Sam Davies is expected in Les Sables-d'Olonne on Friday. The Briton ends her third Vendée Globe participation after an early elimination due to a collision outside the classification, but can still expect a rapturous reception after a bravura performance. And a particularly warm one at that. The 46-year-old skipper of the "Initiatives - Cœur" rang the bell herself the evening before by sailing a huge heart into the Bay of Biscay. What a lovely gesture from the British woman, who is inspiring a charity project for children with heart disease and is herself one of the Vendée Globe's heartthrobs.
Samantha Davies had big plans for her third summit attempt. After her sensational fourth place at her premiere in 2008/2009 and the mast break at the seventh Vendée Globe edition in 2012/13, she was one of the extended favourites before the start of the current edition, was considered a contender for a place in the top five and the strongest of the six participating skippers in the field of 33 boats. But Samantha Davies' dream was shattered after less than a month at sea. In a collision with a whale on the evening of 2 December, her Imoca yacht was so badly damaged that Davies had to officially give up and call at Cape Town with cracks in the laminate of her keel box. She was able to repair her boat in the South African harbour within two weeks and decided to finish the race outside of the classification.
More than 900 nautical miles behind the last boats in the fleet, Samantha Davies continued on her course undaunted. But it wasn't as easy as it sounded at sea. The optimist had to contend with loneliness, severe pain due to broken ribs and the trauma of the collision. "In the beginning, every time the boat sailed faster than 15 knots, all I could think about was the crash. And then I was also worried about my boat, which had just undergone extensive repairs, the results of which we couldn't test before I sailed into the Southern Ocean. There were always these doubts: did we miss something?"
On the way to Les Sables-d'Olonne and with the world sailed around her stern, Davies mused shortly before her return: "I love sailing and I love my boat. I thought it would be cool to cruise around the world. But actually it was more of a really lonely affair." Knowing that she was the last boat in the fleet for a long period of time made it even harder for Davies: "If something happened, I could help others, but there was no one behind me..." Davies was not spared further technical problems, had to set her keel in the Atlantic, almost lost her rig, had to climb into the mast and finally sail on without wind instruments. But nothing could stop her from completing her extraordinary race. On the way to the finish, she was already busy making repair plans so that she could take part in the Transat Jacques Vabre in the autumn.
Her partner Romain Attanasio and their son Ruben will be waiting for her at the finish line. Attanasio successfully completed the race on "Pure - Best Western Hotels and Resorts" in 14th place. Davies has also painted her big heart on the sea for her two boys. Davies will also be welcomed in Les Sables-d'Olonne by Isabelle Autissier, Isabelle Joschke, many other sailors and children from her heart campaign. Children, as Davies put it, "for whom this Vendée Globe has saved their lives."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
