With the current Vendee Globe fleet circling the bottom of the planet at record speeds, you will note that there are no Stars & Stripes flying from any of the boats.

Ronnie Simpson--Singlehanded Transpac veteran and Iraq War veteran--hopes to fix that problem in the 2016 Vendee, announcing his plan to make it to the start line and become the youngest American to finish the world's toughest sailboat race. [Regular readers will remember we've dropped in on Ronnie before]

He's got a few mountains to climb (like he has no sponsor and no boat), but he is a  determined and resourceful guy so he might just pull it off. 

Here's what he he's thinking:

That's the distance in nautical miles that Francois Gabart on Macif sailed in 24 hours--solo!--in the Vendee Globe earlier this week. 

It represents an average speed of 21.1 knots, an awesome, incredible, number. Some context. Gabart's 545 is within shouting distance of the outright, fully-crewed, monohull record of 596 miles, set by Ericsson in a VO70 in 2008. And it surpasses Francois Joyon's 2005 242-mile solo multihull record of 2005. At this point in the Vendee, Gabart is averaging 14.9 knots, which is almost 2 knots faster than Michel Desjoyeaux managed when he won the last Vendee. 

Okay, so what does it all mean? Brian Hancock, a Volvo Ocean race veteran (and current SpeedDream-er),

Political junkies may be focused on that other four year thing. But sailing junkies are justifiably focused on the Vendee Globe, which sets off Nov. 10 (four days after that other competition ends).

Why? Well, check out this trailer for a documentary about the 2008 Vendee and you will understand:

You can find out all about the 20 skippers, the boats, and the details of he race on the Vendee Globe site. But

So he of the super-cool Open 60 paint jobs (and multiple Vendee blowups), sailed his Open 60 Hugo Boss from Ambrose Light to the Lizard in just 8 days and 22 hours, breaking Bernard Stamm's 10-year old record by more than a day.

Here's the obligatory quote:

"When I set off I had no idea if I was going to be able to do it. And it has been hard. Lack of sleep, broken instruments on the boat and constant exposure to the elements has really taken it out of me. But it's such a good feeling to have beaten it by such a great margin."

And here's the obligatory video (I guess he was too busy during the crossing to shoot much underway):

Of course, the other ocean race drama you should be watching online (in addition to the Volvo), is the venerable STP. That reality show is about a group of half-sane, sailing-addled, misanthropes who are flogging a very diverse group of sailboats from San Francisco to Hawaii.

Live tracking is here. Updates from the boats are here.

Wishing you were out there, too? Here's a recent update. You have to ask yourself one question: 'Am I tough enough?'