In a short week, Charlie Dalin and Yoann Richomme will arrive in Les Sables-d’Olonne to complete a record Vendée Globe. They could even leave for a second world tour afterwards, which they would perhaps end up joining Denis Van Weynbergh. The Belgian, last in this tenth edition of the race alone and without assistance, arrived in the Pacific a few days ago and is now closer to the finish than the start.
More than 8,000 nautical miles from the leaders (14,000 km), the skipper of D’Ieteren Group races at his own pace, avoiding major depressions, with one goal: to become the first Belgian to finish the Vendée Globe, even if it is light years from the other participants. But the former boss of SME recognizes it, he does not have the impression of being the “same sailor” as the others.
Do you still care about the rankings?
At the start, I looked at the rankings a lot and little by little, at the start of the Indian Ocean, seeing that I had problems, that I tinkered quite a bit, I let go of the rankings. The last place, you have to have one, you have to assume it. It’s never easy, nor fun. It’s a shame to be so far away. But in a Vendée Globe, we know that we can be last, but not lose. This is really an important concept. Afterwards, I was always at the bottom of the rankings, I suspected that I was not going to make a top 10, even if I would like to be closer to certain boats, to be more surrounded.
I’m doing my Vendée Globe on my own terms, and that’s what counts. I don’t have the skills, nor the desire to go into very strong gusts of wind. If there is a way to avoid them, I do it. Maybe sometimes I sail too cautiously, but it’s the way I like to sail and it puts me in a certain comfort zone. Anyway, my goal is to finish the Vendée Globe, the ranking is not what matters to me.
Do you feel like you’re in the same race as everyone else?
No way. I feel like I’m in a football stadium, being a spectator and watching the match. Or like when Makelele, at Real Madrid, said he passed the ball to Zidane and watched what happened afterwards. That’s a bit like it. Afterwards, I’m really focused on myself, even if I watch what’s happening on the networks. I don’t even have the impression of being the same sailor as the others, at least the first ones. It’s another world.
It became more of an adventure than a race…
The Vendée Globe was initially a race for me, but given the context and circumstances, it became a personal, initiatory and philosophical adventure. I have to learn patience and, at 57, it’s difficult. It’s just as enriching.
Do we doubt more when we are last in the race?
Every day we go through moments of doubt, inevitably. Every day is mentally tough, we go through ups and downs, emotional ups and downs, joys and sadness. There is no middle ground. Me, I try to channel that and see the positive even when there is a moment when I doubt or a moment when I wonder what I’m doing here. But in the end, it’s incredible, I’m doing the Vendée Globe, it’s a unique opportunity, I fought for six years to be there, you can’t give up. I didn’t think about giving up, I worked too much, gave too much of myself for that. But we just want to be at the finish already. We envy the first because in eight to ten days, they will be at the restaurant, they will take a shower and they will sleep in a real bed. That’s what’s hard to deal with, the lack of these little comforts.
What was your most complicated day to manage?
When I lost the masthead weather vane and had to climb the mast within 24 hours. It’s quite scary to go up there in the Indian, because you get tossed around like a puppet. It’s great when you’re on top, but getting up is a real hassle. I made three attempts and the last one lasted three hours. I was exhausted. And when you’re at the top, you have to go back down, and that’s not nothing, it’s as dangerous as going up. You go down in steps of fifty centimeters and suddenly you are three meters because the rope is slipping. It was quite impressive and very complicated.
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Even if you are last, can you have fun?
All days are beautiful on the Vendée Globe. We have little pleasures when there is a ray of sunshine, a little light, when it’s a little warmer and we can go outside to have coffee. It’s moments like this that make the days beautiful and we try to multiply these little moments to make the days pleasant in conditions that are sometimes really hostile.
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You are near Point Nemo (the point in the ocean farthest from any land surface), with no boats that can come to your aid in case of trouble. Does this worry you?
It doesn’t worry me too much. Either way, we’re isolated, and I had the feeling of being more isolated in the middle of the Indian Ocean than here. It’s true that we are far from any inhabited land, but we will very quickly be near Chile, it will go quite quickly. I deal with it and don’t really think about it.
