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    • The captain of the Vendée Globe, Violette Dorange, 23, is the youngest to take on the ‘Everest of the Seas’
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    The captain of the Vendée Globe, Violette Dorange, 23, is the youngest to take on the ‘Everest of the Seas’

    Sakege Posted on

    At 23, Violette Dorange will rewrite the sailing record books on Sunday when she becomes the youngest sailor to compete in the competition. Vendée Globethe grueling round-the-world yacht race.

    “This is my first challenge on such a massive scale,” he told Reuters. “For me it’s a journey into the unknown – I’ve never experienced the Southern Ocean or the Doldrums. But I’ve often been the youngest on various circuits and I hope this can inspire others to take on big projects.”

    In just over a month, Dorange will beat the record set by the Swiss Alan Roura in 2016 when he sets sail to compete in the tenth edition of the regatta known as the Everest of the Seas.

    The French, who started navigation However, when he was seven years old in La Rochelle, he was not always passionate about the sport of sailing.

    “Honestly, I didn’t like it at first,” he laughed. “But my older brother and sister were doing it, so I had to join in.”

    FRANCE IN THE FOCUS

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    FRANCE IN THE FOCUS © FRANCE 24

    However, Dorange’s love for the sport soon blossomed as she realized it could take her to new places. At the age of 15 he crossed the English Channel in a tiny Optimist boat, a children’s boat just over two meters long and just over a meter wide.

    He continued crossing the Strait of Gibraltar a year later.

    “That Channel crossing started as a joke with his brother,” recalls his father, Arnaud Dorange. “He said he wanted to do something crazy and that made me laugh.”

    It took the young woman 15 hours to cross the English Channel, but this confirmed her passion for adventures on the high seas.

    “That experience gave me a real taste for the open ocean,” he said. “It was amazing.”

    good memories

    Dorange’s path to the Vendée Globe began in 2016, when he watched the race start and followed the progress of his family friend Jean-Pierre Dick, four-time winner of the Transat Jacques Vabre, a biennial two-handed regatta that continues the historic coffee race. Trade route between France and America.

    While studying at the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA) in Rennes, Dorange met Jean Le Cam, a resident of the Port-la-Forêt marina, in Brittany.

    Le Cam, who will compete in a sixth Vendée Globe this year as the oldest competitor at 65, offered to sell him the boat on which he finished fourth in the 2020-21 regatta.

    “With Jean there was no need for a contract; a handshake was enough,” Dorange’s father said. “Even when funding was tight and other offers came in, he kept his word.”

    In 14th place in the 2024 IMOCA championship, an elite offshore racing series featuring state-of-the-art 60-foot yachts, Dorange remains focused on her goal.

    “I want to finish this adventure,” he said. “That’s all that matters.”

    The youngest sailor in the fleet meticulously fills out her observation notebooks to make sure no detail is overlooked.

    “It helps me clear my mind,” he said. “I’m creative, I write a lot. I think they will bring back good memories when I read them later.”

    (Reuters)

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