The Vendee Globe has to be one of the toughest, gruelling races of stamina, courage, resourcefulness and passion I can imagine.

The rules: One yacht; one crewmember; no stopping; no outside help.

So, what does this mean?

Well, it means a lot of things.

You have to pack enough gear, food, water, coffee, chocolate, sails, life-saving equipment, rope, alternators, drills, nuts, bolts, ramrods, epoxy, tape, hydraulic fluid, navigation equipment, gps, vhf radio and myriad marine electronics to last you till the end of the race.

It means you have to circumnavigate the globe--a 24,000 mile endeavour.

It means if its blowing hurricanes out there...you're out there too.

It means you have to pass north of 8 defined 'gates' to avoid impact with drifting ice and stay within reasonable safe distance for rescue reconnaissance aircraft.

It means staying up to do what you have to do, and sleeping when you can so you stay up more to do what you have to do.

It means trusting your equipment.

It means you can hit things out there floating in the middle of the ocean which will rip your rudder off or tear a hole in your vessel leaving you in a whole heap of trouble in the middle of the night, in the middle of a storm, in the middle of nowhere.

It means trusting that your 60 foot long, 17 1/2 foot wide carbon composite monohull with sliding keel, dual rudders, twin side fins, rotating mast and up to 380 square metres of sail (270 sq m upwind) will get you safely through the most weathered part of the globe, intact.

It means trusting yourself to do the right thing when you most need to.

It means serious sleep deprivation.

It means making life-saving decisions when you're sleep deprived.

It means reefing your mainsail (if you have one left) in 45 knot winds with gusts to 65 knots in seas much bigger than a 4 story shopping mall....alone. At night. Without a lot of sleep.

It means your diet is critical to your safety and success.

It means grinding on the winch with the boat heeled over 35 degrees, in the cold, with 6 degree sea-water drenching your cockpit, whipping through the 6 degree air, in 45 knot winds (windchill factoring well below freezing)

It means averaging 18 knots some days for 24 hours per day---432 nautical miles per day under sail, alone, without assistance.

It means you could get dismasted, hit Unidentified (and unseen) Floating Objects, have your mainsail laminates delaminate, have a rudder torn off, have your hydraulics fail, have a rogue wave cause you to broach, or a wild gust tip the top of your mast in the drink beside you.

It means you generate commraderie with your race mates that bonds them for life.

And it means one winner.

My sense is though--anyone who competes in this race is a great sailor capable of great feats. I'd be happy to have any one of them onboard my vessel when something bad happens. I have all the respect for these people and thier achievements...even if they didn't win the race.

Good luck and safe journey!