteen days later. "It is not so trivial to climb as far north," observes Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut), his head in the world map. We will be proportionally more to the north than we will be to the south on the Vendée Globe. It is an atypical course. "
“Protecting the skippers”, the big challenge for the boss of the Vendée Globe for 2020 via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/xSQVGp37CI
- 20 Minutes Sport (@ 20minutesSport) May 25, 2020No departure village
At the same time, what is not in this race, one would be tempted to say. The health situation deprives navigators and the public of the traditional departure village with all the human flow and ballet of sailboats involved. Skippers will go to the starting line directly from their home port without going through the crowded area and with the strict obligation to spend 24 hours at sea for reasons of sports equity. Tristoune at first glance but not unpleasant for Sébastien Simon (Arkéa Paprec): “We are the only sport where competitors are accessible one hour before the deadline. This pre-race context allows us to think a little about ourselves. "
"Usually before the start we feel a big tension rising, there it is not the case, we are more calm, abounds Ruyant. I still have the impression that we are in a sport where running can be enough on its own, even if the villages are always very nice, of course. We have the necessary supports on board to bring the race to life and share it. It is part of our sport, we must know how to do it and it is even part of the obligations imposed by the organizers. It is a somewhat precursor sport on this. "
A positive test = return home
The relative tranquility on the beaches of Sables d'Olonne is intended to be a consequence of all the health measures taken by the organization to ensure a green light from the government. And they are quite numerous.
- Covid-19 test for skippers and their crew on Monday, June 29
- Five days confinement before the race
- A test just before dropping the moorings the day before the race
"If the test is positive we return, with compulsory confinement and we try to trace the people with whom we have been in contact," explains Sébastien Simon, who almost plays his qualification for the Vendée Globe on this race. This is the game, avoid contamination to avoid rescue on the high seas. "The protege of Armel Le Cléac'h is already guaranteed to measure up to the Everest of the seas, but, in search of experience before the big departure in November, would do well without a last minute package .
"Putting aside all the considerations on my health and being a little vulgar, I would say that it would piss me off a bit (laughs). So I pay attention but I don't think about it every day because I have to be in racing mode. I have to tell myself that I will spend 15 days at sea to be operational. "
That said, it will take more than an anxiety-provoking context to reach the serenity of our three skippers for whom confinement will in any case be studious, between final preparations and weather analyzes. Cremer, joke: “Anyway, before the race we always try to rest. It's not the time when I'm going to party with my friends! We leave you with the confinement-relaxation program of Thomas Ruyant to finish. "I'm going to play sports, I will not deprive myself of going surfing if there are good conditions. In these cases, I take my board and I have small spots where there are not many people. In water we are not stuck to each other. It allows me to get some fresh air, to feel good in my head. "
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"Everything will be done to protect the skippers" ... The owner of the Vendée Globe intends to adapt to the health context
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