10.07.09
A studious summer for Dominique
120,000 people thronged to the beach |
A little over four months have elapsed since the return of Temenos II to Europe after a forced stopover in the Antipodes, which for Dominique Wavre was synonymous with a painful retirement from the Vendée Globe
The grandiose prize-giving which took place on 23rd May 2009 brought this 6th edition to a close in style. No less than 120,000 people thronged to the beach in Les Sables d’Olonne to give the valiant skippers a final ovation; an opportunity for the organisers to officially announce the launch of the next Vendée Globe, the start of which will be given on 21st October 2012.
The date now resonates around the heads of a fair number of sailors, keen to take or retake the start of this legendary race. Indeed some of them have already announced their participation and launched the construction of new boats, and between now and 2012 there will be a series of key dates in the schedule for the IMOCA class.
Among them is the Barcelona World Race, a double-handed race around the globe, which will set off on 31st December 2010, in which Dominique hopes to take part. In fact we can well imagine that he has a secret desire to at least snatch 3rd place as he did with Michèle Paret during the previous edition in 2007.
Still without her keel, the large blue bird sits enthroned on her cradle, 5 metres off the ground in the technical area of the port of La Rochelle. After being intensely put upon as she raced halfway around the world, various sections of the boat have been refitted. Investigations to determine the reasons for the monohull’s keel damage are still ongoing. Engineers, builders, architects and experts have got together around the same table with the boat’s shore crew, but for the time being the consideration and analysis go on and they have been unable to draw any conclusions.
Dominique during the prize-giving |
However, Dominique certainly hasn’t stowed away his boots and foulies during this time and has been back to his first ‘lake love’ the minute he can. Indeed it was aboard Marc Guillemot’s Open 7.50 that the skipper participated in the latest Bol d’Or. Rivals during the last Vendée Globe, not to mention friends, the two men joined forced on the freshwater Lake Geneva for the duration of the famous race.
At the same time, continuing his role as president of IMOCA, Dominique is still working alongside other skippers for the development and good health of the class. Keen to learn lessons from the 2008-2009 edition of the Vendée Globe, and to further improve the safety and reliability of the boats, a number of developments in the class measurement are currently being enforced.
Dominique certainly has a lot on his plate at the moment and the skipper’s schedule this summer isn’t likely to be an exception…
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Dominique in the media!
Friday 10th July: TSR1 19:30 hours Dominique will be Tania Chytil’s guest of the Téléjournal programme
Tuesday 11th August: RSR 1 10:00 hours Dominique and Michèle will be Madeleine Caboche’s guest during the broadcast A Marée Haute
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