| 2008–2009 Vendée Globe | |
| Edition: | 6th Edition |
| Sponsor: | Vendee Region of France |
| Start: | Les Sables-d'Olonne |
| Finish: | Les Sables-d'Olonne |
| Course: | Solo non-stop round the world race |
| Startdate: | 9 November 2008 |
| Key People: | Race Director Denis Horeau |
| Competitors: | 30 |
| Yachts: | IMOCA 60 |
| Prev: | 2004–2005 |
| Next: | 2012–2013 |
The 2008–2009 Vendée Globe was a non-stop solo Round the World Yacht Race for IMOCA 60 class yachts and the sixth edition of the race.
The 2008 Vendée Globe began on 9 November 2008 and was won by Michel Desjoyaux, who set a new record at 84d 3h 9' 8".[1]
Race Director for this edition was Denis Horeau who heads the event management team having done the role for the 1989 and 2004 editions.[2]
The problems encountered by Jean Le Cam—losing his keel bulb and capsizing in the Southern Ocean—had a major impact on the order of finish. Fellow competitor Vincent Riou diverted and found his boat, circling to try to toss a rope to Le Cam who had exited a security hatch to hang onto the rudder. After three failed attempts, Vincent Riou went in closer, managing to rescue Jean Le Cam but also damaging his mast which failed soon after. Riou retired, but was awarded third place on redress, as he was third when diverted to assist the boat in distress.[3] In addition Armel Le Cléac’h was awarded 11 hours, Sam Davies 32 hours and Marc Guillemot 82 hours for diverting to aid in the rescue[4]
| 1 | Foncia | 84d 03h 09' 08" (new record) | 28 303 | |||
| 2 | Brit Air | 89d 09h 39' 35" Corrected 89d 20h 39' 35" Elapsed | 27 232 | |||
| =3 | PRB 3 | Day 59: Dismasted Redress Given | ||||
| =3 | Safran (2) | 95d 03h 19' 36" Corrected 98d 13h 19' 36" Elapsed | 28 401 | |||
| 4 | Roxy (2) | 95d 04h 39' 01" Corrected 96d 12h 39' 01" Elapsed | 27 470 | |||
| 5 | Bahrain Team Pindar | 98d 20h 29' 55" | 28 699 | |||
| 6 | Aviva | 99d 01h 10' 57" | 27 906 | |||
| 7 | Akena Vérandas (2) | 105d 02h 33' 50" | 27 841 | |||
| 8 | Toe In The Water | 109d 00h 36' 55" | 28 197 | |||
| 9 | Great American III | 121d 00h 41' 19" | 28 590 | |||
| 10 | Fondation Ocean Vital | 125d 02h 32' 24" | 28 140 | |||
| 11 | Nauticsport-Kapsch | 126d 05h 31' 56" | 27 706 | |||
| DNF(18) | Veolia Environnement | day 85: lost keel | [6] | |||
| DNF(17) | VM Matériaux (2) | day 58: lost keel bulb, capsized | ||||
| DNF(16) | Artemis (2) | day 56: delaminated mainsail | ||||
| DNF(15) | Paprec-Virbac (2) | day 53: lost port rudder | ||||
| DNF(14) | Algimouss Spirit of Canada | day 50: broken spreaders | ||||
| DNF(13) | BT | day 50: broken rudder system | ||||
| DNF(12) | Generali | day 40: fractured femur | ||||
| DNF(11) | Ecover 3 | day 38: dismasted | [7] | |||
| DNF(10) | Groupe Maisonneuve | day 37: faulty halyards, broken auto-pilot | ||||
| DNF(9) | Gitana Eighty | day 36: dismasted | [8] | |||
| DNF(8) | Cheminées Poujoulat (3) | day 36: ran aground | [9] | |||
| DNF(7) | Temenos 2 | day 35: damaged keel box | ||||
| DNF(6) | Pakea Bizkaia | day 28: faulty starboard rudder box | ||||
| DNF(5) | Delta Dore | day 17: damaged rig | ||||
| DNF(4) | Hugo Boss 2 | day 6: cracked hull | ||||
| DNF(3) | Aquarelle.com – Charente Maritime | day 4: dismasted | ||||
| DNF(2) | DCNS | day 4: dismasted | [10] | |||
| DNF(1) | Groupe Bel | day 2: dismasted | [11] | |||
Thirty skippers started the race a qualification passage was required to validate the registration of each boat, this course could have been carried out as part of another sailing race.
