Celebrating the Vendee Globe finishers, SailGP, RORC Transatlantic Race

Celebrating the Vendee Globe finishers, SailGP, RORC Transatlantic Race

by David Schmidt 21 Jan 08:00 PST
January 21, 2025

It is one factor to win a sailboat race—it is a totally different factor to completely shatter the prevailing course report. Charlie Dalin, skipper of the IMOCA 60 Macif Sante Prevoyance, completed the latter within the 2024/2025 Vendée Globe race, which he gained final week when he crossed the ending line of this solo, nonstop around-the-world race after 64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes, and 49 seconds.

For comparability, the earlier course report for the Vendée Globe race, which was set in 2017 by Armel Le Cleach (FRA), was 74 days, three hours, and 36 minutes.

Dalin’s proud efforts symbolize a acquire of greater than 9 days on a course that wends previous the world’s three nice capes and provides all skippers lengthy weeks (or, in some circumstances, entre months) to steep within the Southern Ocean’s chilly, windswept waters.

Much more spectacular was the truth that Dalin was additionally the primary skipper to cross the ending line of the 2020/2021 Vendée Globe, however the win was awarded to skipper Yannick Bestaven, who obtained a time credit score for serving to to rescue a fellow competitor.

So, it is honest to say that Dalin was deeply invested in successful this extremely prestigious race.

“I am completely happy to have gained this Vendée Globe, this veritable monument of ocean racing, and to affix this very unique membership of winners,” Dalin stated in an official Vendée Globe report quickly after cinching his win. “I’m the happiest man on the earth right this moment, that is for positive. These are loopy feelings, I’ve by no means felt like this earlier than. Crossing the road with the daybreak gentle shining on completely easy water, the boat gliding alongside… It’s, by far, essentially the most lovely end of my total profession!”

Whereas Dalin’s efficiency was nothing in need of sensible, it is necessary to notice that skippers Yoann Richomme, who raced aboard Paprec Arkea and completed in second place, and Sebastian Simon, who raced Groupe Dubreuil to a third-place end, additionally obliterated Le Cleach’s 2017 report. Their ending instances had been 65 days, 18 hours, 10 minutes, and two seconds, and 67 days, 12 hours, 25 minutes, and 37 seconds, respectively.

To assist set these achievements within the right gentle, Richomme completed simply 22 hours, 47 minutes, and 13 seconds astern of Dalin after racing across the total globe.

Much more spectacular is the truth that skipper Jeremie Beyou, racing aboard Charal, is presently sitting in fourth place and (as of this writing, Monday morning, U.S. West Coast time) nonetheless has over 1,100 nautical miles left to sail, although nearly every week has elapsed since Dalin’s gorgeous win.

Sail-World extends an enormous congratulations to Dalin for a gob-smacking win, and we elevate a glass to Richomme and Simon for his or her downright spectacular work on this grueling race.

In the meantime, in Auckland, New Zealand, the crusing world received handled to the second occasion of SailGP’s fifth season, which unfurled this previous weekend in entrance of packed crowds.

All groups had been utilizing SailGP’s new titanium T-Foils, which permit the fleet of equivalent F50 catamarans to attain even sooner speeds than the league’s older L-shaped foils.

After seven fleet races and the occasion remaining, skipper Tom Slingsby and his Australia SailGP Staff emerged because the occasion winners, adopted by Diego Botin and his Spain SailGP Staff, and Dylan Fletcher and his Emirates Nice Britain workforce.

“We sailed our greatest this weekend and our greatest is nice sufficient to beat anybody – I am glad we received to showcase that,” stated Slingsby in a SailGP communication.

The subsequent SailGP occasion is about to happen in Sydney, Australia, from February 8-9, 2025.

Lastly, in totally crewed offshore racing information, Bryon Ehrhart’s Fortunate (née Rambler 88) earned line honors and set a brand new course report within the RORC’s Transatlantic Race.

The race, which started on January 12 off of Marina Lanzarote, within the Canary Islands, completed off of Camper & Nicholsons Port Louis Marina in Grenada. Fortunate beat the earlier report, set by Comanche in 2022, by over an hour.

“The breeze picked up for the final third [of the course], however actually, six hours from the end we didn’t suppose we might make the report,” stated Ehrhart in an official RORC report, noting that he and the Fortunate crew, which incorporates America’s Cup winner Brad Butterworth and The Ocean Race winner Charlie Enright, have nice respect for Comanche.

“That is the longest race that we now have finished, and it’s a lovely racecourse,” continued Ehrhart. “Now we have a really skilled and senior management group making the boat go quick on a regular basis, so the boat does what it is imagined to do always. We have had tight spots on this race, particularly a lightweight patch of wind within the second third, however we fought by means of.”

Might the 4 winds blow you safely house.

David Schmidt

Sail-World.com North American Editor