The list of Vendée Globe 40 skippers has been announced

The list of Vendée Globe 40 skippers has been announced

by Vendée Globe media 2 Jul 15:09 UTC
November 10, 2024

40 Vendée Globe skippers © Vendée Globe

The 2020 edition of the Vendée Globe has attracted unprecedented interest. That is why the organisers have decided to increase the number of starting places for the 2024 edition to 40. For this 10th edition, 44 skippers have registered.

At the end of the New York Vendée – Les Sables d’Olonne, 42 skippers managed to qualify, but on November 10, 2024, only 40 will appear at the start.

For safety reasons and to preserve the unique and exceptional character of this race, the number of participants at the start has been set at 40, as in the 2028 edition.

The qualification rules have been tightened since 2020: sailors had to start and complete at least one solo race between 2022 and 2024, in a time that did not exceed the winner’s time plus 50%. Of the 44 projects, 42 skippers managed to qualify.

With the aim of stimulating innovation, the 13 new boats were automatically selected. The 26 other projects were selected based on the number of miles covered since the Transat Jacques Vabre 2021.

This left three projects to choose from for the 40th place, the “wild card” handed out by the organizers. Oliver Heer, the skipper who had covered the most miles of these three projects, was selected: “It was not an easy choice, as these three skippers are very deserving. I consulted a number of people, including the president of the IMOCA class and my race director. After careful consideration, I decided to play the selection game and decide between them in the order of the mileage ranking, while respecting the rules of the sport”, explains Alain Leboeuf, president of the Vendée Department and the Vendée Globe.

Skippers of the Vendée Globe:

• Fabrice AMEDEO (Nexans – Wewise) – FRA
• Romain ATTANASIO (Fortinet – Best Western) – FRA
• Eric BELLION (STAND AS ONE) – FRA
• Yannick BESTAVEN (Maître CoQ V) – FRA
• Jérémie BEYOU (Charal) – FRA
• Arnaud BOISSIÈRES (La Mie Câline) – FR
• Louis BURTON (Bureau Vallée) – FRA
• Conrad COLMAN (MS Amlin) – US/NZL
• Antoine CORNIC (Human Real Estate) – FRA
• Manuel COUSIN (Coup de Pouce) – FRA
• Clarisse CRÉMER (L’Occitane en Provence) – FRA
• Charlie DALIN (MACIF Health Presence) – FRA
• Samantha DAVIES (Initiatives-Cœur) – GBR
• Violette DORANGE (DeVenir) – FRA
• Louis DUC (Fives Group – Lantana Milieu) – FRA
• Benjamin DUTREUX (GUYOT environment – Water family) – FRA
• Benjamin FERRÉ (Monnoyeur – Duo for a Job) – FRA
• Sam GOODCHILD (VULNERABLE) – GBR
• Pip HAAS (Medal) – GBR
• Oliver HEER (Oliver Heer Ocean Racing) – SUI
• Boris HERRMANN (Malizia – Seaexplorer) – DE
• Isabelle JOSCHKE (MACSF) – FRA/DE
• Jean LE CAM (It all starts in Finistère – Armor-lux) – FRA
• Tanguy LE TURQUAIS (Lazare) – FROM
• Nicolas LUNVEN (Holcim – PRB) – FRA
• Sébastien MARSSET (Foussier) – FRA
• Paul MEILHAT (Biotherm) – FRA
• Justine METTRAUX (TeamWerk – Team SNEF) – SUI
• Giancarlo PEDOTE (Prysmian) – ITA
• Yoann RICHOMME (Paprec Arkéa) – FRA
• Alan ROURA (Hublot) – SUI
• Thomas RUYANT (VULNERABLE) – FRA
• Damien SEGUIN (APICIL Group) – FRA
• Kojiro SHIRAISHI (DMG MORI Global One) – Japan
• Sébastien SIMON (Dubreuil Group) – FRA
• Maxime SOREL (V and B – Monbana – Mayenne) – FRA
• Guirec SOUTH (Freelance.com) – FRA
• Denis VAN WEYNBERGH (D’Ieteren Group) – CALL
• Szabolcs WEÖRES (New Europe) – THEM
• Jingkun XU (Singchain Team Haikou) – CHN