The Vendée Globe
A 24,000 mile race, circumnavigating the world, non-stop & alone.
60ft high performance racing yachts. The world’s most elite offshore racers. The earth’s most hostile environments.
The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop yacht race around the world without assistance. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. It is named after the Département of Vendée, in France, where the race starts and ends. The Vendée Globe is considered an extreme quest of individual endurance and the ultimate test in ocean racing.
Since its inception in 1989, fewer than 100 international skippers have completed the race. By comparison, that is less than 3% of the total number of people who have climbed Everest! (5000 climbers) Only 7 women in history, and fewer than 10 British skippers in total have ever finished the race.
“It is one of the greatest sporting challenges on earth, arguably the greatest. And I’m not done with it yet.”
— Pip Hare