The favourite for the third edition of the Vendée Arctique Les Sables-d'Olonne is the 2025 Imoca champion: Sam Goodchild will start the race on 7 June at 13:02 with the Vendée Globe-winning yacht "Macif Santé Prévoyance", which was won for the first time in 2020 by Jérémie Beyou on "Charal". The winner of the subsequent edition in 2022 was Charlie Dalin with "Apivia" before his Vendée Globe triumph.
Imoca champion Goodchild is the favourite
The Field of Hunters by Sam Goodchild, who won the Imoca opener of the new season in May with the 1000 Race should provide some excitement. Even if it should be noted that the milder conditions in the 1000 Race "Macif Santé Prévoyance" were somewhat more favourable than the sometimes harsh weather conditions that can now be expected in the Vendée Arctique.
Allen Three women in the race can be expected to do a lot: Violette Dorange, just like the Spanish 470 world champion Marta Cardona by Forbes magazine in the famous "30 under 30" list of successful young athletes is competing with "Initiatives - Cœur". In the 1000 Race, the French rider was the best of the three soloists in third place, who trained together at the start of the season.
Francesca Clapcich and Élodie Bonafous, who are also competing in the Vendée Arctique, will once again be competing for this honour. finished fourth and fifth in the 1000 Race were. Frankie Clapcich is tackling the cold challenge with "11th Hour Racing" (ex-"Malizia 3"). With Boris Herrmann's former Imoca and Will Harris as co-skipper, she had already won the race in 2025 - right at the start of her first Vendée Globe cycle - with Second place in the Transat Café L'Or double-handed race showed that she is a force to be reckoned with as a newcomer to Imoca.
Three women and six men start the Vendée Arctique
Former Figarist Élodie Bonafous also has what it takes and the boat for a podium finish in the Vendée Arctique. Her Verdier new build from 2024 is the "Association Petits Princes - Queguiner". Once the first French woman to achieve a podium finish in the Solitaire du Figaro, Bonafous, like Clapcich, is aiming for her Vendée Globe premiere in 2028/2029. Dorange has experienced her first participation as a 23-year-old in 2024/2025. A crowd favourite, she was only 23 years old.
I want to test myself in tough conditions." Frankie Clapcich
In addition to Sam Goodchild, five other aggressive men will be at the starting line for the Vendée Arctique Les Sables-d'Olonne. Among them is Corentin Horeau on "Macsf" (ex-"Paprec Arkéa), the runner-up in the 1000 Race. The co-skipper of Yoann Richomme in the Ocean Race Europe 2025 and Figaro winner in 2023 is one of the crown princes in the Imoca class. Richomme very charmingly introduced the now 36-year-old companion in Kiel on the Schleswig-Holstein stage of the European race as the "next Vendée Globe winner".
Ambrogio Beccaria is two years younger. The Milanese rider will start the third edition of the Vendée Arctique Les Sables-d'Olonne with "Allagrande Mapei", the former "Vulnerable" of Thomas Ruyant. In 2019, Beccaria was the first Italian to win the Mini-Transat and later went from success to success in the Class40. In this country, the crash images from the start of the Ocean Race Europe 2025 are also unforgettable, in which "Allagrande Mapei" with the "Holcim-PRB" managed by Rosalin Kuiper collided.
No foils, no pressure for Nico D'Estais
An interesting starter in the Vendée Arctique is Nico D'Estais with the non-foiler "Café Joyeux". The 2019 Mini-Transat runner-up sails a boat from 2011 with a great history, which previously served renowned soloists in the Imoca class as "Macif", "SMA", "Banque Populaire X" and "Monnoyeur - Duo for a job".
"I have no pressure, I'm the only boat without foils. Nobody expects me to win. So I can only do well. I'm really looking forward to the race, more than any other," said Nico D'Estais before the start of the Vendée Arctique Les Sables-d'Olonne. His goal is also to take part in the Vendée Globe 2028/2029. The Vendée Arctique is a qualifying race for this and therefore "a big step" for him on his way to his goal.
I've only just learnt to sail an Imoca. To take part in the Vendée Globe, you have to climb a staircase. Every race is a step." Nico D'Estais
The Frenchman lived in London with his family as a child and grew up with the images and successes of British sailing icon Ellen MacArthur. "I saw Ellen at the Vendée Globe final in 2000/2001, and since then I've always dreamed of taking part in the Vendée and being a sailor."
So Sunday will be a big day for me when I sail through the canal of Les Sables-d'Olonne." Nico D'Estais
The starting signal for the Vendée Arctique: Sunday, 1.02 pm
Two veteran Vendée Globe veterans complete the fleet for the Vendée Arctique: Arnaud "Cali" Boissières ("April Marine - Recherche Co-Partnaire", ex-"Hugo Boss"), who lives in Les Sables-d'Olonne, is aiming for his legendary sixth consecutive Vendée Globe participation. Two-time Vendée Globe participant Manu Cousin ("Coup de Pouce") is sailing his Verdier/VPL-Imoca from 2010, a boat that is just as old as Nico D'Estais, but is now equipped with foils.
The fleet can expect a complicated opening scenario in the Vendée Arctique with Sunday's start at 13:02 in what is expected to be light winds, with the course taking the field once to the Arctic Circle and back: After the start, the fleet could face increasing pressure on the very first night, which will accompany them to Fastnet Rock and beyond. Rough conditions lie ahead in the North Atlantic.
Strong winds and wave heights of up to 3.50 metres are expected to the west of Ireland. "This may not seem particularly impressive, but it can have a significant impact on foiling boats if they crash into the waves," explained meteorologist Christian Dumas. Click here for the race tracker after the Sunday afternoon start on 7 June. Top favourite Sam Goodchild, who will have a new boat in about a year's time, also knows: "The race will be tougher than the 1000 Race."
