The city of Les Sables d’Olonne is much more than a lovely seaside town with a long, long beach, a huge harbour, summer tourists and ice cream shops—it’s home to die-hard sailing fans.
Don’t expect super-yachts and a crowd of super-rich like in La Baule or Monaco. Les Sables doesn’t care about ostentatious displays of wealth. People actually sail for the sake of sailing and they’re good at it. Their enthusiasm is contagious and their dedication impressive.
Every four years, when the summer tourists are gone, the city gets ready for the Vendée Globe. The single-handed (solo) non-stop round-the-world yacht race starts in Les Sables, then down the Atlantic Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope, clockwise around Antarctica, keeping Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn to port and then back to Les Sables d’Olonne.
This unique race is just insane. The competitors must sail alone and continuously around the planet. Armel Le Cléac’h, who won the 2016–2017 edition, made it in a record 74 days, three hours and 35 minutes. This is fast but just imagine being alone in a boat for months, venturing into dangerous corners of the world, facing rough conditions far from civilization and any normal emergency response!
The 44,000-km-long race runs from November to February so that the competitors can face the Southern Ocean during the austral summer. This year, it starts on November 10—”Cool, I want to see it!” I said when I realized I’d be in France.
Meanwhile, I had nothing to do but bring chrysanthemums to the cemetery on November 1—a holiday in France—so I figured I’d go to the beach.
It was much, much hotter than expected. You could tell the locals from the day trippers—the former wore swimsuits and the rest of us got off the train with sweaters and scarves.
I spent some time on the beach, then I walked to the Vendée Globe village around the harbour.
OMG. It was jam-packed. People were queuing for hours to see all the boats gathered before departures. I overheard some talking about camping overnight to see the skippers set off on November 10. The national train company even issued a very specific notice warning travellers not to bring personal stepladders on trains to Les Sables. It’s a thing, apparently, sailing fans bring whatever they can to see the boats when the harbour is crowded!
I’m probably going to skip it. I don’t think I have the energy to camp overnight (!) to see the departure. I’m glad I got to see the boats, the village, and soak up the enthusiasm, though!
