Latest news with #Dorange
The Guardian
16-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
France hails a young heroine: Violette, conqueror of the waves
When she set sail around the world from the west coast of France three months ago, Violette Dorange was barely known outside her sport. By the time she returned last week, she was a household name in her country. At 23, Dorange has become the youngest solo sailor to complete the around-the-world race, having spent 90 days, 22 hours and 37 minutes at sea. Her diminutive figure came waving and smiling into the Atlantic port of Les Sables d'Olonne last Sunday, met by thousands of fans, fireworks and hundreds of journalists broadcasting live from speedboats. Coming 25th out of 40 in the Vendée Globe race, Dorange had no idea they were waiting, she told the Observer in her first international interview. 'I didn't expect so many people! I had to do a manoeuvre just before the finish line. I knew all the boats around me were watching. I had to be really focused!' Dorange has been holed up in an Airbnb in central Paris all week, giving interviews and unable to sleep because of the adrenaline. When we met, there she sat cross-legged on an armchair, speaking in a high-pitched tone, surrounded by Krispy Kreme doughnut boxes and bananas. 'All this buzz is crazy,' she said, with her trademark lightbulb grin. Before the race, Dorange, who began sailing at the age of seven, had broken a string of records for being the youngest to achieve various sailing feats – at 15 she crossed the Channel in an Optimist dinghy – and had 10,000 Instagram followers. Cut off from civilisation, apart from a minimum of internet data for calls and messages, Dorange sent videos of solo life at sea to a team who posted them on social media. As the weeks – and icebergs, polar storms, rainbows and albatrosses – went by, she amassed more than a million followers on social media. Children in classrooms across France followed her progress. Viewers saw her highs, such as when she gazed out from 90ft up at the top of her mast as she re-attached a sail that had fallen into the water north of the Falkland Islands. 'The sea is magnificent,' she said in an Instagram post. 'It's both frightening and beautiful. But I'm going to go back down soon.' But they also glimpsed her lows, such as two days later during a sleepless night of violent weather off Brazil when the lashing of her mainsail gave way and crashed into the sea. Climbing her mast for only the second time while sailing solo, but now in 25mph winds and 6ft swells, it took her the whole day to fix. This time there was no video from the top. 'I will never do that again in my life,' she said in a post afterwards, her voice shaking. 'I was so scared.' Through it all, she appeared to keep an extraordinary upbeat calm. Dorange is being hailed as an icon of gen Z, and there are hopes she will inspire young people to reduce scrolling on their phones and head out into the world. Paris Match used its magazine front cover to anoint her 'the new heroine of the French'. One prominent broadcaster called her 'the winner of our hearts', while another told her 'all our children know you'. Dorange sailed under the colours of a youth charity, Apprentis d'Auteuil, for which she has volunteered since 2020. 'I hope to make young people want to go on an adventure,' she said. 'And to challenge themselves to be close to nature.' Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion The paradox of sharing her adventures on social media is not lost on her. Her attitude is similar to that of Inès Benazzouz, 23, a French YouTuber known as Inoxtag, who released a two-hour self-made documentary last year about his scaling of Everest. Dubbed into English and Spanish, the film, Kaizen, has been viewed 41 million times. 'We're all annoyed at being addicted [to social media],' Dorange said. 'For three months, I was disconnected. It was a joy. I know it's very hard on land … You have to use social media. But you have to protect yourself.' Trying to explain her popularity, she said she had been making YouTube videos for years. 'I know how to talk to social media,' she said. 'I know how to talk to my community. But nowadays, I don't hide much. Sometimes I say the same things to my sister in a voice note afterwards.' At one point, Dorange was closer to the astronauts in the International Space Station than any human on land. 'I was saying, this is crazy. I'm south of India. I'm south of Japan. I was looking at the map all the time,' she said. She saw 'a lot of plastic' in the South Atlantic, and sargassum, a damaging brown algae that has proliferated in recent years. She discovered how vast Latin America and Africa truly are. After her motor broke, Dorange had only solar panels and propellers in the sea to charge her batteries. 'It worked really well. Maybe in the next Vendée Globe [in 2028], only renewable energies will be allowed,' she said. At the finish, Dorange said she had 15 days of food left. Sleeping in stints of between 20 minutes and an-hour-and-a-half, she had crayons and a notebook to entertain herself – one video showed her rocking around while trying to write – and a mascot in the form of the pig from Moana, the Disney film about a Polynesian teenage girl who sets off across the Pacific on a wooden boat with only a pig for company. 'Now I know what it is to spend three months alone,' Dorange concluded. 'I know what it is to cross the ocean . . . I have seen places.'
