An Update from France: Vendee Globe Starts

The send off was huge. Every vantage point along the canal from the haven of Les Sables d’Olonne port to the sea was jammed deep with tens of thousands of well wishers.

There were tears on the dockside as lines were slipped, and dozens and dozens of messages along the long stretch of sea walls that funneled the record sized fleet to sea – from the simple and direct, to the personal, or the generic ‘Yes We Can’. The atmosphere was everything that makes the Vendée Globe a truly unique experience. More than 300,000 people bid the 30 skippers on their way.
The record entry of 30 boats answered the start gun at 1302hrs (local time/1202GMT) under grey, threatening skies with an awkward swell and 13-18 knots of breeze — the skippers setting off in the knowledge that winds of up to 45 knots await them.