19 or 20 for the Vendee Globe

2012-13 Vendee Globe presented in Paris

With 150 days to go until the start of the 2012-2013 Vendée Globe - on 10 November in Les Sables d’Olonne, so the entry list has been formally unveiled by Vendée General Council President Bruno Retailleau.

As of today, 19 skippers have confirmed they will be on the start line, but there are three weeks to go before the end of the pre-registration period which closes on 1 July. There are still a few others who have expressed their desire to compete in the singlehanded non-stop round the world race, but are still working on their budgets.

Bruno Retailleau also disclosed more details about this winter's event.

The Vendée Globe is enhancing its international media offer by making all of the event’s footage available to worldwide television channels free of charge and without any exclusive rights. Broadcasting agreements have already been signed in more than 100 countries. For the first time in the race’s history, all the content produced by the organisation will be available in three languages: French, English and Spanish.

The Vendée Globe website, received with more than 230,000,000 page views in 2008, will be available on all devices (smart phones, tabs…). It will notably feature a new version of the Virtual Regatta game that should bring more than 500,000 players together. The website will also host the Vendée Globe video channel that will produce and broadcast the race’s daily highlights. And the 'Junior Vendée Globe', a site developed by and for children, will complete the new Vendée Globe on line presence.

From 20 October to 11 November, Les Sables d’Olonne will doubtlessly be the world’s sailing capital city. The new race village will be larger and mostly devoted to the race presentation as well as the protection of the marine environment. Physically it will cover more than 10,000 square metres and will be open to all visitors.

French actor François Cluzet will be the patron of the Vendée Globe's  7th edition. On 10 November with SAEM Vendée President Bruno Retailleau by his side, he will officially sound the starting signal of the race. Cluzet will also star in a film about the singlehanded sailing race around the world, along with Belgian actress Virginie Efira and French actor Guillaume Canet. This feature film will be directed by Christophe
Offenstein and is the result of a partnership between the SAEM Vendée and Les Films du Cap.

The 19 entrants :

Jean-Pierre DICK (FRA) Virbac-Paprec
Vincent RIOU (FRA) PRB
Kito de Pavant (FRA) Groupe Bel
François GABART (FRA) MACIF
Jérémie BEYOU (FRA) Maître CoQ
Armel LE CLEAC’H (FRA) Banque Populaire
Dominique WAVRE (SUI) Mirabaud
Samantha DAVIES (GBR) Savéol
Alex THOMSON (GBR) Hugo Boss
Mike GOLDING (GBR) Gamesa
Marc GUILLEMOT (FRA) Safran
Arnaud BOISSIERES (FRA) Akena Vérandas
Bernard STAMM (SUI) Cheminées Poujoulat
Javier SANSO (ESP) Acciona
Alessandro DI BENEDETTO (FRA-ITA) Team Plastique
Jean LE CAM (FRA) Synerciel
Tanguy DE LAMOTTE (FRA) Initiatives Cœur
Louis BURTON, (FRA) Bureau Vallée
Bertrand DE BROC (FRA) Votre nom autour du monde