Posted by 
Louis Burton, skipper of <i>Bureau Vallée</i>, sailed an aggressive Southern Ocean leg. A late push in the North Atlantic got him second across the finish line and third overall. (Stephane Maillard/)
Gone is the idea of skippers disappearing over the horizon and then finishing hundreds, if not thousands, of miles apart, having surfed entirely separate weather systems in the Southern Ocean. From now on, we can expect sailors to prepare for the Vendée Globe as a sort of giant fleet race when the great capes—Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn—function as little more than buoys on the course. This pandemic-era Vendée Globe featured not only revmarkably close racing all the way around the world, with a front grouping of 10 boats each in contention for the podium for three months, but it also set a new precedent with a finale that was easily the most dramatic in the event’s 32-year history…
Follow Us!