Three Brits make it to the final 40 in the 2024 Vendee Globe

Katy Stickland

Three British sailors - Pip Hare, Samantha Davies and Sam Goodchild - have been selected to race in the 2024 Vendee Globe. The event is limited to 40 skippers

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The final 40 skippers racing in the 2024 Vendee Globe have been announced, and include British sailors – Samantha Davies, Pip Hare and Sam Goodchild.

The 10th edition of the 24,300NM solo non-stop round-the-world yacht race – considered the ultimate test of ocean racing – begins on 10 November 2024 from Les Sables d’Olonne in France.

All entrants will be looking to beat Armel Le Cleach’h’s record of 74 days, 3 hours, 35 minutes and 46 seconds, which he achieved in the 2016 Vendee Globe.

A sailor on a boat

Armel Le Cleach’h still holds the Vendee Globe record of 74 days, 3 hours, 35 minutes and 46 seconds. Credit: Getty

For the 2024 Vendee Globe, the rules for qualifying were changed.

Previous editions allowed skippers who had previously competed in the race to be guaranteed entry. For this year’s event, entrants had to qualify their boats by taking part in two solo races from an approved list – the 2022 Vendee Arctique, the 2022 Route du Rhum, the 2023 Return to Base (return race of the Transat Jacques Vabre), the Transat CIC in 2024 and the New York Vendee-Les Sables d’Olonne in 2024).

Entrants also had to build miles to gain enough points to qualify.

British 2024 Vendee Globe Skipper: Samantha Davies

Sam Davies is one of the most experienced skippers on the IMOCA 60 circuit, and few can match her ocean racing track record; this will be her fourth time racing in the Vendee Globe.

The sailor, who built her initial experience racing with Tracy Edwards, is better known in her adopted home of France rather than her native Britain despite her impressive track record.

At age 24, she was part of the Edwards’ 1998 Jules Verne Trophy team – the first all-female crew to attempt to win the trophy. The team smashed five world records but ended with a broken mast on their 92ft catamaran, Royal & SunAlliance, 2,000 miles off the coast of Chile.

Sam Davies on the IMOCA 60 yacht she is racing in the 2024 Vendee Globe

Sam Davies on the 2022 Initiatives-Cœur. Credit: Getty

She moved to France and followed the familiar racing path of the Mini 6.50 and Figaro circuits before competing in her first Vendee Globe in 2008.

It was a stellar performance, with Davies finishing 4th onboard Roxy, with a corrected time of 95 days, 4 hours, 39 minutes and 1 second; she was named the 2009 Yachtsman of the Year by the Yachting Journalists’ Association.

She returned for the 2012-2013 event but her IMOCA 60, Savéol was dismasted 130NM northwest of Madeira.

Davies went on to skipper the first all-female Volvo Ocean Race crew, Team SCA in the 2014-15 event; the team included Dee Caffari, Annie Lush, Carolijn Brouwer, Libby Greenhalgh, and Liz Wardley.

A boat with a red sail

Sam Davies took 4th place in the Vendee Globe aboard her IMOCA, Roxy. Credit: Getty

In 2018, she began her long-standing partnership with Initiatives-Cœur.

In the 2020 Vendee Globe, she was forced to retire after a UFO hit the boat off Cape Town, causing structural damage to the keel. following repairs, she continued racing, crossing the line on 28 February 2021, and raised money for the charity, Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque.

For 2024, she will be racing in her new foiling IMOCA 60, launched in 2022, having already secured third place in the 2024 Transat CIC and 6th place in the 2024 New York Vendee-Les Sables d’Olonne.

British 2024 Vendee Globe Skipper: Pip Hare

Pip Hare won legions of fans during the 2020 Vendee Globe with her upbeat, positive attitude and dogged determination while racing around the world in one of the oldest boats in the fleet, the 2000 IMOCA 60, Medallia (formerly Superbigou).

The sailor came late to competitive sailing, and was initially a long-term liveaboard cruiser, sailing her Lightwave 395 around the Med, the Caribbean and South America, right down to Patagonia before returning home.

Her first solo race was the 2009 OSTAR, which she finished in 23 days, 14 hours, and 38 minutes, coming 16th. The two-handed Round British and Ireland followed before competing in the Mini Transat circuit in 2011.

