A sea mist shrouding the start zone off Les Sables d’Olonne held up the start of the ninth edition of the Vendée Globe, the solo non-stop round the world race, for nearly one hour and 20 minutes.
But for their patience the record-sized 33 boat fleet was rewarded by late autumn sunshine, a near perfect 10-12 knots south easterly breezes and flat seas when the start gun finally sounded at 14:20hrs French time.
Sending the lone 27 men and 6 women skippers off on their 24,296 nautical miles round the world challenge.
When the gun sounded, Louis Burton on Bureau Vallée 2 broke the start line first.
But third-time Vendée Globe skipper, racing the boat which won in 2016-17 and holds the race record, was some considerable distance ahead of the gun.
He is penalised according to the strict race rules, required to halt his race for five hours – stopping racing and resuming from the same point – so just north of Lisbon.
As the afternoon wore on and the pace lifted, on the heels of a strengthening breeze, Beyou’s Charal held the lead making 26kts ahead of Charlie Dalin on Apivia in second.
Britain’s Alex Thomson gradually winding up the potent HUGO BOSS after his promised safe, steady start, to lie fourth behind Thomas Ruyant’s LinkedOutat at 18:30 local time.
French skipper Fabrice Amedeo has been forced to return to Les Sables d’Olonne because of a problem with the lock of his headsail which has prevented him from dropping his gennaker.
Vendée Globe – Day 1 Sun 8 Nov 18:30 hrs. (33 entries)
1st FRA 8 Jérémie Beyou – Charal – – 69.5 nm – – 20.2 kts
2nd FRA 79 Charlie Dalin – APIVIA – – 66.8 nm – – 20.1 kts
3rd FRA 59 Thomas Ruyant – LinkedOut – – 67.6 nm – – 20.9 kts
4th GBR 99 Alex Thomson – Hugo Boss – – 64.9 nm – – 20.2 kts
5th MON 10 Boris Herrmann – Seaexplorer – – 64.3 nm – – 18.8 kts
6th FRA 6 Nicolas Troussel – CORUM L’Épargne – – 66.0 nm – – 21.0 kts
7th FRA 02 Armel Tripon – l’Occitane en Provence – – 64.4 nm – – 21.9 kts
8th FRA 4 Sébastien Simon – ARKEA PAPREC – – 61.1 nm – – 18.5 kts
9th FRA 17 Yannick Bestaven – Maître Coq IV – – 59.5 nm – – 20.2 kts
10th FRA 109 Samantha Davies – Initiatives – Coeur – – 62.2 nm – – 19.9 kts
Other GBR:
25th FRA 50 Miranda Merron – Campagne de France – – 46.2 nm – – 16.7 kts
28th GBR 777 Pip Hare – Medallia – – 46.4 nm – – 15.9 kts