After 65 days at sea, it was not just a simple finish line that awaited him, but the culmination of an extraordinary adventure. In front of Les Sables d’Olonne, Yoann Richomme, based like Charlie Dalin in Brittany, slowed down, taking the time to let the emotion build and prepare his entry into the legendary channel.
65 days and 18 hours at sea
His boat, Paprec Arkéa, was moving calmly. On board, the Varois refined every detail, not out of necessity but out of this sense of a job well done which marked his entire race and led him to this remarkable second place. At 7:12 a.m., he crossed the line after 65 days 18 hours and 10 minutes at sea (22 hours and 47 minutes after Charlie Dalin), adding a new page to the history of this legendary race.
Yoann Richomme will go up the channel in the morning to be applauded by a large audience. His arrival not only marks the end of a race, but also the entry of a new hero into the legend of the oceans.
“There is the incredible emotion of having completed a world tour. I dreamed of it, and I did it! I feel like I only left two days ago. We set an incredible pace, I found someone stronger than me: Charlie (Dalin) was just unbeatable… JHe feels great pride in having led a team that started from scratch, three years ago, to a second place in the Vendée Globe, after seriously teasing the first. We are close to the record, and it is a real success. It makes me proud to bring this boat back in great condition to 2nd place in the Vendée Globe.”
Antoine Mermod is the boss of the IMOCA Class, the association which brings together all the skippers who compete in the Vendée Globe. He salutes the performance of Yoann Richomme.
For there to be a good winner, there must be a good fight.
“For there to be a great winner, there has to be a great fight. There was Yohann Richomme, but he was always very close to Charlie Dalin. It’s certain that Yohann had an exceptional race ! It was his first Vendée Globe, it was also his first experiences in the South Seas, which are quite special places to sail. The conditions are very windy, the sea is very rough and the systems are quite violent when you go there for the first time. Of course you have to feel at ease, and where he was very, very strong was in the Indian Ocean where he managed to find the resources to go look for Charlie and return to the front. . He was surely Charlie’s toughest opponent!”
For now, Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) from Vendée is expected on Friday (January 17 between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m.).
Jérémie Beyou and Sam Goodchild will follow on January 24 and the next day, Paul Meilhat; Nicolas Lunven; Thomas Ruyant; Boris Herrmann and Justine Mettraux.
Between January 25 and 27, we are expecting Clarisse Crémer; Benjamin Dutreux and Samantha Davies, then from January 31 Romain Attanasio, Jean Le Cam, Damien Seguin and Alan Roura.
The other skippers will arrive in February, or even in March for Fabrice Amedeo; Manuel Cousin and Denis Van Weynbergh. These ETAs are established by the race management and are updated daily.
