When sport and science join forces

Of the 40 competitors to start the 2024-25 Vendée Globe on November 10, 25 entrants will have scientific equipment onboard during the biggest ever solo non-stop round-the-world race. Partnering with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the equipment will be deployed during the race to advance oceanographic research and weather forecasting models.

These skippers will enable the collection and distribution of essential data to scientists in real time looking to expand global knowledge of climate and the ocean, seeking to improve operational weather forecasting services, particularly in the less frequented southern latitudes of the globe.

Several types of instruments are being utilized such as surface buoys, weather stations, autonomous Argo subsurface profiling floats, educational buoys (Calitoo), and thermosalinographs. The data collected during and after the race, as well as the buoys deployed, will feed the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) which is coordinated by UNESCO.

“It is a real achievement to see so many sailors involved in this collaborative project that the IMOCA Class has been proudly carrying out since 2018,” said Claire VAYER, co-responsible for sustainability, IMOCA Class. “After nearly five years of work with all the scientific partners, it is gratifying and encouraging to see how essential the contribution of sailors is to science today.

“As soon as the Vendée Globe project was announced, many sailors offered their contribution. A record number of scientific instruments will be on board, thus placing science at the heart of our sporting challenges.”

In line with the environmental commitments made by the Vendée Globe to UNESCO, taking such scientific equipment will be made mandatory for all competitors in the rules of the race for the 2028-29 edition.

The 25 skippers taking measuring instruments:
• Denis Van Weynbergh (Weather Buoy)
• Fabrice Amedeo (OceanPack + Argo Float)
• Yoann Richomme (Argo Float + ARGOS Marget II)
• Louis Duc (Weather Buoy)
• Manu Cousin (Weather Buoy)
• Louis Burton (Calitoo)
• Jingkun Xu (Argo Float)
• Oliver Heer (OceanPack + Argo Float)
• Antoine Cornic (TSG Gaillard + Weather Buoy + Weather Station)
• Tanguy Le Turquais (Weather Station)
• Kojiro Shiraishi (Argo Float)
• Sam Goodchild (Argo Float + Calitoo)
• Sébastien Marsset (Weather Station + Argo Float)
• Romain Attanasio (TSG Gaillard + Weather Buoy)
• Boris Herrmann (OceanPack + Weather Buoy)
• Guirec Soudée (Argo Float)
• Maxime Sorel (Argo Float)
• Szabi WEORES (Argo Float + Weather Station)
• Arnaud Boissières (Weather Buoy + Calitoo)
• Sam Davies (Calitoo)
• Pip Hare (Calitoo)
• Paul Meilhat (Planctoscope)
• Nicolas Lunven (OceanPack)
• Benjamin Dutreux (Weather Station)
• Clarisse Crémer (Weather Buoy)

Event information – Entry list – Facebook

The Vendée Globe, raced in the 60-foot IMOCA, is the elite solo, non-stop round the world race. On November 10, 40 skippers will start the 2024-25 edition which begins and ends in Les Sables d’Olonne, France. Armel Le Cléac’h, winning in 2017, holds the record for the 24300 nm course of 74 days 03 hours 35 minutes 46 seconds. Only one sailor has won it twice: Michel Desjoyeaux in 2001 and 2009. This is tenth running of the race.