
Well, I have to say that I hope the speed of January passing is not indicative of the rest of the year! I can’t believe it is February already but I guess that happens when you are busy.
I have been lucky with a varied start to the year, which kicked off in France hosting a week of Vendee Live. The show shares the sailors experiences of one of the most special races in offshore sailing and there seemed to be no end to the events on this edition. I consider it a real privilege to be able to speak to the skippers whilst on the racetrack. This 10th edition of the race has been exceptional, with the podium positions all beating the record held since 2016 by Armel Le Cléac’h. Charlie Dalin sailed to a Vendée win, relinquishing his demons from four years ago when he crossed the finish line first only to be placed second after redress was awarded. Yoann Richomme , in his first Vendée Globe, pushed Charlie all the way and finished less than 24 hours later. His performance and communication during the race were so enjoyable, at times it was hard to imagine he was in the Southern Ocean for the first time. Local hero Sebastien Simon, from Les Sables D’Olonne, impressed the most people by securing third place despite having a broken starboard foil since the Pacific Ocean. One of his stand out performances was smashing the record for the greatest distance covered solo in 24 hours, setting a new mark at 615.33 miles, which will be hard to beat.
The drama continued right up to the finish line for so many of the competitors, including British skipper Sam Goodchild who was fighting for 4th place when he ripped his mainsail in half during storm force winds in the final few days. The repair inevitably delayed him but he still went on to finish his first Vendee Globe race in 9th place and just twenty five minutes behind 8th place Swiss sailor, Justine Mettraux. As the first international in the fleet to finish, Justine also secured the fastest ever female solo monohull sailor round the world, beating the previous record by 12 days.
The tension continued as more storms lined up in the Atlantic to hit the Bay of Biscay hard. For Benjamin Dutreux and Clarisse Crémer, the finish line was open but entry to the harbour of Les Sables D’Olonne was closed. With conditions too difficult to load crew onboard after crossing the line, these sailors were forced to transit to La Rochelle, where a warm welcome awaited them. These guys will get two bites at the cherry as this weekend they have experienced the famous Channel welcome in Les Sables D’Olonne.
The same storm had an even bigger impact on the races of Sam Davies and Boris Herrmann, who actively slowed down in the Atlantic to avoid being stuck on a lee shore in a 10 metre swell in the Bay of Biscay with no way out. They weathered the storm and managed their boats allowing them to arrive in an appropriate weather window.
In the meantime, as I write this, races within the race continue and we can see fierce battles playing out that are too close to call until they cross the finish line. After all, it is the Vendée Globe Race and anything can happen!
While much of this drama was unfolding, I was enjoying being back on the water myself. Reunited with the wonderful MOD 70 Limosa and The Famous Project Team, we were back training from Canet en Roussilon, France. The wind blew direct from the Pyrenees making the conditions super cold, but it still felt great to be back sailing together, working on our communication and confidence under the watchful eyes of our coaches, Jonny Malbon and Brian Thompson.

Having defrosted from sailing in the Mediterranean, I headed to Boot Dusseldorf for the largest sailing and watersports trade show in the world, covering all aspects of life on or near the water. I was asked to present the Ocean Tribute Award at the Blue Motion Evening. Entries were shortlisted to 5 nominations with the public voting ahead of the selected jury. This prestigious award, launched by the Prince Albert of Monaco Foundation, the German Ocean Foundation and Boot Dusseldorf in 2017, honours initiatives, associations and projects that are particularly committed to the preservation of the Oceans. The win went to Ambiente Europeo with the SeaLabs project.

New at Boot Dusseldorf this year was Foiling World. The foiling organisation is hugely influential and growing due to the dynamic and passionate people involved and the continuous demand for all things foiling. This growth fuels innovation at events, within the industry and in associated industries and brings together the fields of engineering, gaming, sports performance and fun.

I am now back home to consistency with my day to day activities and will be preparing for the next adventure. It takes discipline, focus and determination as do so many of the New Year Resolutions some of us made not so long ago. So, lets’ stay with it. We will have good and bad days, but that is no reason to give up. Cut yourself some slack and make a deal with yourself to be better the next day. With small steps and consistency, before you know it, we will be leaps and bounds ahead of where we started!
