All the Navigators of the Vendée Globe can be proud of sports and personal achievements. To start, Charlie Dalin not only won the Vendée Globe, but razed and sailed an almost impeccable regatta to destroy the circumnavigation record. To lower it in more than nine days is amazing. Beyond this sports feat, in the tenth edition of the return to the world alone and without scales or external assistance they have highlighted other names for their exciting stories.
Definitely, Violette Dorange shone with its own light. At 23, it is the youngest navigator who has completed the Vendée Globe, and the reception in Les Sables d’Olonne was up to such a deed, acclaimed by thousands of followers who have been lit from their freshness in social networks. He completed the circumnavigation in the twenty -fifth position after 90 days, 22 hours and 37 minutes in the sea aboard a 2007 imoca that already adds six laps to the world, and with which Michel Desjoeaux won the 2008 Vendée Globe.
La Mancha and Gibraltar, in Optimist
The Frenchman reaches Everest of the candle now, but already pointed ways. At 15 he crossed the La Mancha channel aboard his optimist, and a few months later he did the same in the Strait of Gibraltar. Then he went to 420, where he was medalist in Youth World Cups on several occasions, but the ocean candle was his great dream. At 18 he completed the Mini Transat, and also sailed in the Figaro class.
The new star, born in 2001, is eight weeks younger than the previous youngest participant in history, the Swiss Alan Roura, which completed the 2016 sell in 105 days. Dorange’s feat also remembers that of the British navigator Ellen MacArthurwho in 2001, at 24, completed his sell in 94 days and in second position.
The talent and tenacity of this girl did not go unnoticed. The legendary navigator Jean Le Cam (who in this tenth edition ended his sixth sell) took her under her protection in the Imoca class to prepare her for the return to the world. In this, Dorange alternated very competitive phases, in which he battled fiercely before his rivals, with moments of prudence, in which he raised his foot from the accelerator when he felt that he endangered his safety and that of his ship. «It is a difficult decision, but I prefer to keep my ship, not go to destroy everything, because I want to finish this regatta! ”He confessed.
Violette Dorange, who at the end of the regatta talked about trying again in four years, had to face difficult moments in his journey, including a storm with winds of 50 knots of intensity. «I thought the mast was going to leave in two. I was very lucky, ”he said. Another complicated situation was lived to the south of Brazil, when he had to climb to the mast for the second time with 20 knots of wind and waves of two meters. «Honestly, it was a nightmare. I thought I was going to hurt me. I will not do it again in my life in such a situation, because I was too afraid», Admitted the brave young man, who has inspired a new generation of navigators.
Determination and courage
Another exciting story in the tenth Globe is that of Jingkun Xu. It is about First Chinese regatist to complete this extreme challengebut his return to the world will go down in history for his incredible trajectory of determination and courage. He crossed the finish line in Les Sables after 99 days, 20 hours and 6 minutes of lonely navigation around the planet … with a single arm. He lost his left at age 12. He did not stop him or be A mountain boy who went to athletics And I didn’t know much about this sport: he learned to navigate in a cybercafé. From there he began to navigate in Paralympic candle and then became the first sailor with a single arm in Circunnavar the seas of China alone, aboard a 24 -foot ship.
Inspired by Ellen MacArthur, He arrived in France without knowing either French or English and ran the mini transat regatta of 2015. He then sailed around the world in a cruise catamaran with his wife, and after the experience they sold their home in China and moved to France, where they bought an imoca to pursue the dream of the Vendée Globe. Xu prepared it alone, No earth equipment and self -taughtbased on many hours of work, so its greatest achievement was to reach the starting line. Before embarking on the adventure, he said: «I worked 18 years to be here. More than 6,000 days and nights to prepare. Transforming in reality what many believed crazy is an indescribable sensation ».
In the return to the world, he demonstrated an inspiring determination. Asked about his will to directly cross some of the toughest storms, he smiled with humility and confessed: «I just want to take the shortest route to get to the goal as quickly as possibleto see my loved ones as fast as I can.
The Kite of Boissières after losing the mast of his imoca
Arnaud Boissières
Two stories also stand out among those who failed to finish the Vendée. The patron of the Mien Câline, Arnaud Boissières, who had run all editions since 2008, lost the mast to 2,500 nautical miles of the goal, in the latitude of Cabo Verde. The French manufactured an impromptu mast with a stabilizer and set up a kite with a piece of candle to overcome the Atlantic. After two weeks of slow navigation, he managed to arrive safely and except Martinica, among the applause of his family, friends and technical team.
A different victory was also Yannick Bestaven. The winner of the 2020 edition had to retire at the end of the Cape Horn for the accumulation of problems and breakdowns, including an important failure in the address. «I feel as if I was driving a car without a steering wheel»He confessed, and hours later he announced his withdrawal to stop in Ushuaia and repair the ship. After carrying out the pertinent works, the patron of the maître coq V released Amarras and resumed the circumnavigation, already out of regatta. In Les Sables D’Olonne was received with all the honors, as a tribute to his last Vendée after almost 20 years in this world.
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