Most people who want to get to France from New York City take an airplane. This week, several dozen people will take the long way — via sailboat.
About 30 sailors have gathered in the city for the past week to qualify for what’s been dubbed “the Everest of sailing.” The Vendée Globe takes place every four years and has 40 sailors race to circumnavigate the globe completely solo, with no help or stops to resupply.
It begins in November, taking advantage of summer in the Southern Hemisphere. The race starts and ends in Les Sables-d’Olonne, on France’s central Atlantic coast.
But the big trip’s final qualifying event, a 29-boat race to France from New York, begins on Wednesday. The 3,100-mile journey is expected to take the racers a little more than a week.
After this race, the top 39 competitors, ranked by points earned and miles sailed throughout the season, will qualify for the Vendée Globe. The fleet then chooses a 40th “wild card” competitor from among the other qualifying entrants.
Sam Goodchild, a British competitor who has raced in some 30 professional regattas, said he has previously completed the course between New York and France in six days. He added that the jet stream running from North America to Europe is too far north to take advantage of, so he’ll be sailing through fairly static weather across the Atlantic.
“I’m someone that’s dedicated my whole life to wanting to do the Vendée Globe,” Goodchild said. “It’s little heard of here on the American continent, but in Europe and especially in France, it’s a massive event that motivates a lot of people.”
Competitors like Goodchild have spent the past week in New York sprinting back and forth from Lower Manhattan to Liberty Island and inviting friends and fans aboard their vessels.
Because of heavy maritime traffic in New York Harbor and a preponderance of whales, the official starting line has moved from the harbor to a location at sea about 100 nautical miles southeast of Manhattan. (Or, as Goodchild put it, “the middle of nowhere.”)
Competitors will head there overnight before the starting gun at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
“We’re looking at about 10 days crossing from New York back to France,” Goodchild said, referring to himself and his boat, Vulnerable.
“If you’re looking for a flight to Paris, that’s quite slow,” he said. “But on sailboat terms, it’s fairly quick.”
Though the event is somewhat unknown in the U.S., it is very popular in France. Brendan Scanlon, a sailor and fan who is not participating, said that even in his hometown of Newport, Rhode Island — considered one of the world’s sailing capitals — the difference in excitement is palpable.
“When it comes to wanting to be the fastest or do the wildest, craziest thing, that is 100% the French mentality with all of this,” he said.
After the last boats arrive at the finish line, 39 qualifiers will be selected for the Vendée Globe based on points won and miles traveled at specific regattas and other qualifying events in recent years. The rest of the fleet then chooses one “wild card” boat to round out the race.
“The reason why there’s only 40 spots is because there’s only 40 slips in the marina that hosts the start of the race,” Scanlon said.
“Imagine sailing alone, completely unassisted, around the world,” he said, “38,000 miles, completely by yourself, in charge of your own survival.”
