Charlie Dalin: On the cusp of victory

Published on January 13th, 2025

(January 13, 2025; Day 65) – Charlie Dalin, who has led the Vendée Globe since December 30, is on the cusp of victory, counting down the final miles to the Les Sables d’Olonne finish line which he is forecast to cross tomorrow between 0430hrs and 0830hrs UTC.

For Dalin it will be a long awaited, very hard earned victory, coming almost four years after he crossed the finish line of the 2020-21 race first, but finished second to Yannick Bestaven who had a time award to compensate for time lost helping in the search for Kevin Escoffier.

Along with his nearest rival Yoann Richomme (PAPREC-ARKÉA), who is 180 miles behind, Dalin’s final miles take him down the Brittany coast, through what are very much home waters for both.

He will sail through the area where he trained in the Figaro class some ten years ago, where he cut his teeth on his own first IMOCA sails in 2019, where his boats have been built, and indeed less than 50 miles offshore of his family home in Concarneau.

“There will be some upwind to finish in some very cold temperatures, maybe the coldest night of the entire race, and it is going to be a flat sea,” noted Dalin. “So that is my final picture, the boat skimming nicely upwind, sometimes foiling, close to the coast, that is how I picture it.

“Last time I arrived in Les Sables d’Olonne, my last full night at sea was off Cape Finisterre and it was pretty hectic, pretty intense, making seven gybes in succession and that was my 80th night and day of racing,” recalled Dalin.

“So this time my last full night is more straightforward, reaching. So no maneuvering, just straight line a bit of trimming, so much easier to deal with.

“Also, now because we are close (to Europe) there are many more GRIB files to follow, there are five or six of them and so each takes time to study and find the best route. Even though I am really close to the finish, I feel like I am spending more time on the routings.”

And so his final miles see Dalin in a state of high alert but doing all he can to enjoy his last hours sailing down through familiar waters.

“When you are close to the finish time passes so much more slowly,” commented Dalin, encapsulating the strange paradox of the final hours of such a major ordeal. Having battled storms, endured tough, primitive living conditions and constant stress, the last final ordeal is feeling the miles, the hours, the minutes click down towards destiny.

“But really life goes on the same, do the job, stay focused, rest, eat well and trim the boat well. I’m still in my race, completely,” added Dalin who grew up in Le Havre. “It’s always the last miles that feel the longest.”

But soon enough, the familiar, iconic silhouette of Les Sables d’Olonne and its lights will loom on his horizon, the first RIBs will arrive to accompany him, and he will pick up the flash of the legendary Nouch Sud mark.

Barring disaster, his finish time will shatter the elapsed time race record – 74 days 03 hours 35 minutes 46 seconds – set during the 2016-17 race.

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Attrition:
Nov. 15: Maxime Sorel (FRA), V and B – Monbana – Mayenne, ankle injury, mast damage
Dec. 4: Louis Burton (FRA), Bureau Vallée, rigging failure
Dec. 15: Pip Hare (GBR), Medallia, dismasted
Dec. 16: Szabolcs Weöres (HUN), New Europe, broken D2 shroud
Dec. 30: Yannick Bestaven (FRA), Maître CoQ V, steerage damage
Jan. 12: Éric Bellion (FRA), STAND AS ONE – Altavia, broken J2 forestay pin

The Vendée Globe, raced in the 60-foot IMOCA, is the elite race round the world, solo, non-stop, and without assistance. On November 10, 40 skippers started the 2024-25 edition which begins and ends in Les Sables d’Olonne, France.

Armel Le Cléac’h, winning in 2017, holds the record for the 24,300 nm course of 74 days 03 hours 35 minutes 46 seconds. Only one sailor has won it twice: Michel Desjoyeaux in 2001 and 2009. This is tenth running of the race.

Source: VG2024, SSN

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