The Vendée Globe has had an unprecedented number of entries this time around – 30 boats will be setting off from Les Sables d’Olonne on Sunday. There’s a fair few ‘rookies’ – for whom this is their first round the world trip. Some have never completed a solo race.

As the pressure mounts with the approaching start, French solo legend Isabelle Autissier had some tips for the Southern Ocean virgins. From a woman who has seen and done it all, they are revealing, moving words.

“To go there alone you have to really love sailing, because it will be hard to keep that love. The weather is bad, the sky is grey. It is cold, the sea is rough and you feel really far from the human race, mentally and physically. To go through that kind of thing, you have to be cool headed, you simply have to be happy to be there. It is not a matter of doing a race and wanting to win, you sometimes have to just find your own personal balance, that is the point.”