The Vendée Arctique was created in 2020 to replace two races cancelled because of the covid-19 pandemic. Run then by the IMOCA class and Sea to See, the first edition left Les Sables-d'Olonne on 4 July 2020 with twenty entrants and was won by Jérémie Beyou on Charal, ahead of Charlie Dalin (Apivia) and Thomas Ruyant (Linked Out).
The success of this one-off event led to it being made permanent. The second edition, in 2022, was organised by SAEM Vendée, the organiser of the Vendée Globe, and won by Charlie Dalin on Apivia.
The third edition started on 7 June 2026 with nine IMOCAs and no imposed course: skippers had to cross the Arctic Circle at the longitude of their choice and return to Les Sables-d'Olonne. The first qualifier for the 2028 Vendée Globe, it was won on 16 June by Italy's Ambrogio Beccaria on Allagrande Mapei, ahead of Sam Goodchild and Violette Dorange.
