by Jini Reddy
It’s one thing to spend a few hours at sea, quite another to spend weeks alone offshore, cut off from family and friends.
But that’s what lies ahead for the 20 competitors setting off on November 10, 2012, from Les Sables d’Olonne in France to sail solo, non-stop around the world in the Vendée Globe race, the "Everest" of sailing that takes place every four years.
That’s three months of stress in the form of interrupted sleep, freak storms, technical hitches, fear, loneliness, potentially fatal accidents -- and a bucket for a toilet.
It’s a challenge to make even the most seasoned of yachtspeople blanch.
So why do it?
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