“We’re going to break our teeth over it”, will Charlie Dalin’s record be broken in four years?

64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes and 52 seconds, this is the new reference time for the Vendée Globe. Last Tuesday, Charlie Dalin (Macif) shattered the old reference time established by Armel Le Cléach in 2017 by 9 days and 8 hours, by bombing at a staggering speed of 17.79 knots over 51,240 km. An exceptional performance when we know, for example, that Titouan Lamazou, in 1989 during the first Vendée Globe, sailed at an average of 9.7 knots, almost half as fast (in 109 days, 8 hours, 47 minutes and 55 seconds). ). Another era. The winner of the tenth edition established four new intermediate records during his circumnavigation: equator – Bonne-Espérance (7 days and 18 hours), Bonne Espérance – Leeuwin (9 days 22 hours), equator – Sables d’Olonne (8 days 16 hours) and finally Sables d’Olonne – Sables d’Olonne.

«There was still a good chance that the record would be broken. This is the logic of things with the improvement in performance…