Vendée Globe: the edition of all speed records

The best for last. Upon arrival next week in Les Sables-d’Olonne, Dalin, Richomme and Simon should smash the Vendée Globe record, helped by exceptional weather and boats that are faster and more versatile than ever.

“Everything is there to beat him and I think he will be”had rightly predicted before departure the record holder Armel Le Cléac’h, who completed his victorious world tour in 2017 in 74 days, 3 hours, 35 minutes and 46 seconds.

According to the latest routings, the two leaders Charlie Dalin (Macif) and Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) could cross the finish line on Tuesday, improving the mark by nine days – unheard of since 2001 -, followed closely by Sébastien Simon ( Dubreuil Group).

“It seems crazy, but there is logic and they could have even been even faster”believes Maxime Sorel, unlucky entry in this 10th Vendée Globe, forced to abandon off the coast of Madeira after an ankle injury.

“In 2016, we were in the first generation of foilers. The 2020 edition highlighted the first sailboats with large foils, but the weather was not good. Here we are on a new generation again more efficient and reliable”he explains.

Proof of this is that of the 25 foiling Imoca (18 meter monohull) entered at the start, only 4 abandoned and the top ten in the ranking continued to improve the maximum distance covered in 24 hours during their crossing.

Heading towards the Cape of Good Hope at the end of November, Sébastien Simon covered 615 miles (1,139 km) in 24 hours, establishing the new standard meter for the Vendée Globe. Before the start, the record was 540 miles, set by Briton Alex Thomson in 2017.

“These boats have incredible potential. We can go fast in lots of different conditions”appreciates Richomme, who regularly exceeded 22 knots in one day (more than 40 km/h on average), in light, medium or heavy weather. “Nine days less is still a sick thing. We could see that it was possible on the theoretical routings, but we needed the weather to be good”details the Var navigator.

Despite the qualities of their boats, however, the skippers took time to catch up with the “Jackal”, after a particularly calm first fifteen days in the descent of the Atlantic.

“To make a record, good weather is the key”explains race meteorologist Christian Dumard to AFP. “But this slow start was a good warm-up, the sailors arrived in the south well-marinated with sailboats in good condition.”

“With a very fast second part of the Atlantic and a lively Indian but favorable to the first three, they caught Armel halfway through the course and then had some good sequences”explains Mr. Dumard.

He too is impressed by the times announced at the finish. “Before, the boats could get stuck in very bad weather. They are able to go quickly now, the skippers and the boats are holding up”says the meteorologist.

As for those concerned, whose bodies are nonetheless increasingly tormented by the violent shocks linked to speed, we remain delighted with the journey, measuring “the unique opportunity” to take a trip around the world aboard an F1 of the seas.

“If I go around the world again, there is a very small percentage chance that I will find such lenient conditions”admits Dalin, whose trail around the world is set to be the new benchmark for the coming years.