On 13 May 2017, the 29 skippers entered in the 8 e edition of the Vendée Globe will be returning to Les Sables-d'Olonne for the prize-giving ceremony. This will take place at the Palais des Congrès des Atlantes, but access will be by invitation only. It will be necessary to wait until 9:30 pm to see the skippers (by bus) on the embankment of Les Sables-d'Olonne in a big popular festival (floats, entertainment), from Les Altlantes to the Place de Strasbourg. The ceremony will be followed by a pyro-musical show at 10.30 pm.
At 6 p.m., Armel le Cléac'h, the big winner of this edition, will come to lay his footprints on the "walk of fame" sandpit alongside the winners of the other editions. The unveiling of the bronze plaque will take place on the Promenade Georges Clémenceau, in the Cale des Écoliers.
The Trophy
Sixty centimetres high and thirty in circumference for a weight of ten kilos: the imposing Vendée Globe Trophy is a silver bronze work of art signed Philippe Macheret. Everything about it evokes circumnavigation. It is made up of an elegant rig surrounded by a globe and rests on a winch-shaped base. Published by Les Ateliers du Prisme, it was made by the Macheret Art Foundry in the Sarthe region of France.
