Heading north, crossing the Arctic Circle
After the Vendée Globe 2024, the skippers are setting sail again, this time heading north! Single-handed, non-stop and without assistance, they will be leaving Les Sables d'Olonne to cross the Arctic Circle... at the location of their choice. This is the big change: there is no set route. This open route opens the way to a variety of trajectories and major strategic decisions. Offshore racing is getting reinvented!
The sailors will have to cross complex and unstable weather systems. Lows, short seas, fog, cold... Conditions can be tough and unpredictable in these high latitudes, to which sailors are unaccustomed. For the first time, the Vendée Globe skippers will reach the Arctic Circle!
The Vendée Arctique - Les Sables d'Olonne is a major sporting challenge. The race is the first major step in the preparation for the next Vendée Globe, in 2028.
The race village, set up on the Vendée Globe esplanade, will be open to the public from 30 May to 7 June. In an atmosphere that is both summery and polar, it will offer entertainment, meetings with the skippers and a behind-the-scenes experience. Immersed in the world of the North Pole, the village will offer an exciting experience and a programme to raise awareness of environmental issues, particularly in the North Pole region. The Arctic is on the front line when it comes to global warming. The village will invite young and old alike to gain a better understanding of the changes underway in this threatened area, while promoting initiatives to protect the oceans.
