“This is by far the best finish line I’ve ever crossed. Today, I can confidently say I’m the happiest man in the world,” said an exhausted Charlie Dalin shortly after crossing the Vendée Globe finish line this morning.
The 40-year-old skipper had spent 64 days, 19 hours, and 22 minutes at sea, racing solo around the world on his IMOCA 60 MACIF Santé Prévoyance. He is now the fastest solo sailor to circumnavigate the planet, and the winner of the 2024/25 Vendée Globe.
Dalin, who is one of IMOCA 60 fleet’s most formidable talents, was the IMOCA 60 circuit world champion in 2021 and 2022, sailed with the winning 11th Hour Racing Team campaign during The Ocean Race 2023, and scored line honors in the 2020/21 Vendée Globe. Last time around, the second-place finisher Yannick Bestaven (Maître Coq IV) corrected over him to win the event after time was awarded back to Bestaven for his search and rescue efforts following the sinking of Kevin Escoffier’s PRB 4 south of the Cape of Good Hope. Dalin says that being so close last time fueled him to dream of being at the top of the podium this time.
“Winning the Vendée Globe in 2024 has been a dream of mine since the conclusion of the Vendée Globe 2020. We’ve worked tirelessly over the past four years to make this dream a reality. The boat was incredible, and everything we’ve lived and worked for came together in this moment,” he said.
Among much else, that tireless work included the building of a new foiling IMOCA designed by Guillaune Verdier. “While I faced some minor challenges along the way, the boat held up beautifully and that’s thanks to the incredible work of the team. I felt like I had a true gem in my hands throughout the race.”
In a race as long as the Vendée Globe, maintenance is critical, and one of Dalin’s strengths was balancing pushing for speed with not breaking the boat. Commenting on his efforts, The Ocean Race winning navigator Simon Fisher, who helped Dalin prepare for the race, said “it was a combination of good tactics/strategy and good boatspeed, and using those two things when he needed to. You can easily run yourself into a big rut in these races and push too hard, but I think Charlie did a really good job of knowing when to put the hammer down and build a lead, and when to be a little bit more conservative.”
At the time of his arrival, the next closest competitor, Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa), was about 150 miles away from the finish. The two have been close competitors for some weeks, and upon finishing, Dalin celebrated his efforts.
“The battle with Yoann was awesome,” he said. “He sailed an outstanding race, pushing hard in the South and attacking relentlessly. It’s thanks to him that this race was so fast-paced. His constant pressure made every moment of the journey a challenge and this intense rivalry is what allowed us to set these records.”
There is still a great deal of race left on the board for the 33 competitors still on the course, many of them in close contention through the final slog north through the Atlantic. To check in on the tracker, which has been redesigned for this race to have images and updates embedded, click here.
January 2025
