The 2016 – 17 race started from Les Sables d'Olonne on 6 November 2016; was the eighth edition of the, with 29 skippers from ten countries.

[3] Of note, the four foiling boats sailed by professional skippers that made it to the finish line took the top places, indicating that such appendages are likely to be adopted by other sailors (see table below).

The winner of this edition was Armel Le Cléac'h, finishing on 19 January 2017 in a record breaking time of 74 days, three hours and 35 minutes.

[4] Other records were set during the course, including the greatest distance covered by a monohull over the course of 24h,[5][6] the fastest southbound crossing of the Equator[7] and Cape of Good Hope[8] by Alex Thomson.

Also, Didac Costa was forced to return to harbour after less than one hour of sailing as a result of water damage to the boat's electric system.