WEEK 12:
There are 22 skippers still competing on the Vendée Globe and eight of them are tightly packed in a group which is due to finish early next week. Deliverance should finally come for Boris Herrmann (Malizia Seaexplorer) and Sam Davies (Initiatives Coeur) tonight and early tomorrow when they cross the finish line in strong winds and big seas to take 12th and 13th places respectively.
WEEK 11:
In the space of 48 hours, no fewer than six skippers crossed the Vendée Globe finish line in Les Sables-d’Olonne. Jérémie Beyou (Charal), Paul Meilhat (Biotherm), Nicolas Lunven (Holcim-PRB), Thomas Ruyant (VULNERABLE), Justine Mettraux (TeamWork – Team SNEF) and Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE) followed one another, illustrating the intensity of the race right down to the final miles.
The World Sailing Show kicks off 2025 with the story of the 10th edition of the Vendee Globe round-the-world race, the best of the action from the World Match Racing Tour final in China and the racing highlights from the Musto Skiff World Championship in Sydney Harbour. We also report from the Rolex Sydney to Hobart off-shore race and the GKA Freestyle Kite World Tour finale in Qatar.
SÉBASTIEN SIMON, 3RD IN THE 2024 VENDÉE GLOBE
French skipper Sébastien Simon crossed the Vendée Globe finish line in third place at 00h27 (UTC) on Friday January 17, after 67 days, 12 hours and 25 minutes of racing, finishing 2 days and 17 hours behind the overall winner. It’s the first time a sailor from Les Sables d’Olonne, where the legendary solo round the world race starts and finishes has finished on the podium. The Groupe Dubreuil skipper’s race was marked by multiple challenges which contrasted sharply with moments of great success.
YOANN RICHOMME
PAPREC ARKÉA
Arrival on 01/15/2025
Finish time: 06:12:02 UTC
Race time: 65d 18h 10min 02s
Gap to first: 22h 47min 13s
Distance actually covered: 28 326.09 nautical miles
Actual average speed: 17.95 knots
CHARLIE DALIN: “TODAY I AM THE HAPPIEST MAN IN THE WORLD.”
Winner of the tenth edition of the Vendée Globe, Charlie Dalin has entered race legend. After 64 days at an electric pace the 40 year old Frenchman has his name on the trophy.
CHARLIE DALIN IS KNOCKING ON THE DOOR OF A FAMOUS VENDÉE GLOBE VICTORY
Charlie Dalin, who has led the Vendée Globe since December 30th is on the cusp of victory, counting down the final 150 miles to the Les Sables d’Olonne finish line which he is forecast to cross between 0430hrs and 0830hrs UTC Tuesday morning 14th of Jan.
WEEK 9:
Of the 40 skippers who started the Vendée Globe exactly nine weeks ago today in Les Sables d’Olonne, there are thirty-four still racing. endée Globe leader Charlie Dalin(MACIF Santé Prévoyance) is well into the final 24 hours of his Vendée Globe, knowing now that the victory he so narrowly missed four years ago will be his early tomorrow, Tuesday morning if everything goes to plan. At 0600hrs UTC this morning his lead over perennial rival Yoann Richomme (PAPREC ARKÉA) is some 190 miles with just over 200 miles to sail. He will very soon pass the moment when he is closer to the finish than Richomme is to him. Dalin is still headed north of the ideal layline into Les Sables d’Olonne and the zone of lighter winds close to the French coast still lies in wait.
DAY 60, ARE WE STILL HAVING FUN? As the top skippers are racing for the finish line early next week …
WEEK 7: DAMAGE FOR VENDÉE GLOBE WINNER YANNICK BESTAVEN MARS A DAY OF CAPE HORN CELEBRATIONS. They might have been upwards of 60 miles off the actual lighthouse, but for the skipper who passed Cape Horn today the moment of release is the same nonetheless. The realisation that the Pacific is done, the Southern Oceans are safely completed, might only be fleeting but it is a key moment