How to follow the start of the 8th Vendée Globe

On Sunday 6th November the Village will open its doors at 7 a.m. (local time) to allow visitors to gather along the quaysides to cheer on the 29 sailors as they leave the harbour. For those following the race from around the world the special media outputs will allow viewers from all around the world to share the entire experience from 0750hrs UTC via the official race website.

 

Didac Costa (One Planet One Ocean) will be the first to cast off. Then every four minutes another competitor will leave the pontoon. Vincent Riou (PRB) will be the final one to exit the harbour, leaving the pontoon at 0942hrs UTC. The boats will all make their way one by one through the famous harbour entrance channel, where the crowds will gather.

The start of the Vendée Globe will be have extensive coverage thanks to the film crews and the special arrangements that have been put in place with eight cameras ashore three in the air and five at sea. Alongside all the major French broadcasters and news channels, this momentous occasion will be shown on CNN, NHK Japan, RTS (Switzerland), RTBF (Belgium)… Spain TV3 TBC, Bulgaria BNT, GB and Ireland Premier Sports, Hungary Slovakia and Czech Republic AMC, Italy Mediaset Premium, Macedonia ERA TV, Norway TV Maritim, Russia Ukraine, Kazakhstan,  Moldavia, Belarusse, Ocean TV, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Sport Klub, Switzerland. SRG, Turkey, NTV and SPorts TV. Turkey, Greece, Cyrpus, Malta, Israel Fox Europe. Pan Europe - the Nautical Channel (42 countries). Africa Supersport (50 countries) and Startimes (20 countries). Middle East OSN (23 countries) China LE TV.

Internet/apps for tablets (iPhone and Androïd)/official social media

From 0745hrs -1000hrs and from 1130hrs to 1230hrs UTC on the official website there is live commentary by Dee Caffari and Alec Wilkinson, you will be able to watch live coverage of the boats leaving the Vendée Globe pontoon, the procession through the harbour entrance and the legendary channel and the start of this eighth Vendée Globe followed by the first few minutes of the race. This live coverage can also be seen on Facebook, Dailymotion (FR and ANG) and Youtube (ANG).

You will be able to find all the latest information, news, photos and quotes from the skippers on www.vendeeglobe.org, www.facebook.com/VendeeGlobe and our twitter account @VendeeGlobe (live tweets). Take a look too at the pictures on Instagram and Snapchat.

TRACKER

The first rankings will be posted at 1212hrs UTC with the positions at 1206hrs. The positions will then be updated every six minutes until 1500hrs UTC with the actual positions from 6 minutes earlier. From 1700hrs UTC, the tracker will be in normal race mode with the 1630hrs rankings. Rankings each day are at 04h 08 11h 14 17 21h UTC.
AT SEA
As well as attracting thousands of people to the quayside, many will be following the start of the Vendée Globe from even closer out at sea. NB, the entrance channel and harbour will be closed to boats from 8 a.m. to noon (local time). Information for the general public will be broadcast on VHF Marine channel 1 to allow boat owners to follow the start procedures from 8.30 a.m. Boat owners wishing to attend the start should listen in to this channel for all the useful information and rules (as well as monitoring Channel 16). Once out at sea, they must respect the safety rules put in place and keep out of the safety area marked by Race Direction with red tetrahedron buoys. (www.vendeeglobe.org)