Spirit of Canada officially entered

Derek Hatfield's Open 60 to compete in the Vendee Globe, but urgent funds are still required

Canadian singlehanded sailor Derek Hatfield is officially qualified to enter the Vendee Globe 2008.

Just before Christmas, Hatfield completed the Transat Ecover B2B, the singlehanded transatlantic race from Brazil to France that is a qualifier for the Vendee Globe. It was also a great chance to shake down his racing machine, the Canadian-built Open 60 Spirit of Canada. Then just last week, all the documentation and official medical training was completed and filed with the Vendee Globe organisers and the official race number; #15 was issued by the organisers.

"I am very proud to finally finish the qualifications for the Vendee Globe 2008. It has been a lot of hard work getting this far but with the support that we receive from so many Canadians, we will be on the start line this November." said Hatfield. On start day, November 8, 2008, Hatfield, 56, will be the only Canadian in the race competing. He and his Open 60 Spirit of Canada will be the first Canadian team to attempt solo non-stop singlehanded round the world race since Gerry Roufs, who was tragically lost during a storm in the Pacific Ocean in 1996.

The number of participants in the Vendee Globe is capped at 30 and includes many of the world's elite sailors. It is the pinnacle of a sailor's career to enter and finish the Vendee.


Hatfield has already sailed around the world singlehanded once in the 2002-3 Around Alone. In this he finished third aboard the Open 40 Spirit of Canada, despite a terrible pitch-poll and dismasting of his boat off Cape Horn.

Hatfield is currently sailing from France to Canada to allow for more training, fine-tuning and repairs following the grueling race that saw two other boats dismasted in their attempt to qualify for the Vendee.

Now Hatfield's biggest challenge is to raise more money and awareness about his campaign in Canada. The former Mountie has so far managed to raise funds through corporate donations and his 'Around Together' campaign that offers to put a name on the boat along for a small donation. He's raised $1,600,000 and put over 5200 crew names on the hull through the Around Together campaign but needs to double that in the next few months before he leaves as well as additional corporate sponsorship. His budget for the race is about $3.5 million and he has borrowed money as well to pursue the goal. For the Vendee, that's a shoestring budget as some of his competitors will have at least twice that for their campaigns.

"The countdown to the Vendee Globe is now on and the next six months will go by very quickly," said Hatfield. "We have a number of hurdles ahead of us; mostly of the financial kind; but as one skipper recently told me in Brazil - 'If the Vendee Globe was easy, then everyone woul be doing it.''"

Hatfield though is confident such hurdles will be overtaken and he will not give up until Spirit of Canada reaches the finish in France in the spring of 2009.