Never before has the number of participants capable of winning been as large as in this edition of the race. Despite the economic crisis, the Open 60s scene is very much alive - there are various well-financed projects with strong skippers. Thanks to the record participation in the last edition with more new builds than ever before, there were many good designs available on the "second-hand market", which also have the potential to win through consistent further development. But who are the hot contenders for the title? We have put together a list of the ten skippers who YACHT believes have what it takes to win.
"Saffron", Marc Guillemot, 53The boat built by VPLP/Verdier in 2007 is considered a pioneer in the scene thanks to its radical lightweight construction and a very solvent sponsor who invested enormous sums in its further development. Although from 2007, the boat should therefore not have a speed deficit. He came third in the last Vendée - only damage after a whale collision and the time lost assisting the seriously injured skipper Yann Eliés on his "Generali" prevented more. Reliable boat, Transat victory in 2009.
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"Virbac-Paprec 3", Jean-Pierre Dick, 47
The two-time Barcelona World Race and three-time Transat Jacques Vabre winner finally wants to win the big title single-handed. So far he has been ruled out of the Vendée with technical problems. He is currently hard to beat in double-handed mode; single-handed, however, he is still missing the big win, but the time seems ripe. His latest generation VPLP/Verdier design (2010) is without question one of the fastest boats in the field. The long collaboration with his sponsor has enabled consistent development. Dick is regarded as a perfectionist who loves technical sophistication and always sails at the limit. One of the top favourites.
"Synerciel", Jean Le Cam, 53
An old master of the Vendée, who fought a tough duel with Vincent Riou for victory in 2004 and finished second. In 2008, he lost his keel while in third place off Cape Horn. His rival Vincent Riou spectacularly rescued him from his boat, which was drifting upwind, but damaged the rig of his "PRB" and ultimately lost the mast. His boat is the Farr design by Loïck Peyron from 2007, which is actually a very fast boat, but due to an acute lack of sponsors and a last-minute deal, it may not have been optimally prepared. However, the skipper's enormous wealth of experience could make up for this.
"PRB", Vincent Riou, 40
The 2004 Vendée winner is still regarded as an absolute class skipper, even if he didn't have such good results for a few years afterwards. Since he took Jean Le Cam off his sinking boat in 2008, he has been regarded as a Vendée legend. At the last Vendée, he was injured relatively early on and was only able to sail in pain and with limited performance. This time he is a force to be reckoned with. His VPLP/Verdier design, built at the end of 2010, is likely to be one of the fastest and lightest boats in the field. The extremely long-term, solid sponsorship from "PRB" has allowed plenty of time for development. And his form curve has been on a steep upward trajectory recently.
"Maitre Coq", Jérémie Beyou, 36
In the Figaro single-handed class, the Frenchman has been one of the top people for years, in the Open 60s he has so far tried in vain to make it big - at least single-handed. However, he won the Transat Jacques Vabre 2011 with Jean-Pierre Dick and retired quite early from the last Vendée with technical problems. Although his Farr yacht is from 2007, it is also Michel Desjoyeaux's penultimate boat and is considered to be the fastest of the Farr generation, as it has been massively modified. It should be competitive.
"Macif", François Gabart, 29
The youngster in the field sails the latest 2011 design from the currently most successful design office in the Open 60s, VPLP/Verdier. The boat recently proved to be fast, which was to be expected, but above all reliable. At the last Barcelona World Race, he sailed with grandmaster Michel Desjoyeaux until a mast breakage stopped them. However, he recently showed that he is a huge talent when he won the Transat return race from Boston to France. Top boat, good single-handed results in 2011, one of the top favourites, even if the single-handed experience with Open 60s, especially in the Southern Ocean, is perhaps still somewhat lacking.
