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Alex Thomson Racing<br />
Alex Thomson Racing<br />
Jean-Marie Liot Yvan Zedda-Alea<br />
sensors on all critical areas of the boat, allowing Alex and<br />
the onboard systems to be aware of the stresses on the boat<br />
while underway. Despite the innovations onboard, there will<br />
be times when it will not be comfortable on a 60 foot high<br />
performance yacht, it can become violent inside that cockpit<br />
and the skippers and their boats need to be ready for it.<br />
The wide array of skippers participating in this regatta is<br />
amazing in itself, their decades of collective experience in<br />
ocean racing will leave the average sailor awestruck. With<br />
France in lockdown again on the 30th of October, the Vendée<br />
Globe village was closed to visitors and the start that was<br />
to happen a week later on 8 November will happen behind<br />
closed doors. This meant that the traditional fanfare that<br />
comes with start day will not happen. Personal interaction<br />
of the skippers will be limited to those in their respective<br />
bubbles, family and friends cannot be there to see them off,<br />
they can, but only virtually.<br />
Official group picture of the skippers<br />
Alexia Barrier sailing the oldest<br />
boat in the fleet TSE myPlanet<br />
The 9th Vendée Globe fleet left Les Sables d’Olonne on<br />
Sunday 8th November <strong>2020</strong>, minus the fanfare that usually<br />
came with it, like the crowds of adoring fans and the armada<br />
of private and chartered boats seeing the fleet off on their<br />
two to three month adventure around the world.<br />
The route around the world will see the fleet head to the southern<br />
Atlantic to the southern tip of Africa, rounding the Cape of<br />
Good Hope, crossing the Indian Ocean, passing Cape Leeuwin<br />
on the southwestern corner of Australia, passing the southern<br />
end New Zealand, traversing the Southern Ocean from west to<br />
east before turning the corner at Cape Horn on the southern tip<br />
of South America before heading north up the Atlantic again to<br />
finish where they started at Les Sables d’Olonne.<br />
Those interested in knowing what is happening during<br />
the race can follow on the world wide web https://www.<br />
vendeeglobe.org/ or on social media, the skippers will be<br />
giving regular updates via the VendéeGlobeTV channel on<br />
YouTube, along with analysis and commentaries from Vendée<br />
Globe veterans.<br />
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