The management of the Vendée Globe had limited the number of skippers who could embark on the single-handed, non-stop round-the-world voyage to 27. This was for logistical reasons, as the pontoon in Port Olona could only accommodate 27 Imoca. However, Le Département, owner of the Vendée Globe, wanted to open up other places.
The 30 skippers officially registered for the 8 e edition will all be able to take the start. Kojiro Shiraishi, Jean-François Pellet, Conrad Colman and Enda O'Coineen are the first to be concerned by the announcement made this Wednesday by Yves Auvinet, President of the SAEM Vendée : "I'm in favour of opening up three more places in addition to the 27 places provided for in the notice of race. In the event that the nautical obligations of one or all of the skippers are fulfilled within the time limit, it would seem inconceivable to me not to allow them to take the start. When you know the investment involved in preparing for this race, I think that if all the conditions are met, everyone should have a chance to take part in the Vendée Globe."
Yves Auvinet indicated that a solution had been found for the logistical solution of the berths "We've made sure with the race management that this is physically feasible within the harbour. Which is absolutely the case. It will therefore be necessary to modify the notice of race to this effect by approving a new rider (rider n° 2)"
With these three extra places, the Vendée Globe could increase its internationalisation. If all the contenders complete their budgets and their nautical and administrative obligations on time, four continents and ten nationalities could be represented: France, Spain, Hungary, the United States, England, Switzerland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Japan and Ireland. Finally, nine foreign skippers could take part in the single-handed round the world race, i.e. nearly a third of the fleet.
The 30 skippers officially registered to date
- Jérémie Beyou (France)
- Tanguy de Lamotte (France)
- Vincent Riou (France)
- Morgan Lagravière (France)
- Armel Le Cléac'h (France)
- Paul Meilhat (France)
- Sébastien Destremau (France)
- Eric Bellion (France)
- Jean-Pierre Dick (France)
- Fabrice Amedeo (France)
- Sébastien Josse (France)
- Yann Eliès (France)
- Thomas Ruyant (France)
- Didac Costa (Spain)
- Kito de Pavant (France)
- Jean Le Cam (France)
- Bertrand de Broc (France)
- Louis Burton (France)
- Nandor Fa (Hungary)
- Rich Wilson (United States)
- Alex Thomson (England)
- Arnaud Boissières (France)
- Alan Roura (Switzerland)
- Stéphane Le Diraison (France)
- Pieter Heerema (Netherlands)
- Romain Attanasio (France)
- Kojiro Shiraishi (Japan)
- Conrad Colman (New Zealand)
- Enda O'Coineen (Ireland)
- Jean-François Pellet (France)