"Banque Populaire", Armel Le Cléac'h, 35
The 2008 Vendée runner-up is travelling on the last "Foncia" built by two-time winner Michel Desjoyeaux for the 2010 Barcelona World Race. A radical lightweight construction from VPLP/Verdier, which he developed into one of the top boats at his brother's shipyard CDK. He showed an impressive, very consistent performance at the last Vendée. A 2nd and 3rd place in Transat races in 2011 are proof of the skipper's good form. As he also has one of the most generous sponsors on the sailing scene in Banque Populaire, both the boat and he are likely to be hot contenders for victory.
"Groupe Belle", Kito de Pavant, 51
The Frenchman experienced a lot of breakage and technical problems with his VPLP design, which was built in 2007. It was never enough to win, but the boat is considered fast. Like Mike Golding, de Pavant will certainly be playing high stakes in what will probably be his last attempt - his second start. One advantage is the very long-term sponsorship of the cheese manufacturer, he was able to prepare optimally for the Vendée, but the great results have failed to materialise in recent years. To what extent his age - there are various skippers over 50 at the start - is a disadvantage remains to be seen. However, in what is probably one of the physically toughest regattas in the world, it can be expected that an Armel Le Cléac'h or François Gabart will cope better with the strain of lack of sleep and the exhausting sail changes than the oldies like de Pavant, Golding, Wavre or Guillemot.
"Gamesa", Mike Golding, 52
The British Vendée veteran at his fourth start. In the previous race, he unfortunately retired while leading with a broken mast in a storm. The Owen Clarke design from 2007 no longer seemed to be able to keep up with the new builds, but underwent a massive slimming down in 2012 after losing its mast in the Barcelona World Race with Jean Le Cam at the helm. New deck, new mast, new keel - it will be interesting to see what Golding is capable of. He has a lot of experience, having finished 3rd in the 2004 Vendée and is regarded as a good weather tactician who sails tactically clever. The only handicap was sponsor problems, which prevented him from consistently using and developing the boat for quite a while.
Of course, there are a few other interesting candidates who could undoubtedly finish on the podium, but who also have some minor deficits that make victory seem rather optimistic. One of these is the second Briton in the field, Alex Thomson, who always makes a flashy appearance with his "Hugo Boss", such as his "Keelwalk". However, he has yet to prove that he is really fast single-handed. Double-handed he often sails at the front, single-handed he still lacks proof that he is competitive. In addition, he doesn't compete in many other races and hasn't always been happy with the technical development of his boats; most recently he obviously backed the wrong horse with the old Juan K design. It will be interesting to see whether Thomson, who is notorious as a material killer, has matured and doesn't overtax his Open 60 early on this time.
The only woman in the field, the Brit Sam Davies with "Saveol", is regarded as an exceptional talent and proved at the last Vendée with the hopelessly outdated "Roxy" that she sails extremely strongly and consistently. However, as with the last edition, she is starting with a boat that is too old due to a lack of funds: the old "Veolia" and "Neutrogena", with which Boris Herrmann sailed the Barcelona World Race. Although the 2004 design has always been developed further, it has now clearly reached its limits. Only if there are many retirements and she sails flawlessly will she have a chance.
Another exciting project is that of the Spaniard Javier Sanso, who is competing with a brand new Owen Clarke design that is to be powered exclusively by green energy sources. Two wave generators, huge solar panels and a fuel cell power the systems. An electric motor is installed for emergencies. It will be very interesting to see whether the alternative supply concept works. Sanso is not a bad sailor, has already taken part in the Barcelona World Race, has competed in several transats and has also achieved good placings, but in single-handed mode he still lacks sensational results.
As you can see: Once again, the Vendée has no shortage of interesting skippers to cheer on. The race starts at 1 pm on Saturday and the weather forecast promises good conditions with around 12 knots of wind from the north-west, which means an upwind start. German fans of the cult regatta can watch it on the internet at Vendée Globe Homepage follow the race. Of course, anyone who wants to can also sail the race virtually. As with the last edition, fans can create their own ship in the online computer game "Virtual Regatta" and set off on their journey around the planet. The YACHT editorial team will also be taking part with its own boat. But beware: danger of addiction! Go to the game here.
