Yachting World Magazine January 2017 Edição anterior

'DRIVE IT LIKE YOU STOLE IT'
Before dawn, people started to gather along the channel that leads to the inner harbour at Les Sables d’Olonne. Heedless of the hour and the piercing
November northerly, thousands came early to stake a vantage point. It is a pilgrimage repeated once every four years to witness the solo sailors of the Vendée Globe committing themselves to race round the world. These are among some of the most poignant moments seen in any sport. Sailors
unabashedly shed tears as they say goodbye. Alex Thomson, setting off for the fourth time, knew what to expect. “For me it is the hardest day of the race. It’s massively emotional. “And it’s emotional because people have a
sense that you are leaving and perhaps you maybe won’t come back.” Yet as soon as mainsails are hoisted and the support teams get off, everything changes. The race is on.