Pip Hare finishes the Vendee Globe Race aboard the IMOCA 60 "Medallia" on February 12, 2021 in Les Sables D'Olonne, France. Credit: Richard Langdon/Oceanimages/Getty Images

Pip Hare celebrates after coming 19th in the 2020 Vendee Globe. Credit: Richard Langdon/Oceanimages/Getty Images

Hare moved to France to develop her racing skills before deciding to enter the 2020 race, starting Pip Hare Ocean Racing with a £25,000 loan and donations via crowdfunding.

Months before the race started, the software company, Medallia stepped in to sponsor her.

Hare did not disappoint, becoming the first British skipper to finish the 2020 Vendee Globe. She took 19th place out of a 33-strong fleet, beating professional racing teams which had been funded to the tune of over £20 million. She was named the 2021 Yachtsman of the Year by the Yachting Journalists’ Association for her performance in the 2020 Vendee Globe.

Medallia agreed to sponsor Hare for 2024, enabling her to secure the foiling 2016 Verdier/VPLP model, raced as Bureau Vallée II by Louis Burton to 3rd overall in the 2020-21 Vendee Globe.

The revamped IMOCA 60 Medallia foiling on a test sail. Credit: Lloyd Images

The refitted Medallia with her larger 5.4m foils. Pip Hare hopes to raise enough money for another refit before the start of the 2024 Vendee Globe. Credit: Lloyd Images

The yacht won the 2016-17 event, raced by Armel Le Cléac’h as Banque Populaire, and set the current course record of 74d 3h 35m.

Rechristened, Medallia, the boat underwent a six-month refit, which included fitting bigger 5.4m foils. This allows the 6.5-tonne IMOCA 60 to lift clear of the water; the previous 3.4m foils only allowed the boat to lift half out of the water.

Changes to ballast were also made, along with the reinforcement of the boat’s structure.

Hare had planned a further refit  – including replacing the yacht’s keel bearings – ahead of the 2024 race start but in April 2024, she announced that two of her sponsors were “unable to re-sign contracts for the final year of the campaign due to the world economic climate”, and launched an urgent funding appeal. Hare also wants a new suit of sails, rather than sailing with ones that have already been used to race around the world.

Hare is still pushing hard and recently raced to 9th place in the 2024 New York Vendee-Les Sables d’Olonne to secure her place on the start line.

British 2024 Vendee Globe Skipper: Sam Goodchild

This is Sam Goodchild’s first Vendee campaign, but he has a solid racing background, having sailed in the Class 40, Figaro, and Ocean Fifty circuits.

He started as a preparateur for the likes of Alex Thomson and Mike Golding before joining the Artemis Offshore Academy in 2010, aimed at nurturing British sailing talent.

Seasons on the Figaro, Class 40 and Ocean Fifty circuits helped Goodchild hone his skills, and he went on to win the Pro Sailing Tour 2021 as skipper of the Ocean Fifity, Leyton. He then moved to Thomas Ruyant’s TR Racing team as part of his plans to fast-track to a Vendee campaign.

Sailor Sam goodchild giving a thumbs up

Sam Goodchild ahead of the start of the final stage of the 43rd edition of La Solitaire du Figaro-Eric Bompard. Credit: Getty

Goodchild was previously crew on the Spanish 2014-15 Ocean Race team, MAPFRE, and took part in three legs of the 2022-23 Ocean Race on Kevin Escoffier’s Holcim-PRB, racing from Alicante to Itajaí via the South Seas.

On his return, he launched his IMOCA 60, For the Planet (now called Vulnerable), previously raced as aDvens For Cybersecurity and LinkedOut by Thomes Ruyant in the 2020 Vendee Globe. Ruyant will also be at the start line of the 2024 Vendee Globe on his own IMOCA 60 – also called Vulnerable.

A yacht sailing under jury rig

For the Planet (now called Vulnerable) sailing under jury rig following the dismasting. Credit: Sam Goodchild

In his first solo IMOCA 60 race, Goodchild came third in the 2023 Retour a La Base and went on to win the 2023 IMOCA Globe Series. He is the first British skipper to win this championship.

But he suffered a blow in last month’s New York Vendée-Les Sables d’Olonne when he was forced to abandon the race after the yacht dismasted 150 miles from Santa Maria in The Azores. At the time, he was in 4th place. A new mast is currently being installed.

