Backstage at the Vendée Globe with Hubert Lemonnier

An inside look at the operations team behind the "Mount Everest of solo sailing" Meet Hubert Lemonnier, the Vendée Globe Race Manager Duty Officer. Hubert's role is very similar to an air traffic controller - except for instead of managing planes in the sky, he and his team manage all of the sailors and boats. If something goes wrong, it's Hubert's job to deploy emergency protocol. There's no denying the Vendée Globe is extreme. It's the only round-the-world sailing race that is solo, non-stop, and without assistance. It leaves Les Sables d'Olonne, France on Sunday, November 8th with up to 35 skippers on the start line all in IMOCA Class boats, many of them foiling. With a large sail area, they are the most powerful monohulls on the planet led by a solo skipper. They can go beyond 30 knots in downwind conditions. The rules of these race animals is defined by the IMOCA class: a standardized keel, a choice between two masts - conventional or wing-mast, and a limited number of appendices and ballasts now imposed for new boats. The rest is up to the architects.