Hitting the shoreline is never the plan during a non-stop circumnavigation. Here are the dos and don’ts of the virtual Vendée Globe – or rather, just the don’ts.

On November 10, the world (or at least the sailing world) watched as 40 skippers sailed from Les Sables-d’Olonne for the ultimate circumnavigation. I can only imagine what these sailors must have felt, but it was clear on the faces of their teams and loved ones that it was a day of raw and mixed emotions. The monumental challenge that lies ahead, and the skill and strength (in all its forms) required of those who undertake it, is something that only a handful of people will truly understand. And yet there are currently over 679,100 “skippers”, of which I am one, participating in the same race around the world, watching the winds, working through tactics and driving their IMOCA boats to its absolute limits. The difference here is that while these 40 elite offshore skippers battle the elements and put themselves at the mercy of the sea in a test of human ability, I’m happily checking my boat’s course on my phone. While waiting for a friend in a cozy English pub, I make course corrections with the twist of a virtual dial, and sail changes with the push of a button, all before my drink is poured. It’s absolutely incomparable, and yet, is there a small part of me that has felt like I’m fighting it out in the Atlantic? Perhaps…

A little more than a day into the race, when I opened my app to check if I was still in the lead, I was greeted with the warning – “running aground!”. Sure enough, when I zoomed in on the world map, I found my IMOCA at full speed plowing up a beach just east of Santander, while the fleet carried on laughing I guess. I imagined a group of shocked Spaniards crowding around my state-of-the-art pink-hulled racing car, searching aboard for a traumatized skipper, nowhere to be seen. A skipper who, in fact, happily threw away a seat on the circle line in London, blissfully unaware.

When I found this national embarrassment, I could only imagine a whole host of Spanish ridicule for the English. No damage done, I simply changed the wheel for course adjustment and coasted to rejoin the route just outside A Coruña. “No one will ever know,” I told myself.

In the days that followed, I’ll admit, I began to resemble babysitting my boat, as it should be. It is safe to say that the accident would not have happened if I had checked in more than once in 24 hours – a problem a million miles from reality for skippers who Pip Hareand Sam Goodchildwhich I had caught up with earlier in the month. I’m getting my confidence back, especially as we’re currently on the somewhat straightforward course south, with fewer obstacles… Rest assured, I’m way behind the pack, but I’m not alone – there are other stragglers, and by the warmth of my flat in London, I wonder if my presence behind the fleet gives them some relief, as theirs is for me.

How about Real Vendée?

To track the progress of the much more nail-biting real Vendée Globe, visit VG tracker website.

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