Vendée Globe stats

• 9th edition of the race since 1989• 21,638 miles long• 74 days, 3 hours and 35 minutes,• 33 skippers this year, the biggest ever field• 18 ‘bizuths’ or rookies, a record number• 10 non-French skippers this year, from Britain, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Finland, Australia and Japan• 6 female skippers this year, a record• 8 women have attempted previous Vendée Globes since the race’s inception, among them Dame Ellen MacArthur and Dee Caffari• 2 sailors who made it to the podium in 2017 are back: Alex Thomson, who was second, and Jérémie Beyou from France, who was third• 2 podiums in 4 previous editions of the race makes Alex Thomson the most experienced and successful sailor on the start line (he was third in 2012-13)• 27 years, the age of Swiss sailor Alan Roura (La Fabrique), the youngest in the fleet, competing in his second Vendée Globe• 61 years, the age of Jean Le Cam (Yes We Cam!), the oldest skipper, doing his fifth race• 19 of the boats are fitted with foils• 7 of them were launched in 2020