Vendee Globe Preview - Michel Desjoyeaux

The man the pundits reckon they've all got to beat, Ed Gorman reports

If either Mike Golding or Ellen MacArthur are to win the Vendee Globe single-handed round-the world race, they are going to have to beat some excellent sailors in what is indisputably the most competitive edition of this four-yearly classic. Among them are the French stars; Thomas Coville, Bernard Galley, Roland Jourdain and Yves Parlier, and the Swiss skipper Dominique Wavre.

But the one almost all the pundits have picked as clear favourite is the man they call "le professeur" or the teacher. His subject is single-handed racing and Michel Desjoyeaux is regarded as the most complete exponent of this most extreme form of yacht racing. A good judge is the British single-hander Marcus Hutchinson, who has raced with Desjoyeaux in the two-handed Figaro class and knows exactly what he is capable of on the water.

"He's a very, very talented sailor and a perfect single-hander in that he's an all-rounder," says Hutchinson. There's no part he can't do - he makes the best start, he trims brilliantly and he can do the tactics. Some people are born with something and Mich is one of them." That's a pretty awesome assessment, but it only reflects the general view, namely that Desjoyeaux is in a different class.

In a pre-race interview for madforsailing - in the cockpit of his Finot-designed Open 60, PRB - at the crowded race village at Les Sables D'Olonne, the man himself came over as ominously relaxed as Sunday's start draws ever closer. He described the idea of himself as the favourite as 'a joke' but then he added, 'I have often been the favourite or one of the favourites when racing alone - it's not a problem for me. The important thing is just to be ready in your head and with your boat. My only objective is to finish the race and that comes before anything else, including the result.'

Desjoyeaux was circumspect about most aspects of the challenge that lies ahead, including the many predictions that this Vendee is going to start with an incredible dash for the Southern Ocean, on the basis that the one who gets there first will be hard to catch. And he politely dismissed questions about Team Group 4, and his reported comments that he regards Golding as his main rival. 'It's my problem,' he said on the matter of Golding, 'it's not yours. I will not tell you anything about the other boats.'

Then he summed up his state of mind. 'I have known for one-and-a-half years that I would be starting the Vendee Globe on November 5th and everything in my life has been prepared for this. So I am ready to go, I am happy to go and I will see you when I get back which I hope will be as soon as possible.'

So what are Desjoyeaux's chances? His record speaks for itself with two wins in the Figaro and numerous other achievements to his name in single and double-handed racing. As far as tactics and fleet racing goes and his ability to keep going against the odds, there will be few to match him. He also has one of the fastest boats in the fleet, which was launched for the first time only weeks before this year's single-handed trans-Atlantic race. It is thought to be as fast or faster than the best of its rivals off the wind, and quicker than all the other Finots upwind. On that point of sail, it might be outpaced only by MacArthur's Kingfisher.

'He's very prepared - there's no question about that," adds Hutchinson, "you have to remember he's a loner - he's not the kind of guy who's surrounded himself with a big team of gurus and a press team and what have you. He's already started, he's already 1,500 miles down the track. If Mich gets that boat round the course, he'll be a podium finisher - there's no question about that.'

The boat is very advanced and has several unique features, reflecting Desjoyeaux's skill at developing new technical solutions to racing problems (he was a pioneer of the swing keel). It combines a Finot-Conq hull with a Marc Lombard-designed cockpit and coachroof. It has a rotating mast with hinged spreaders, a horseshoe mainsheet traveller, kick-up transom-hung rudders, a single central daggerboard which can be used as a spare rudder, a swing keel and an ingenious 'mobile' or gimbled navigation deck with a tent around it to dull vibration.

But some regard the boat as too complex for its own good and there is no doubt that Desjoyeaux would have preferred to have got it into the water much earlier than May this year. Since then it has not been without its problems. Just two weeks before the start of the single-handed transat, Desjoyeaux took it sailing for the first time and promptly dismasted it. On the transat itself he experienced further problems with the rig and was forced to throttle back to avoid losing the mast again. Having led for the first three days, he eventually finished seventh.

The rig has since been strengthened and Desjoyeaux now believes it is strong and will survive the test ahead - a few days ago he took it out in 58 knots off Les Sables and it was solid. The only other question mark is Desjoyeaux's inexperience of the Vendee. Although he has raced in the Whitbread, he has never gone round-the-world single-handed and that could count against him. But somehow it's hard to see "le professeur" failing to live up to expectations and a podium finish at the very least remains a strong likelihood.