2008–2009 Vendée Globe

The 2008–2009 Vendée Globe was a non-stop solo round-the-world yacht race for IMOCA 60 class yachts and the sixth edition of the race.

2008–2009 Vendée Globe

Event title
Name	2008–2009 Vendée Globe
Edition	6th edition
Sponsor	Vendee Region of France
Event details
Start location	Les Sables-d'Olonne
Finish location	Les Sables-d'Olonne
Course	Solo non-stop round the world race
Start date	9 November 2008
Finish date	9 November 2008
Yachts	IMOCA 60
Key people	Race Director Denis Horeau
Competitors
Competitors	30
Results
Gold	Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA)
Silver	Armel Le Cléac'h (FRA)
Bronze	Vincent Riou (FRA)
← 2004–2005 2012–2013 →

Summary

The 2008 Vendée Globe began on 9 November 2008 and was won by Michel Desjoyaux, who set a new record at 84d 3h 9' 8".^[1]

Race Director for this edition was Denis Horeau who heads the event management team having done the role for the 1989 and 2004 editions.^[2]

Incidents

Retirement causes

The problems encountered by Jean Le Cam—losing his keel bulb and capsizing in the Southern Ocean—had a major impact on the order of finish. Fellow competitor Vincent Riou diverted and found his boat, circling to try to toss a rope to Le Cam who had exited a security hatch to hang onto the rudder. After three failed attempts, Vincent Riou went in closer, managing to rescue Jean Le Cam but also damaging his mast which failed soon after.^[3] Riou retired, but was awarded third place on redress, as he was third when diverted to assist the boat in distress.^[4] In addition Armel Le Cléac’h was awarded 11 hours, Sam Davies 32 hours and Marc Guillemot 82 hours for diverting to aid in the rescue^[3]

Results

Table: Order of finish, 2008–2009 Vendée Globe^[5]

Pos.	Sailor	Yacht	Time	Distance Sailed	Ref
1	Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA)	Foncia	84d 03h 09' 08" (new record)	28 303
2	Armel Le Cléac'h (FRA)	Brit Air	89d 09h 39' 35" Corrected 89d 20h 39' 35" Elapsed	27 232
=3	Vincent Riou (FRA)	PRB 3	Day 59: Dismasted Redress Given
=3	Marc Guillemot (FRA)	Safran (2)	95d 03h 19' 36" Corrected 98d 13h 19' 36" Elapsed	28 401
4	Samantha Davies (GBR)	Roxy (2)	95d 04h 39' 01" Corrected 96d 12h 39' 01" Elapsed	27 470
5	Brian Thompson (GBR)	Bahrain Team Pindar	98d 20h 29' 55"	28 699
6	Dee Caffari (GBR)	Aviva	99d 01h 10' 57"	27 906
7	Arnaud Boissières (FRA)	Akena Vérandas (2)	105d 02h 33' 50"	27 841
8	Steve White (GBR)	Toe In The Water	109d 00h 36' 55"	28 197
9	Rich Wilson (USA)	Great American III	121d 00h 41' 19"	28 590
10	Raphaël Dinelli (FRA)	Fondation Ocean Vital	125d 02h 32' 24"	28 140
11	Norbert Sedlacek (AUT)	Nauticsport-Kapsch	126d 05h 31' 56"	27 706
DNF(18)	Roland Jourdain (FRA)	Veolia Environnement	day 85: lost keel		[6]
DNF(17)	Jean Le Cam (FRA)	VM Matériaux (2)	day 58: lost keel bulb, capsized
DNF(16)	Jonny Malbon (GBR)	Artemis (2)	day 56: delaminated mainsail
DNF(15)	Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA)	Paprec-Virbac (2)	day 53: lost port rudder
DNF(14)	Derek Hatfield (CAN)	Algimouss Spirit of Canada	day 50: broken spreaders
DNF(13)	Sébastien Josse (FRA)	BT	day 50: broken rudder system
DNF(12)	Yann Eliès (FRA)	Generali	day 40: fractured femur
DNF(11)	Mike Golding (GBR)	Ecover 3	day 38: dismasted		[7]
DNF(10)	Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (FRA)	Groupe Maisonneuve	day 37: faulty halyards, broken auto-pilot
DNF(9)	Loïck Peyron (FRA)	Gitana Eighty	day 36: dismasted		[8]
DNF(8)	Bernard Stamm (FRA)	Cheminées Poujoulat (3)	day 36: ran aground		[9]
DNF(7)	Dominique Wavre (SUI)	Temenos 2	day 35: damaged keel box
DNF(6)	Unai Basurko (ESP)	Pakea Bizkaia	day 28: faulty starboard rudder box
DNF(5)	Jérémie Beyou (FRA)	Delta Dore	day 17: damaged rig
DNF(4)	Alex Thomson (GBR)	Hugo Boss 2	day 6: cracked hull
DNF(3)	Yannick Bestaven (FRA)	Aquarelle.com – Charente Maritime	day 4: dismasted
DNF(2)	Marc Thiercelin (FRA)	DCNS	day 4: dismasted		[10]
DNF(1)	Kito de Pavant (FRA)	Groupe Bel	day 2: dismasted		[11]

