This 2020/2021 Vendée Globe will have surprised us in many ways... Start postponed due to the fog, circumnavigation disrupted by the weather, fleet in contact over a good part of the course, arrivals in a pocket handkerchief... nothing and no-one could have predicted this incredible scenario that this "Everest of the seas", which takes place every 4 years, has in store for us..
Charlie Dalin, first to cross the finish line..
Like the start, it was in complicated weather conditions that Charlie Dalin, skipper of Apivia, crossed the finish line first this Wednesday 27th January 2021 at 20 hours 35 minutes and 47 seconds. With the wind preventing the helicopters from taking off and the 2 m waves preventing the boats from sailing, it was only in the very last few miles that the skipper of Apivia crossed the line after 80 days, 06 hours, 15 minutes and 47 seconds.
"The most important thing is to get back to Les Sables no matter how high the ranking is, it's a victory in itself!" explains Charlie Dalin. Because two skippers could steal the victory from him, Yannick Bestaven and Boris Herrmann benefiting from time bonuses for the rescue of Kevin Escoffier.
With moderate joy, the pledge became the first of the fleet to complete his circumnavigation of the world. The author of a superb race, he quickly took the lead of the fleet, without any weather passage being in his favour... Despite some major technical setbacks, notably the loss of his port foil hold, he managed to manage his race to finish first, notably thanks to a strategic final choice.
Unlike Yannick Bestaven and Thomas Ruyant, he took the option of a southern route, taking advantage of a corridor of wind along the Spanish coast, allowing him to sail on his integral foil. He was followed on this route by Boris Herrmann, but unfortunately this route was not profitable for him... Just a few hours from the finish, the German skipper hit a fishing boat and reached the finish line at reduced speed.
Find Charlie Dalin's first words when he arrived .
Louis Burton is the second to cross the line..
The second to cross the line is Louis Burton (Valley 2 Office) at 00:45 after 82 days, 10 hours, 25 minutes and 12 seconds. The skipper arrived tired, but happy.
Yannick Bestaven winner of the 2020 Vendée Globe
Yannick Bestaven (Master CoQ) completes the podium with an arrival at 04:19 after 80 days 03 hours, 44 minutes and 46 seconds of racing. But thanks to his time bonus of 10h15, it is Yannick Bestaven who wins this 9 e edition of the Vendée Globe, with a lead of 02h, 31 minutes and 01 second over Charlie Dalin. Louis Burton thus takes third place e podium place. Unfortunately, the conditions did not allow the skipper of Maître Coq to see the line crossing..
