The channel: a concentration of emotion

The Vendée Arctique takes pleasure in playing with nerves and emotions. For its third edition, the race is a journey into uncharted territory, with the Arctic Circle to be crossed before returning. The tension will be palpable on board the boats, perhaps as early as this Monday afternoon, when the wind is set to pick up and the crew will need to be on their very best behaviour. The skippers will be fully focused on the task at hand, keeping an eye on every detail and every adjustment to keep making progress. The start will already be a distant memory, safely tucked away in the memory box. Yet on land, where the sense of time is so different, the memories are inevitably vivid for everyone who witnessed it, whether spectators or TV viewers.

“It’s always a magical moment”

There’s no doubt that many of them had to pinch themselves – or check the date on their phones – to realise they hadn’t been transported back in time (to the finish of the 2024–2025 Vendée Globe) or into the future (to the next edition, 2028–2029). Because there was definitely a taste of the Vendée Globe in the air this Sunday as we watched these images, brimming with festive spirit and emotion. The scene? A crowd gathered all around the channel, a human chain stretching for 2 kilometres, a few smoke bombs, thousands of cheers and a gentle, prolonged roar.  
Facing them, nine sailors, beaming from ear to ear to banish any lingering apprehension, for a pure rush of happiness and adrenaline. “It’s always a magical moment,” says Francesca Clapcich (11th Hour Racing). “I’d already experienced it in a Figaro Beneteau during the Solo Maître Coq a few years ago. But to relive it now aboard an IMOCA is quite incredible. It gives you goosebumps.” 
 

“You never get used to it”

Francesca wasn’t the only one experiencing this for the first time. Nico d’Estais also discovered it yesterday: “It was truly incredible. There were loads of people, lots of Café Joyeux teammates – it was a unique and moving experience.” Corentin Horeau (MACSF) echoed this sentiment: “I didn’t expect there to be so many people. It was a really fun and brilliant experience.”

Even those who had already experienced it two years ago at the Vendée Globe were not left unmoved by those two kilometres of the channel. “You never get used to it,” smiles Manu Cousin (Coup de Pouce). Based in Les Sables-d’Olonne, he nevertheless regularly sails the channel. “It’s pure emotion and pure joy. It makes you want to stop and thank everyone for coming.” Violette Dorange (Initiatives-Coeur), for her part, said she was also “very moved”, “more than she could have imagined”.  The young sailor described it as a “very moving” moment and said she “almost cried the whole way”. “I really took the time to savour the moment fully,” continued the Initiatives-Coeur sailor. “Seeing so many people again immediately brought back memories of the Vendée Globe.”

“They give us a real boost”

The most famous round-the-world race was inevitably on everyone’s mind, with more than two years to go before the next start on 12 November 2028. “It gives you a bit of an idea of what it must be like at the start of the Vendée Globe,” agrees Francesca. “You realise just how powerful it must be when there are even more people there,” agrees Corentin Horeau.
 
In the meantime, yesterday’s applause and encouragement are a real boost for the sailors. “All these spectators give us a lot of courage,” says Nico d’Estais. “We’re soaking up as much of this positive energy as we can, and we know we’ll use it to keep going,” adds Manu Cousin. The tougher the conditions, the more persistent the cold and the greater the fatigue, the more those smiles at the start will matter in helping us keep going and never give up.