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
France's Violette Dorange, the youngest Vendee Globe finisher, is a social media sailing sensation
LES-SABLES-D'OLONNE, France (AP) — Anyone watching the celebrations at the end of Violette Dorange's solo circumnavigation would have thought she won the Vendee Globe. Tens of thousands of enthusiastic fans turned out at Les Sables d'Olonne on Sunday to welcome Dorange, who at 23 years old became the youngest ever finisher of the round-the-world non-stop race. Dorange was 90 days at sea, almost one month longer than French compatriot Charlie Dalin, who set a new race record in less than 65 days. But the celebrations that greeted Dorange's arrival at the French port on the Atlantic coast were so massive that there was no doubt about the popularity the young sailor has achieved during her odyssey. 'I am still in shock, stunned by the size of the crowd when I arrived,' she said. Dorange's 25th-place finish earned her the front page of French sports daily L'Equipe, with the headline 'Violette Dorange, The People's Choice Award.' Dorange, who previously sailed across the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar in an Optimist dinghy, aged 15, became a social media sensation during her latest perilous journey. According to Vendee Globe organizers, she had 50,000 followers on Instagram before the race. By Sunday that number had increased more than tenfold. She also has legions of fans on TikTok and Facebook, which is unusual in the world of sailing. Dorange documented her journey with short videos that were handled by her communication team on shore. She competed in the Vendee Globe after buying Jean Le Cam's boat, now called DeVenir. 'For three months, I was in my own bubble, without access to social media,' Dorange said. 'I became aware of the enthusiasm thanks to the messages from my family and my team. It was incredible. I did not expect so much support.' The Vendee Globe takes sailors around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope, Australia's Cape Leeuwin and South America's Cape Horn, over some 24,000 nautical miles (about 44,500 kilometers). Dorange, who honed her skills in the Figaro class, said she will take time to rest and promised to return to the race with loftier ambitions. 'The adventure side is ticked off, but the top performance is still to be achieved,' she said. "There is still a lot of work to do but it's exciting. A new adventure begins, and I trust in the future.' ___ AP sailing: The Associated Press
Associated Press
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
France's Violette Dorange, the youngest Vendee Globe finisher, is a social media sailing sensation
LES-SABLE-D'OLONNE, France (AP) — Anyone watching the celebrations at the end of Violette Dorange's solo circumnavigation would have thought she won the Vendee Globe. Tens of thousands of enthusiastic fans turned out at Les Sables d'Olonne on Sunday to welcome Dorange, who at 23 years old became the youngest ever finisher of the round-the-world non-stop race. Dorange crossed the finish line after 90 days at sea, almost one month after fellow Frenchman Charlie Dalin, who set a new race record in less than 65 days. But the celebrations that greeted Dorange's arrival at the port on the Atlantic coast of western France were so massive that there was no doubt about the popularity the young sailor has achieved during her odyssey. 'I am still in shock, stunned by the size of the crowd when I arrived,' she said. Dorange's 25th place finish earned her the front page of French sports daily L'Equipe, with the headline: 'Violette Dorange, The People's Choice Award.' Dorange became a social media sensation during her perilous journey. According to race organizers, she had 50,000 followers on Instagram before the start of the race. By Sunday that number had increased more than tenfold. She also has legions of fans on Tiktok and Facebook, which is unusual in the world of sailing. Dorange documented her journey with short videos that were handled by her communication team on shore. She competed in the Vendee Globe after buying Jean Le Cam's boat, now called DeVenir. 'For three months, I was in my own bubble, without access to social media,' said Dorange, who previously sailed across both the English Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar in an Optimist dinghy, aged 15. 'I became aware of the enthusiasm thanks to the messages from my family and my team. It was incredible. I did not expect so much support.' The Vendee Globe takes sailors around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin in western Australia and South America's Cape Horn, over some 24,000 nautical miles (about 44,500 kilometers). Dorange, who honed her skills in the Figaro class. said she will now take time to rest and promised to return to the race with loftier ambitions. 'The adventure side is ticked off, but the top performance is still to be achieved,' she said. 'There is still a lot of work to do. But it's exciting: a new adventure begins, and I trust in the future.'
Reuters
09-02-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Dorange becomes youngest sailor to complete Vendee Globe at 23
Feb 9 (Reuters) - At 23-years-old, Violette Dorange became the youngest sailor to finish the Vendee Globe after completing the gruelling solo round-the-world yacht race on Sunday. Dorange completed the race in 25th place after 90 days, 22 hours and 37 minutes at sea and overcame the record set in 2016 by the previous youngest-ever finisher Alan Roura, who had completed the 2016-17 race after 105 days. "Her accomplishment comes some 24 years after the second place of the legendary British sailor Ellen MacArthur, then aged 24, who completed her race in 94 days, four hours and 25 minutes," the Vendee Globe said in a statement. The Frenchwoman was ranked 14th in the 2024 IMOCA championship, a series of elite offshore races featuring cutting-edge 60-foot yachts.
