To date, the Vendée Globe is the greatest sailing race around the world, solo, non-stop, and without assistance. The event followed in the wake of the Golden Globe which had initiated the first circumnavigation of this type via the three capes —Good Hope, Leeuwin, and Horn— in 1968. Only one out of the nine pioneers who had set off in 1968 succeeded in returning to Falmouth, the major port of British Cornwall. On April 6, 1969, after 313 days at sea, British sailor Robin Knox-Johnston finally reached his goal.
Twenty years later, after having won the BOC Challenge twice —solo around the world with stopovers—, navigator Philippe Jeantot introduced the idea of a new race around the world, but this time with no stopovers and fully non-stop, giving birth to The Vendée Globe race. On November 26, 1989, thirteen sailors took the start of the first edition which lasted over three months. Only seven returned to Les Sables d’Olonne.
Since its inception in 1989, the nine editions of what is now called the Everest of the Seas by the public have brought in 200 contenders to take the start of this extraordinary race and only 114 of them managed to cross the finish line. This figure alone shows the extreme difficulty of this global event in which solo racers are confronted with freezing cold, gigantic waves, and heavy skies that sweep the Great South. The ultimate test of human endurance is where racers must overcome extreme weather, freezing temperatures, giant waves, exhaustion, loneliness, damage to their boats, and perhaps also illness and injury if they are to complete the 45,000-kilometer —24,300-mile— course.
For the company, they have only their boats. The rules state these monohulls must measure 18.28 meters —60 feet— in length for a 4.50 meter draught —12 feet. They have huge sails that help them achieve a maximum downwind speed of almost 40 knots, making them the world’s most powerful monohulls led by a solo skipper.
This year marks the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe. A record 40 skippers will start the race, which began yesterday November 10, 2024, in the bay of Les Sables d’Olonne on the Atlantic coast of western France. The course will take them south to South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and past Australia’s Cape Leeuwin and South America’s Cape Horn, before returning them north to the finish line back at Les Sables d’Olonne. The race distance is very theoretical as many sailors will cover more than 50,000 kilometers —31,000 miles— as they zig-zag across the seas in search of the best conditions.
It’s expected that the winner will cross the finish line in January 2025, after at least 70 days without stepping foot on dry land. In 2017, Armel Le Cléac’h won the race in a record of 74 days. Skippers must finish the race within the time achieved by the last competitor to complete the course in the 2020-2021 edition of the race, set at 116 days, 18 hours, 15 minutes, and 46 seconds.
Things to Know About the Watch
As the Official Timekeeper of the Vendée Globe race, Ulysse Nardin is presenting a 300-piece limited edition Diver NET Vendée Globe which is inspired not just by the race and the courageous men and women who compete in it, but also by the company’s vision to produce sustainable watches that highlight the fragility of the world’s oceans and the impact of global warming.
Composed of recycled and upcycled materials, including recycled steel, upcycled carbon fiber, and recycled fishing nets, the movement’s escapement is produced from upcycled silicon. The watch is equipped with a generous 44 mm case in 95 percent recycled steel from production waste in partnership with an Austrian foundry. Equipped with a grey sandblasted dial that is decorated with a red and blue X to echo the official colors of the Vendée Globe, the watch’s screw-down crown sits between two crown protectors that protrude gently from the case to ensure the crown remains undisturbed in the event of impact, without affecting the case’s elegant silhouette.
Subtly placed into the small seconds’ indicator at 6 o’clock with a round aperture, the date disc features a red font over a white background for the 10th date of the month —honoring the 10th edition of this race and its departure on November 10th—, while the rest of the dates are in blue. A convenient power reserve indicator for the movement is located at 12 o’clock.
Additionally, the watch features 300-meter water resistance and a uni-directional rotating bezel for timing dives made from CarbonFoil —an upcycled material made entirely from excess carbon fibers used in the manufacturing of the foils on monohull race boats— with applied red or white SuperLumiNova.
The watch’s case flanks, lugs, and case back are produced in NyloFoil, a hybrid material that combines Nylo recycled fishing nets produced by Ulysse Nardin’s French partner Fil & Fab —60 percent—, and upcycled carbon fibers from CDK Technologies —40 percent.
Turning the watch over reveals a lightly grey-tinted sapphire crystal case back that gives a partial view into the Ulysse Nardin in-house calibre UN-118 with its open-worked automatic winding system and is decorated with a map showing the route of the Vendée Globe and with the words ‘THE ONLY SOLO UNASSISTED NON-STOP SAILING RACE AROUND THE WORLD’. The NyloFoil case back surround also indicates the watch’s 300-meter water resistance and the coordinates of the Ulysse Nardin manufacture in Le Locle.
This 260-part and 50-jewel automatic movement with antimagnetic silicon and DIAMonSIL escapement from an upcycled silicon wafer provides a power reserve of 60 hours when fully wound while beating at a frequency of 28,800 vph.
The Ulysse Nardin NET Vendée Globe is delivered on a red fabric strap made partly from recycled fishing nets. The watch is also available with a grey fabric strap made from 100 percent Nylo recycled fishing nets. Available in a limited edition of 300 pieces.
Sticker Price USD 14,200. More info on Ulysse Nardin here.
