Charlie Dalin, the reasons for domination in the 2024-2025 Vendée Globe

Charlie Dalin is not only a good sailor, but also an excellent sailor. He is above all a meticulous sportsman, “almost obsessed with the search for performance”, according to those around him. A graduate of the Southampton School of Architects, Le Havre has never missed the stages: dinghy, Mini 650, Figaro then Imoca.

Always with results in mind. “I worked, all this didn’t happen in one day,” says the man who has always placed the cursor in the right place in this Vendée Globe. Not too high and certainly not too low. “Charlie always took initiatives, without looking at what others were doing: he was the boss,” analyzes Desjoyeaux. “Charlie has passion, experience, things to prove: he is not far from the top of his art,” adds Jean-Luc Nélias, his team manager.

“More than 10 years ago, he was already focused on performance, on the poles of the boat. He is square, rigorous, focused on performing to death,” analyzes Gildas Morvan who took him on board in 2012 in the Transat Ag2r which ended with a victory.

Apart from Cape Horn, which eluded him for 9’30”, Dalin crossed the two other major capes in the lead. He has not left the top 3 since crossing the equator on the way out. Better still, he was put in the lead more than 250 times, compared to 76 for Richomme. That’s 50 of the 65 days as leader. This is called a Masterclass. A perfect copy. Dalin was simply unbeatable this year.

• 2 A mind made of hardened steel

  The man is not the type to have yoyo morale, Charlie Dalin is a tough guy. At sea, in particular, where he lets nothing of his emotions show. Richomme admits to a “loss of good, a drop in morale” upon returning to the South Atlantic, Dalin tirelessly responds that “everything is going well on board Macif”.

  Stay the course in all circumstances, show no weakness. No flaws. Not the type to spread himself on social networks, to make tons of it in the media, he prefers to devote his time and energy to moving his boat forward.

  The rest… If he doesn’t appear to some as the most fun sailor on earth (don’t count on him to dance on the tables and put on a show on the microphone at the finish), the 2nd in the 2020 Vendée Globe -2021 is a calm, composed man. Well behaved. Discreet too. Who was not featured in the media in 2023 when he was deprived of the Transat Jacques Vabre for medical reasons. He simply withdrew, waited for the green light from the doctors, to come back even stronger. As evidenced by his victory in the Transat New York – Vendée last June. And this success in the Vendée Globe. Strong, very strong.

• 3 A strong team, ways to work well

  The Macif team is made up of eight full-time people, plus the skipper. They all work at MerConcept, François Gabart’s offshore racing team, based in Concarneau. Former offshore racer, long-time teammate of Thomas Coville at Sodebo, Quimperois Jean-Luc Nélias is the team manager of Charlie Dalin’s team, the “mister plus”. He was able to bring his experience, his seriousness and his rigor within a team where, from morning to evening, things are going well on the various projects, from the Ultime SVR Lazartigue, to the Ocean Fifty of the women’s crew up to ‘at the Imoca Macif.

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  When you have François Gabart, winner of the Vendée Globe, available every day, it helps you progress. Committed to sailing since 2015, the insurance company financed the new Imoca Macif (8 million euros) and allocates an annual operating budget of 1.8 million euros. Enough to do things well.

  

• 4 Verdier, the good plan

  Four years ago, Charlie Dalin had already placed his trust in Morbihan architect Guillaume Verdier, winner in 2024 of the America’s Cup with the New Zealanders and the Arkéa Ultim Challenge Brest with Charles Caudrelier’s Gitana 17 , for his first Imoca Apivia. “We used Apivia to make the new Macif: we imagined it to win not the championship but the Vendée Globe,” says Nélias.

  The weaknesses of the first have been erased, the second boat has been boosted in several areas. The new foiler, built at the CDK Technologies shipyard, with project management from MerConcept, was only launched in June 2024.

  

  But very quickly, we saw that the machine was going fast and well, that it was not the fastest at certain speeds but that it had no holes in the racket. “A versatile boat that manages to catch the wind first in the transition phases: this allows you to create significant gaps,” explains Armel Le Cléac’h, seduced by the machine.

“Charlie is a naval architect, so he has enormous insight, he understands things quickly, knows how to make a boat move faster,” adds Nélias. He quickly found the controls of this boat. » Since 2018 and his debut in Imoca, whether aboard Apivia or Macif, Charlie Dalin has been on the podium each time, except for a 4th place in the Transat CIC 2024. No other skipper has done better .