Gallery

• 
  Delta Dore,
• 
  Aviva, Dee Caffari
• 
  Britair,

Entries

Participants gallery

• 
   Armel Le Cléac'h (FRA)
  Brit Air
• 
   Arnaud Boissières (FRA)
  Akena Vérandas
• 
   Alex Thomson (GBR)
  Hugo Boss 2
• 
   Brian Thompson (GBR)
  Bahrain Team Pindar
• 
   Bernard Stamm (FRA)
  Cheminées Poujoulat (3)
• 
   Dominique Wavre (SUI)
  Temenos 2
• 
   Dee Caffari (GBR)
  Aviva
• 
   Jean Le Cam (FRA)
  VM Matériaux
• 
   Jérémie Beyou (FRA)
  Delta Dore
• 
   Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA)
  Paprec-Virbac 2
• 
   Kito de Pavant (FRA)
  Groupe Bel
• 
   Loïck Peyron (FRA)
  Gitana Eighty
• 
   Marc Guillemot (FRA)
  Safran (2)
• 
   Marc Thiercelin (FRA)
  DCNS
• 
   Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA)
  Foncia
• 
   Mike Golding (GBR)
  Ecover 3
• 
   Norbert Sedlacek (AUT)
  Nauticsport-Kapsch
• 
   Raphaël Dinelli (FRA)
  Fondation Ocean Vital
• 
   Rich Wilson (USA)
  Great American III
• 
   Roland Jourdain (FRA)
  Veolia Environnement
• 
   Samantha Davies (GBR)
  Roxy
• 
   Sébastien Josse (FRA)
  BT
• 
   Steve White (GBR)
  Toe In The Water
• 
   Unai Basurko (ESP)
  Pakea Bizkaia
• 
   Vincent Riou (FRA)
  PRB 3
• 
   Yann Eliès (FRA)
  Generali
• 
   Yannick Bestaven (FRA)
  Aquarelle.com – Charente Maritime

Participant facts equipment

Thirty skippers started the race a qualification passage was required to validate the registration of each boat, this course could have been carried out as part of another sailing race.

