François Gabart: “He’s a great sailor, a great competitor”
“He did something magnificent. I am in tune with his thoughts because he is a naval architect. We have this point of convergence in the technique, in the boats and in the desire to try to imagine boats that go as quickly as possible. He brings a lot of ideas, he brings his very competitive side. I think Charlie is a great sailor, a great competitor. To develop a boat, being obsessed with performance is a quality. He manages to bring this energy into the team to focus on performance. We are here to win races. He dominated the race. He did something extraordinary. It's beautiful. Behind, there are also very good performances whether it be Yoann (Richomme) or Seb (Simon). Since the boat was launched, there has been preparation which has not been easy without being able to compete in the Transat Jacques Vabre. But behind it, it unfolded. To win a Vendée Globe, you need a good sponsor, a good boat, a good team, but you have to be a good sailor and you obviously need luck.”
“It’s a masterpiece, because it’s been prepared, it’s been planned for four years. He has mastered the race for four years. A mastery almost from A to Z and facing an incredible second because we know that to beat Yoann Richomme, who had a good boat. We are not surprised to find them both in front. Charlie still led the race. At one point he was overtaken but he came back and I think this race and this victory is magnificent. She is even more beautiful thanks to Yoann. A Verdier plan is a big win. It was difficult to know what the best compromise would be. You could almost say they are tied. It's not a big deal. But it helped Charlie be a little faster to be a little more versatile. The weather served them well. There wasn't much sea. He thought things through carefully, he built the boat he had imagined to win the Vendée Globe. He wins, there is nothing to say. It's an incredible race and it gives me a greater emotion to watch them leave and return than it does for me when I leave. There’s something going on with this race because of its length.”
Maxime Sorel: “It’s magical what he did”
“It’s truly magical what he did. We had no doubt, we had seen it in pre-season. He did an incredible ride and it didn't last long anyway. Less than 65 days is crazy. But they had prepared it perfectly, he had the experience from four years ago. Hats off to them.”
Jeanne Grégoire: “He didn’t steal it”
“Charlie Dalin who has been training at the Pôle Finistère Course au Large since 2011, who won the Vendée Globe, who crossed the line for the second time in a row first and who had an incredible race. And we’re waiting for Yoann this evening. It's great, it rewards all the collective work that has been carried out for years. It was led by Christian Le Pape before and for us, the whole team with Erwan Tabarly, Yann Eliès, Vincent Riou, the sports medical body, Catherine Hénaff. This is great for Charlie. Victory seems logical, it's a bit strong because it's always a sailing race and the planets have to align. We know very well that there can be lots of hazards but he didn't steal it. Not very surprised but you never know. On this edition which was a regatta, you had to be a Figarist a priori. This is not a race of retirements or breakages. There were few dropouts. This may also be due to the fact that they have sailed a lot before. It appealed to a racing sense in addition to the techno part where you have to know how to make good boats. Eight years ago, they were the first foilers and there, this morning, we saw Charlie tacking while Armel (Le Cléac'h in 2016) upwind was not making any progress. There, it combines technological interest, plus reliability: we end up with real regattas. He has a gap because there is a weather train to take. They have shrunk the planet. Yann Eliès said this morning: he spent the same number of days as us with Orange on the Jules-Verne Trophy in 2002! “.
-Franck Cammas: “He was difficult to beat”
“He has already completed his world tour quickly. He had prepared his case so well that I am happy that it was him who won because it is very well deserved. He's been working for four years with a boat that he designed in detail. We must not forget that he is a naval architect and that he has always done this part very, very well. Afterwards on the water, he was reliable and he went to the right place. There wasn't much to say and he was difficult to beat even if Yoann (Richomme), downwind in the breeze, he sometimes had a little more but overall and in versatility, it was when even Charlie who dominated. Sixty-four days: these remain records even if it is certain that the boats progress from year to year. Four years ago, the foilers were not thought out enough for what was going to happen in the Antarctic with the big seas when the foils, in fact, we cannot use them as strongly or push as strongly on them. But the new boats had taken advantage of this observation. They also had good conditions from New Zealand. It must still be said that they have ten days on half a world tour. If they had the same weather in the first half that Armel (Le Cléac'h) had, I think they could still go down four days. It's still beatable but it's a big jump. Charlie is an incredible person in the way he tries to leave nothing to chance. He puts everything into spreadsheets and checklists. Everything is anticipated and planned. This is how he managed to achieve these results. He pushed this work in detail to the extreme in the preparation. On that point, it’s a reference. It seems like everything is planned. He knew how to repair each time because his boat seems to be 100% capable: bravo to him and bravo to his team because it is never easy to finish 100% with a boat. »
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