Twenty solo skippers will take the start line of the Vendée-Arctique-Les Sables d'Olonne this Saturday following a totally new ocean racing course from Les Sables d’Olonne to the south of Iceland back around the Azores to finish back into the famous Vendée haven.
At four months before the start of the Vendée Globe, the new Vendée-Arctique-Les Sables d'Olonne race will now be the only real benchmark for the IMOCA fleet skippers to test themselves and their boats after what has proven to be a difficult winter and spring. It will be the first and only chance to evaluate performance in proper race mode, to validate the winter’s choices and ensuing work and to see if further improvements still need to be made before November’s pinnacle event.
