Vendée Globe

The Vendée Globe is the only non-stop, round-the-world sailing race for single-handed sailors. It is one of the most challenging tests of individual endurance and the ultimate goal for all solo sailors.

The starting and finishing point is the French port of Les Sables d'Olonne in the Bay of Biscay, The 21,600 mile course takes competitors down the Atlantic Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope. The course is then clockwise around Antarctica, past Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn; and back up the Atlantic to Les Sables d'Olonne. Competitors spend around three months alone at sea, facing some of the toughest sailing conditions imaginable, most notably in the Southern Ocean.

Race review

No other yacht race comes close to the Vendée Globe, not even in France where it is nearly as huge an event as a football final. The ultimate round the world race, alone and non-stop, it is viewed as the place where sailing makes its heroes.

Why? Because as well being an outright competitive challenge and potentially very dangerous, the Vendée Globe is a window to the immense efforts of each individual.

The outset

The first few days of the race, in November 2008, were a terrible example of this. A storm in the Bay of Biscay hit the fleet and caused major damage. Several yachts were dismasted or had structural failure and were forced to retire. Dee's friend and fellow British sailor Alex Thomson was out of the race he'd spent four years preparing for after only two days at sea.

Race favourite Michel Desjoyeaux, had electrical problems and had to return to port for repairs before restarting far behind everyone else. Michel won the Vendée Globe in 1996 and is regarded as a sailing genius in France.

Dee, meanwhile, reined Aviva in during the storm. Her top priority was to make it out of that first storm in one piece.

As the gales of northern Europe gave way to the steady tradewinds further south, other race favourites climbed ahead. The charismatic French sailor Loick Peyron took up the lead and held on to it for the next 6,000 miles as everyone behind gave chase.

A devastating two week period

Once past the Cape of Good Hope and into the Southern Ocean the fleet entered a different, tougher race where preservation is the key and the race changed. In a devastating two week period, seven of the original thirty boats were forced to retire from the fleet.

Loick Peyron was dismasted. Mike Golding took up the lead before he, too, was dismasted. Swiss sailor Dominique Wavre's keel cracked and broke loose and he sailed with it swinging perilously free 3,000 miles to reach safety in Australia.

The trail of destruction and eliminations continued past Australia and New Zealand. Seb Josse, another great French race favourite, was overturned by a breaking wave. It thumped his yacht so hard it broke an internal structural bulkhead and lifted the roof from the deck. He had to limp to New Zealand.

Yann Elies was hit by a wave whilst making a sail change on the foredeck and slammed so violently it shattered one of his legs. He was unable to move because of the pain and the Royal Australian Navy sent a frigate into the Southern Ocean to rescue him.

Some 200 miles west of Cape Horn Jean Le Cam's yacht lost her keel bulb and capsized. For 12 hours no-one knew if the skipper was alive or dead. Fellow sailor Vincent Riou came to the rescue and found Le Cam alive and well. He got the survivor on board but in the process damaged his rig and the next day the pair were dismasted.

Gaining speed and confidence

Following along behind this dramatic series of disasters, Dee was steadily gaining in speed and confidence. Aviva was in sound shape apart from her mainsail. The film protecting the load bearing fibres was peeling away, leaving them exposed and vulnerable to breakage.

Dee's dilemma was between sailing as fast as she needed to competitively and trying to preserve the sailcloth to last to the finish. But she skilfully sailed halfway across the Southern Pacific and through the Atlantic keeping the problem at bay for 12,000 miles to reach the finish. Aviva was one of only 11 yachts to complete the race from the 30-strong fleet that had set out three months previously.

Hero's welcome

Dee was given a hero's welcome. Dee became the first woman to sail alone non-stop both directions round the world and topped the feat off with a scarcely believable sixth place in a race that had knocked out some of the world's greatest sailing talents.

Dee's race

The map below allows you to trace Dee's Vendée Globe route.

You can also download a map and timeline PDF (321KB) of Dee's Vendeé Globe race, plus the route of her previous circumnavigation.

You can pan around by dragging the map, swap the view using the buttons, and zoom in and out with the controls in the top right-hand corner.

The race route is marked in yellow, showing the portals that all competitors had to pass to the north of. Dee's position is marked by the Aviva icon and the route she took is marked in blue. To view some of Dee's log entries, select a marker along her route and a link through to the relevant post.

You can pan around by dragging the map, swap the view using the buttons, and zoom in and out with the controls in the top right-hand corner.

The race route is marked in yellow, showing the portals that all competitors had to pass to the north of. Dee's position is marked by the Aviva icon and the route she took is marked in blue.