From 16 October to 26 January, to mark the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe, the Musée National de la Marine in Paris-Trocadéro is devoting a major exhibition to the single-handed round-the-world race.
Taking a chronological and scientific approach, visitors will be invited to follow a monohull around the world, following the route of the Vendée Globe.
Thanks to the 270 items on display – personal loans from the skippers, sailing objects, mock-ups, outfits, works of art, books, interactive installations and video testimonials – visitors will be able to discover the major stages of this long journey.
Each geographic stage will be accompanied by a thematic focus presenting one of the many aspects of the race: weather strategy, day on board, sleep and food, misfortunes at sea, health and damage, competition, etc. The exhibition will also look at the challenges of global warming, which sailors are the first to witness. It will also focus on the importance of scientific and technical advances in the quest for performance, with the development of new materials and the introduction of major innovations such as foils. The exhibition will conclude with previously unseen interviews with skippers who have achieved the exploit of completing a single-handed round-the-world race, making history in the process: like the Frenchman Armel Le Cléac’h, who set himself apart in this event with a record time of just 74 days in 2017 (2016-2017 edition).
The exhibition will be accompanied by an audio tour featuring testimonies from some of the leading figures in ocean racing. The visit will be complemented by two books, co-published by the Musée National de la Marine and Silvana Editoriale, edited by Olivier Le Carrer, Didier Ravon and Lénaïg L’Aot-Lombart.
