LES SABLES D'OLONNE, Nov 7 — For Open 60 class boats, the non-stop race began in sunny clear conditions with the boats making good speed from the start.
The race is dominated by French entrants with just nine from other countries.
Prominent is Vincent Riou of France aboard PRB. Riou is the only previous winner in the race, having won the 2004-2005 edition.
Also in the race are Armel Le Cleac'h of France, second in the 2012-13 Vendee Globe, Alex Thomson of Great Britain, third in the previous edition, and Jean-Pierre Dick and Jean Le Cam of France, fourth and fifth in the last race respectively.
Alan Roura of Switzerland, Didac Costa of Spain, Conrad Colman of New Zealand and USA, Enda O'Coineen of Ireland, Kijiro Shiraishi of Japan, Nandor Fa of Hungary, Pieter Heerema of Netherlands and Rich Wilson of USA are the other non-French entrants.
Organisers' tracking information after the first three hours of the race put Sebastien Josse of France aboard Edmond De Rothschild fractionally ahead of Jean-Pierre Dick and Vincent Riou.
Later Didac Costa was the first to run into problems, the Spaniard having to turn back to Les Sables d'Olonne with electrical damage after a water leak.
The route of the fleet is to leave Les Sables d'Olonne and head south, moving down the eastern coast of South America until nearing the Southern Ocean.
Boats then skirt the edges of the Southern Ocean, passing South Africa's Cape of Good Hope to port and continuing to the east, passing Australia and New Zealand to port before reaching South America's Cape Horn.
They then pass the Horn and then head north again along the east coast of South America before the return to Les Sables d'Olonne.
The 29 competitors are not allowed to stop or take on supplies throughout the event which is reckoned at 24,450 nautical miles in length.
The Vendee Globe is held every four years, with the 2012-2013 edition being won in 78 days and two hours by Francois Gabart of France in a record time. — Reuters
