Sport is a central theme for France in 2024 thanks to the forthcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games – and today marks one year to go until the department of Vendée on the Atlantic coast hosts its own major sporting event. The 10th Vendée Globe will depart from Les Sables-d’Olonne on 10th November 2024 and return to the same port around three months later. Among the five British skippers taking part are Pip Hare (Medallia), only the 8th woman in the world to complete the race, and Phil Sharp (OceansLab – Cleantech Accelerator), who aims to compete in the world’s first green hydrogen race yacht.

Taking place every four years and nicknamed the ‘Everest of the Seas’, the Vendée Globe departs from and returns to the port of Les Sables-d'Olonne, one of the best-known seaside resorts on the French Atlantic coast and ranked as one of the ‘Most Beautiful Bays in the World’.

A total of 40 skippers will set off alone to circumnavigate the globe as quickly as possible, over a course of around 24,000 miles. The five British skippers in the 2024 line-up are Pip Hare, Phil Sharp, Samantha Davies, Sam Goodchild and James Harayda. The record to beat was set by Frenchman Armel Le Cléac’h in 2017, who crossed the finish line after 74 days at sea.

Click for a 2024 teaser video featuring interviews with Pip Hare and Phil Sharp
(video courtesy of the French Embassy in London)

The Vendée Globe Start Village will open its doors on 19 October 2024. Visitors will have the opportunity to enjoy a wide range of activities and admire the racing boats up close before the crowds gather on the day of the start. A dedicated media centre will soon be available via the Vendée Globe website.

To date, the Vendée Globe is the toughest round-the-world sailing race, solo, non-stop and without assistance. The event followed in the wake of the Golden Globe Race which had initiated the first circumnavigation of this type in 1968, via the three capes (Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn). The last Golden Globe Race returned in 2023. The nine editions of the Vendée Globe have so far seen 200 contenders take the start.

Vendée is a year-round tourist destination easily accessible from the UK by air, rail and road, offering a wide range of experiences from watersports to cycling, island life to inland countryside, sumptuous seafood to world-class wine, and natural wonders like the Marais Poitevin to an award-winning theme park of historical shows: the Puy du Fou. Contact us for press trip opportunities in 2024.

-ENDS-

Official websites
In Vendée (Vendée Tourism)
Vendée Globe
Les Sables d'Olonne
Pip Hare Ocean Racing
Phil Sharp Racing

UK press contact
Rachel Johnston
rachel.johnston@atout-france.fr
+44 (0)20 7061 6635