List of participants and equipment used

Skipper	Prev. participation (Start/Finish)	Name of boat	Sail no.	Naval architect	Builder	Launch date	Ref.
Alex Thomson (GBR)	1 / 0	Hugo Boss 2	GBR 99	Finot-Conq	Carrington/Hutton (Lymington, GBR)	2007	[12]
Armel Le Cléac’h (FRA)	0 / 0	Brit Air	FRA 62	Finot-Conq	Multiplast	2007
Arnaud Boissières (FRA)	0 / 0	Akena Vérandas	FRA 14	Finot-Conq	Kirié	1998
Bernard Stamm (SUI)	1 / 0	Cheminées Poujoulat (3)	SUI 7	Farr Yacht Design	Cookson Boats (NZL)	2003
Brian Thompson (GBR)	0 / 0	Bahrain Team Pindar	GBR 32	Juan Kouyoumdjian	Cookson Boats	2007
Dee Caffari (GBR)	0 / 0	Aviva	GBR 222	Owen Clarke Design Group	Hakes Marine (NZL)	2008
Derek Hatfield (CAN)	0 / 0	Algimouss-Spirit of Canada	CAN 84	Owen Clarke Design Group	Ocean Challenges	2007	[13]
Dominique Wavre (SUI)	2 / 2 (4th)	Temenos II	SUI 9	Owen Clarke Design Group	Southern Ocean Marine (NZL)	2006
Jean Le Cam (FRA)	1 / 1 (2nd)	VM Matériaux	FRA 118	Marc Lombard	JMV Industries (FRA)	2004
Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty (FRA)	0 / 0	Groupe Maisonneuve	FRA 8	Angelo Lavranos – Artech Design Team	Artech	2005
Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA)	1 / 1 (6th)	Paprec-Virbac 2	FRA 06	Farr Yacht Design	Southern Ocean Marine (NZL)	2007
Jérémie Beyou (FRA)	0 / 0	Delta Dore	FRA 35	Farr Yacht Design	JMV Industries (FRA)	2006
Jonny Malbon (GBR)	0 / 0	Artemis 2	GBR 100	Rogers Yacht Design Ltd	Hutton (GBR)	2008
Kito de Pavant (FRA)	0 / 0	Groupe Bel	FRA 360	VPLP-Verdier	Indiana Yachting (ITA)	2007
Loïck Peyron (FRA)	2 / 1 (2nd)	Gitana Eighty	FRA 80	Farr Yacht Design	Southern Ocean Marine (New Zealand)	2007
Marc Guillemot (FRA)	0 / 0	Safran (2)	FRA 25	VPLP-Verdier	Larros – Thierry Eluère	2007
Marc Thiercelin (FRA)	3 / 2 (2nd)	DCNS	FRA 1000	Finot-Conq	Multiplast (coque et intégration), Chantier naval de Larros (pont)	2008
Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA)	1 / 1 (1st)	Foncia	FRA 101	Farr Yacht Design	CDK Technologies	2007
Mike Golding (GBR)	2 / 2 (3rd)	Ecover 3	GBR 03	Owen Clarke Design Group	Hakes Marine (Wellington, NZL)	2007
Norbert Sedlacek (AUT)	1 / 0	Nauticsport-Kapsch	AUT 36	Joubert-Nivelt-Sedlacek	Garcia / N. Sedlacek	1995 / 2003
Raphaël Dinelli (FRA)	3 / 1 (12th)	Fondation Océan Vital	FRA 77	Nándor Fa	Fa Hajó	1996
Rich Wilson (USA)	0 / 0	Great American III	USA 37	Nivelt	Thierry Dubois	1999	[14]
Roland Jourdain (FRA)	2 / 1 (3rd)	Véolia Environnement	FRA 29	Marc Lombard	JMV Industries	2004	[15]
Steve White (GBR)	0 / 0	Toe In The Water	GBR 55	Finot-Conq	JMV Industries	1998
Samantha Davies (GBR)	0 / 0	Roxy	FRA 40	Finot-Conq	MAG France Fontenay le Comte	2000
Sébastien Josse (FRA)	1 / 1 (5th)	BT	EUR 888	Farr Yacht Design	Offshore Challenges, Cowes, GBR	2007
Unaï Basurko (ESP)	0 / 0	Pakea Bizkaia	ESP 26	Murray-Burns & Dovell	Jarkan – Kanga Birtles	2005
Vincent Riou (FRA)	1 / 1 (1st)	PRB 3	FRA 85	Farr Yacht Design	CDK Technologies	2006
Yannick Bestaven (FRA)	0 / 0	Aquarelle.com – Charente Maritime	FRA 01	Finot-Conq	Thierry Eluère	1996
Yann Éliès (FRA)	0 / 0	Generali	FRA 22	Finot-Conq	Multiplast	2007	[16]