November 6th 2016 - The Grand Depart Du 8eme Vendee Globe
82 images Created 8 Nov 2016
How do you describe the "Grand Depart?" It's a festival of the sea like no other. People throng the sides of the marina, the beaches, the channel out to sea and the sea itself! Hundreds of thousands of people turn out for the start of the Vendee Globe. I didn't believe it until I saw it for myself. I also couldn't believe the number of craft in the sea; small and large alike - bursting at the seams with supporters, VIPs and the press as well as security boats and team boats for the technical staff.
Indeed the technical staff can stay onboard with the skipper right up to 5 minutes before the start and then they have to disembark....for many if not most of them that means jumping ship....literally!..and being picked up by a team RIB. Then the skipper is on his own waiting to go.
When they do go they don't hang around. Neither do all the accompanying craft! The water boils with the propellers of all the boats speeding out to sea flanking the flotilla of IMOCAs. It is the incredible!! To be there in the thick of it was just amazing and never to be forgotten. What a beautiful site! I must confess to having felt a bit seasick after while, but one always finds one's sea-legs again soon enough - personally I would have given anything to be skippering one of those IMOCAs! What an incredible experience that must be!
Now as we watch them disappear over the horizon all we can do is follow them daily; wish them safe passage and the most incredible few months of racing around the world! A bientot :-)
Indeed the technical staff can stay onboard with the skipper right up to 5 minutes before the start and then they have to disembark....for many if not most of them that means jumping ship....literally!..and being picked up by a team RIB. Then the skipper is on his own waiting to go.
When they do go they don't hang around. Neither do all the accompanying craft! The water boils with the propellers of all the boats speeding out to sea flanking the flotilla of IMOCAs. It is the incredible!! To be there in the thick of it was just amazing and never to be forgotten. What a beautiful site! I must confess to having felt a bit seasick after while, but one always finds one's sea-legs again soon enough - personally I would have given anything to be skippering one of those IMOCAs! What an incredible experience that must be!
Now as we watch them disappear over the horizon all we can do is follow them daily; wish them safe passage and the most incredible few months of racing around the world! A bientot :-)
