Sébastien Simon won third place in the Vendée Globe on Friday January 17, in his town of Sables-d’Olonne (Vendée), at the helm of his Imoca. Dubreuil Group. He is the first Sablais in history to finish on the podium in the solo, non-stop and unassisted round-the-world race. The Vendée Globe was won on Tuesday by Charlie Dalin from Normandy.
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The 34-year-old skipper crossed the finish line at 1:27 a.m., after 67 days, twelve hours and twenty-five minutes of racing, approximately three days after Charlie Dalin (Macif), and two days after Varois Yoann Richomme (Paprec-Arkea), thus completing the podium. Orphaned from his starboard foil from the Indian Ocean, the Vendéen courageously hung on to the leading duo until Point Nemo, before falling behind a little before Cape Horn.
Sébastien Simon will have to wait on his sailboat to go up the channel, scheduled for 8 a.m. on Friday, due to the tide. Despite everything, he was able to be joined after crossing the line by his technical team and his companion, before greeting the procession of boats that came to welcome him in the bay by raising their arms.
The greatest distance traveled on an Imoca in 24 hours
Its sponsor announced on Wednesday that it wanted to continue with the sailor until the next Vendée Globe to try to win, either by launching the construction of a new boat or by purchasing another sailboat.
Sébastien Simon becomes the third sailor to complete a round-the-world trip in less than 70 days on the Vendée Globe, after Richomme and Dalin. The latter had pulverized the previous reference time for the event (Le Cléac’h, 74 days, 2016/2017 edition), arriving Tuesday in 64 days.
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During the race, Sébastien Simon established the longest distance ever covered in 24 hours aboard an Imoca: 615 nautical miles, or 1,139.6 km. Among the 31 sailors still to cross the finish line, the trio Jérémie Beyou (Charal)/Sam Goodchild (Vulnerable)/Paul Meilhat (Biotherm), in the fight for the 4e5e et 6e places and which is held in a few hours, is expected at the end of next week.
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