Other entrants for the 2024 Vendee Globe include:

  • Race veteran Jean Le Cam, 65, is the oldest skipper planning to cross the start line. He will be racing the 2024-generation boat, Tout Commence en Finistere – Armor Lux, which does not have foils. Out of the 40 IMOCA 60s in the race, 24 have foils, 16 do not. Le Cam hit the headlines in the 2020 race after rescuing PRB’s Kevin Escoffier, who was forced to abandon his yacht after a wave “broke the boat”, causing it to sink;
  • The 2020 race winner, Yannick Bestavan. He will be racing his 2022 new generation foiling IMOCA 60, Maitre CoQ;
  • Charlie Dalin and Louis Burton will aim to better their respective second and third place in the 2020 race. Dalin, who won the 2024 New York Vendée-Les Sables d’Olonne, will be racing the foiling IMOCA 60, Macif, launched in June 2023; Burton will be competing in the 2020 foiling IMOCA 60, Bureau Vallee;
  • Clarisse Cremer, who in the 2020 race became the fastest woman in the history of the Vendee Globe, finishing in 87 days, and beating Ellen MacArthur’s 21-year-old record; it was also Cremer’s first round-the-world yacht race. In 2024, she will be racing in the 2019 foiling L’Occitane en Provenance (formerly Apivia, which was raced to second place in the 2020-21 Vendee Globe by Charlie Dalin). Her team principal is former British Vendee Globe skipper, Alex Thomson. Clarisse Cremer was controversially dropped by her original 2020 sponsor, Banque Populaire which doubted the French sailor could qualify for the 2024 Vendee Globe, having been on maternity leave in 2022.
  • French offshore legend Jeremie Beyou, who was a favourite in the 2020 race; he came 13th having returned to Les Sables d’Olonne to make repairs before setting off nine days after the start. He will be racing in 2024 with a new IMOCA, Charal 2.
  • The youngest skipper in the race is French sailor, Violette Dorange, who will be 24 at the start; she is racing in Jean Le Cam’s former boat Yes We Cam, now called DeVenir.
  • First-time Vendee skipper Guirec Soudee, made his name when he sailed solo around the world via the North and South Poles, accompanied by his hen, Monique. He joined the IMOCA circuit in 2022.

The full list of 2024 Vendee Globe skippers:

Fabrice AMEDEO (Nexans – Wewise) – FRA
Romain ATTANASIO (Fortinet – Best Western) – FRA
Eric BELLION (STAND AS ONE) – FRA
Yannick BESTAVEN (Maître CoQ V) – FRA
Jérémie BEYOU (Charal) – FRA
Arnaud BOISSIÈRES (La Mie Câline) – FRA
Louis BURTON (Bureau Vallée) – FRA
Conrad COLMAN (MS Amlin) – USA/NZL
Antoine CORNIC (Human Immobilier) – FRA
Manuel COUSIN (Coup de Pouce) – FRA
Clarisse CRÉMER (L’Occitane en Provence) – FRA
Charlie DALIN (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) – FRA
Samantha DAVIES (Initiatives-Cœur) – GBR
Violette DORANGE (DeVenir) – FRA
Louis DUC (Fives Group – Lantana Environnement) – FRA
Benjamin DUTREUX (GUYOT environnement – Water Family) – FRA
Benjamin FERRÉ (Monnoyeur – Duo for a Job) – FRA
Sam GOODCHILD (VULNERABLE) – GBR
Pip HARE (Medallia) – GBR
Oliver HEER (Oliver Heer Ocean Racing) – SUI
Boris HERRMANN (Malizia – Seaexplorer) – GER
Isabelle JOSCHKE (MACSF) – FRA/GER
Jean LE CAM (Tout commence en Finistère – Armor-lux) – FRA
Tanguy LE TURQUAIS (Lazare) – FRA
Nicolas LUNVEN (Holcim – PRB) – FRA
Sébastien MARSSET (Foussier) – FRA
Paul MEILHAT (Biotherm) – FRA
Justine METTRAUX (TeamWork – Team SNEF) – SUI
Giancarlo PEDOTE (Prysmian) – ITA
Yoann RICHOMME (Paprec Arkéa) – FRA
Alan ROURA (Hublot) – SUI
Thomas RUYANT (VULNERABLE) – FRA
Damien SEGUIN (Groupe APICIL) – FRA
Kojiro SHIRAISHI (DMG MORI Global One) – JPN
Sébastien SIMON (Groupe Dubreuil) – FRA
Maxime SOREL (V and B – Monbana – Mayenne) – FRA
Guirec SOUDÉE (Freelance.com) – FRA
Denis VAN WEYNBERGH (D’Ieteren Group) – BEL
Szabolcs WEÖRES (New Europe) – HUN
Jingkun XU (Singchain Team Haikou) – CHN

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