Ollie and the team have arrived into the Vendée Globe race village. This is a significant milestone for the team, and marks the beginning of the final countdown period, and the last couple of weeks for preparation.
Reflections
Arriving into the famous channel approach to Les Sables d’Olonne, Ollie can’t help but reflect on the last time he was here:
“Four years ago I was here as the boat captain of Alex Thomson's HUGO BOSS. In the back of my mind was just the dream of one day doing the Vendée Globe, but now to be here four years later with my own boat is actually quite cool. I am super, super happy to be here.”
It is one thing to have the dream, but quite another to make it come true. Putting a campaign together is a huge amount of work; finding and equipping a boat which meets the requirements, recruiting and building an experienced team. It all takes effort and of course budget.
“People underestimate it. Even if you tell them how hard it is, how hard it actually was, they don’t understand, they underestimate the business side of things.”
“You are a sailor a third of the time or, if you’re lucky, half of the time. The other half of the time you are a businessman. I am so proud of what myself and the team have achieved over the last three and a bit years. Here we are, the first ever Swiss-German team on the start line of one of the most iconic offshore, round-the-world races.”
The Countdown Continues
With just over two weeks until the start of the race, the team are now busy finalising boat preparations. Most of the big jobs are completed, and the focus is on completing some minor modifications and optimisations, and packing the spares and the food.
One big step is completing the compulsory safety inspection – a rigorous inspection of the boat conducted by IMOCA which checks hundreds of details from safety equipment to spare tools.
Race Village Vibes
With exhibits, shops and lots of activities for the family, over 1 million visitors are expected to attend the race village, to see the 40 competing boats and skippers.
Even in these early days of the village, the atmosphere is buzzing with excitement. This all adds to and builds a sense of occasion and creates an air of tension which makes everyone - including the skippers - very aware of the rapidly approaching start date.
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