| 1 / 0 | GBR 99 | Finot-Conq | Carrington/Hutton (Lymington, GBR) | 2007 | [12] | |||
| 0 / 0 | FRA 62 | Finot-Conq | Multiplast | 2007 | ||||
| 0 / 0 | FRA 14 | Finot-Conq | Kirié | 1998 | ||||
| 1 / 0 | SUI 7 | Cookson Boats (NZL) | 2003 | |||||
| 0 / 0 | GBR 32 | Cookson Boats | 2007 | |||||
| 0 / 0 | GBR 222 | Owen Clarke Design Group | Hakes Marine (NZL) | 2008 | ||||
| 0 / 0 | CAN 84 | Owen Clarke Design Group | Ocean Challenges | 2007 | [13] | |||
| 2 / 2 (4th) | SUI 9 | Owen Clarke Design Group | Southern Ocean Marine (NZL) | 2006 | ||||
| 1 / 1 (2nd) | FRA 118 | Marc Lombard | JMV Industries (FRA) | 2004 | ||||
| 0 / 0 | FRA 8 | Angelo Lavranos – Artech Design Team | Artech | 2005 | ||||
| 1 / 1 (6th) | FRA 06 | Southern Ocean Marine (NZL) | 2007 | |||||
| 0 / 0 | FRA 35 | JMV Industries (FRA) | 2006 | |||||
| 0 / 0 | GBR 100 | Rogers Yacht Design Ltd | Hutton (GBR) | 2008 | ||||
| 0 / 0 | FRA 360 | Indiana Yachting (ITA) | 2007 | |||||
| 2 / 1 (2nd) | FRA 80 | Southern Ocean Marine (New Zealand) | 2007 | |||||
| 0 / 0 | FRA 25 | Larros – Thierry Eluère | 2007 | |||||
| 3 / 2 (2nd) | FRA 1000 | Finot-Conq | Multiplast (coque et intégration), Chantier naval de Larros (pont) | 2008 | ||||
| 1 / 1 (1st) | FRA 101 | 2007 | ||||||
| 2 / 2 (3rd) | GBR 03 | Owen Clarke Design Group | Hakes Marine (Wellington, NZL) | 2007 | ||||
| 1 / 0 | AUT 36 | Joubert-Nivelt-Sedlacek | Garcia / N. Sedlacek | 1995 / 2003 | ||||
| 3 / 1 (12th) | FRA 77 | Fa Hajó | 1996 | |||||
| 0 / 0 | USA 37 | Nivelt | Thierry Dubois | 1999 | [14] | |||
| 2 / 1 (3rd) | FRA 29 | Marc Lombard | 2004 | [15] | ||||
| 0 / 0 | GBR 55 | Finot-Conq | 1998 | |||||
| 0 / 0 | FRA 40 | Finot-Conq | MAG France Fontenay le Comte | 2000 | ||||
| 1 / 1 (5th) | EUR 888 | Offshore Challenges, Cowes, GBR | 2007 | |||||
| 0 / 0 | ESP 26 | Murray-Burns & Dovell | Jarkan – Kanga Birtles | 2005 | ||||
| 1 / 1 (1st) | FRA 85 | 2006 | ||||||
| 0 / 0 | FRA 01 | Finot-Conq | Thierry Eluère | 1996 | ||||
| 0 / 0 | FRA 22 | Finot-Conq | Multiplast | 2007 | [16] |