Eight years later, his record fell. A good player, the skipper of Banque Populaire Armel Le Cleac’h praised the performance of Charlie Dalin, winner Tuesday morning of the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe in almost ten days less than his own in 2016, until then the fastest the story.
Charlie Dalin has just stolen your Vendée Globe record, what do you think?
ARMEL LE CLEAC’H. I had known for a while that my record was going to be beaten, since almost halfway through the race when Charlie (Dalin), Yoann (Richomme) and Sébastien (Simon) had gotten ahead of my reference time. These boats that they master today have nothing to do with the performance of those of 8 years ago. There is almost 15% more potential. The weather also favored the leading trio. Charlie and Yoann notably went very quickly on sections where, with Alex Thomson, we had lost a little time, notably in the climb up the Atlantic.
All this combined gives a broken record of almost 10 days, it’s a big step forward. Even if each time they were improved, the records fell by several days. 2020 had been a more complicated edition, with Covid which had made preparation difficult, and unfavorable weather.
Did you follow his trail in relation to yours?
Yes, on the map, you could see where I was in relation to the race times. Until Good Hope, we were in the same timing, then they escaped. If we compare with 8 years ago, I was almost (Editor’s note: at the time of Charlie Dalin’s arrival) at the level where Jérémie Beyou is at the moment, that is to say at the exit of the pot au black. There were still a few days at sea left!
15% more potential, what does that mean? Larger foils, therefore faster boats that can play with weather systems?
It is indeed a virtuous circle. Today, foils are a bit like the turbo modes of these boats. In 2016, we were the first to put on foils, we were in a discovery phase, we were clearing things. Some people thought we were crazy, it seemed almost insane to go around the world in a monohull with foils. In 8 years, this technology has evolved enormously, the boats go much faster. Particularly upwind and crosswind. This is where the boats gained performance.
We saw it in the 24-hour record which was broken several times during the descent of the South Atlantic. They spent days traveling 500 or 600 miles. 600 miles was impossible with our boats 8 years ago. This allows those who go quickly to stay ahead of the phenomena, to be able to avoid disturbed wind zones, or even cross seas, particularly in the South. The rich get richer. We saw it in the Pacific, when the split with the other favorites took place. There was a break between the first 3 and the pursuers. They will arrive in 10 days, within the time of my previous record.
Are you already nostalgic for this record?
8 years isn’t bad. And I’m glad it’s Charlie. He’s someone I know well, who I saw arrive on the Imoca circuit. He had just graduated from architecture school, he was looking for work in this type of project, we hired him with my former team, Brit Air. He also came to sail on the Ultim Banque Populaire. Our backgrounds are a bit similar. He too had a troubled history with the Vendée Globe. 4 years ago, he experienced a difficult arrival. Me in 2012, I arrived only 3 hours after François Gabart, it’s something that nourishes. For all these reasons, it is good that he is the one to take control of the record.
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