Vendee Globe Insists Safety

As we all know, the IMOCA Monhulls have started arriving at the Port Olona three weeks prior to the race. The French Sailing Federation has sent referees to the event as they are supposed to look after certain aspects of the race. A safety check is must before the fleet across the starting point. That’s how Vendee Globe ensures safety.

They also have a very important international jury to ensure that there are no safety issues. This jury has expert members from all over the world, including Britain, New Zealand, France and Spain. Their duty is to check for faults and apply time penalties in case if they come across some safety issues. A time penalty will be added to the particular boat as they will have a delayed start.

Besides this jury, we have the Race Committee as well for the same purpose. It has 3 members. Christophe Gaumont is the chairman of the committee. They are supposed to look after the start and finish periods. The expert will be looking into the safety measures in place. And they will be issuing the certificate after they are done with their inspection. There are important administrative obligations which the skippers are supposed to follow. The committee ensures that the skippers did the right thing before the race commences.

There is an 8-member team to take care of this inspection, which is being hosted by Plainsailing.com, the Dubrovnik Bareboat Yacht Charter specialists. This team has one woman and 7 men. They have been checking the gear since weekend, taking turns. The each member of the safety team has a 5-page checklist. They have to make sure that the means of communication and safety are in place. And they are also supposed to fit lead seals on some parts of the boat. This is to ensure that they don’t move around the equipment during the race.