Vendée Globe skipper Violette Dorange, 23, is youngest ever to take on ‘Everest of the Seas’

French skipper Violette Dorange will make sailing history on Sunday as she sets off on the Vendée Globe round-the-world race, becoming the youngest ever sailor to take on the epic solo event dubbed the "Everest of the Seas".

At 23 years old, Violette Dorange is set to rewrite nautical record books on Sunday when she becomes the youngest sailor to compete in the Vendée Globe, the gruelling solo round-the-world yacht race.

"This is my first challenge on such a massive scale," she told Reuters. "It’s a journey into the unknown for me – I’ve never experienced the Southern Ocean or the Doldrums. But I’ve often been the youngest in various circuits, and I hope this can inspire others to take on big projects."

Dorange will beat the record set by Swiss Alan Roura in 2016 by a little over a month when she casts off to compete in the 10th edition of the race known as the Everest of the Seas.

The Frenchwoman, who began sailing as a seven-year-old in La Rochelle, was not always passionate about the sport of sailing, however.

"Honestly, I didn’t like it at first," she laughed. "But my older brother and sister were doing it, so I had to join in."

Dorange's love for the sport soon blossomed, however, as she realised it could take her to new places. At 15, she crossed the English Channel in a tiny Optimist dinghy – a child's boat a little over two metres long and just over a metre wide.

She followed that up by crossing the Strait of Gibraltar a year later.

(Reuters)

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