Each race is the occasion for a major awareness-raising campaign during which the boat's sponsors use their donations to fund operations on children suffering from serious heart malformations by donating €1 to Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque for each new follower of the project's Facebook and Instagram pages.
Profile
Determined, Violette Dorange has been sailing since she was very young and has successfully completed all the stages required to reach the highest level. A former member of the French dinghy sailing team, she took on numerous challenges early on, crossing the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar in an Optimist dinghy, before shining in the Mini Transat and then in three editions of the Solitaire, where she finished 10th in 2022. Her impressive trajectory led her to compete in her first Vendée Globe in 2024 at the age of just 22. In 2026, Violette reached a new milestone by taking the helm of the IMOCA Initiatives-Cœur, a foiler built in 2022, and will use each race to raise funds for children with heart defects, combining sporting performance with social commitment.
Achievements
Initiatives-Cœur
- Architect : Sam Manuard
- Construction : 2022, Black Pepper Yachts
- Launch date : 30 Juillet 2022
- Lenght : 18,28 m
- Beam : 5,3 m
- Weight : 8 t
- Mast height : 28 m
With its "Les Chocolats du Cœur" brand, Initiatives offers sales of solidarity chocolates to associations, schools, companies, CSEs and individuals. These fine chocolates have been made near Orléans by the Alex Olivier chocolate factory since 1927.
France's leading manufacturer of aluminium joinery, the Vendée-based company K-LINE (LIEBOT Group) designs, manufactures and markets custom-made sliding windows and entrance doors for all types of architecture, both new build and renovation.
Commitment
With Initiatives-Cœur, Violette Dorange is sailing to raise funds for the humanitarian organisation Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque. This organisation enables children with heart malformations to undergo surgery in France when this is not possible in their own countries due to a lack of technical or financial resources. They are accommodated by volunteer host families. Thanks to the Initiatives-Cœur adventure, more than 500 children have already undergone surgery (each operation costing €12,000).
