It is now exactly two months to the start of one of the greatest challenges in sport - the Vendée Globe solo round-the-world race, when 40 skippers from 10 countries will attempt to sail non-stop unassisted around the globe.
This race remains the ultimate test - a gruelling challenge for man or woman and boat - and an event that over the last 25 years has produced remarkable stories of seamanship, heroism, bravery, adventure, solo racing prowess and design skill, but also the occasional tragedy.
The Vendée Globe, which dares its competitors to sail alone around the Antarctic continent in the Southern Ocean as part of a 24,300 nautical mile course, has made legends of short-handed offshore racing. You only have to think of some of the past winners to underline that - Alain Gautier, Michel Desjoyeaux, Vincent Riou, François Gabart and Armel Le Cleac'h, to name a few.
The 2024-'25 edition of the single-handed classic - the 10th since the first race in 1989-'90 - promises to be exceptional, not least because it has attracted the biggest ever fleet which will fill the harbour at the start port of Les Sables d'Olonne to capacity.
The fleet this time includes Yannick Bestaven the winner in 2020-'21 and fellow Frenchman Charlie Dalin who took line honours but finished second on corrected time. It includes no less than 13 new boats, most of them equipped with the latest foil designs, and there are six female entrants, among them potential podium finishers in Sam Davies of Great Britain and Justine Mettraux of Switzerland.
This Vendée Globe also sees the race reach further geographically than ever before in its starting line-up, with the first sailor from China attempting to complete the course, in the form of the remarkable one-armed skipper from Qingdao, Jingkun Xu. There are also sailors from as far afield as Japan, Hungary, the USA, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Italy.
One thing we can be sure of is that the podium will be tightly contested, given that no less than eight skippers finished the last race within 24 hours of the winner after 80 days at sea. Among those with serious podium chances are the Frenchmen Charlie Dalin, Jérémie Beyou, Nicolas Lunven, Yoann Richomme and Thomas Ruyant, plus Boris Herrmann of Germany, Justine Mettraux and Sam Davies and her fellow British competitor Sam Goodchild.
While there are 15 sailors making their debut, including the youngest in the fleet - 23-year-old Frenchwoman Violette Dorange - three are making their fourth appearance in Sam Davies and Frenchmen Arnaud Boissières and Yannick Bestaven. Then, in class of his own, comes Jean Le Cam of France - the oldest in the fleet at 65 - who is starting the race for the sixth time.
The next few weeks will see teams and skippers making their final preparations. But before moving to Les Sables d'Olonne ahead of the Vendée Globe start, many of them will be taking part in the annual IMOCA Class showcase regatta based at Lorient, the Défi Azimut-Lorient Agglomération.
This starts today and includes its usual mix of fun and serious racing with speed runs, the race around the Île-de-Groix and the 500-miles solo offshore race. As always, this is a great opportunity for teams to entertain commercial partners and sponsors and, this year, to share their hopes and fears for the solo race around the world that starts in just 61 days time.
For further information go to :- www.imoca.org/en
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