NEXT GENERATION

The 34-boat fleet that is expected to line up for this year’s round the world, non-stop, single-handed epic is one of the most intriguing, and untested that we have seen.

In the last Vendée Globe in 2016, the majority of new IMOCAs built for the race were from the VPLP-Verdier collaboration. But the design field has been blown wide open for the 2020 race with four different design studios in play, all with very different ideas. The resulting combinations of hull shapes and foil concepts span a much wider spectrum than recent editions of the race. Factor in a critical lack of racing and training time because of the COVID-19 pandemic and November’s solo race promises to be the most intriguing since the landmark 2008/09 edition.

DOMINANT DUO

Back in 2016 the VPLP/Verdier near-monopoly accounted for six new boats, all launched in close succession in the summer of 2015 and the first in the class to all sport foils from the outset. By the finish they had taken three of, 2nd placed Alex Thomson’s and 4th placed Jean-Pierre Dick on .