After one long, cold final night fighting through light winds off the Brittany coast, Charlie Dalin, the French skipper of MACIF Santé Prévoyance crossed the Vendée Globe finish line this Tuesday morning at 07:24 UTC to take victory. Dalin has been the most regular and consistent leader of the solo non stop race around the world, heading the fleet for a total of 42 days, including an unbroken run since 30 December, takes victory in the most prestigious solo sailing race in the world.
By winning in an incredible time of 64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes and 49 seconds*, Dalin has smashed the previous record set in 2016 by Armel Le Cléac’h (74 days and 3 hours) by an incredible 9 days, 8 hours, 12 minutes and 57 seconds! The 40-year-old skipper, who grew up in Le Havre in the north of France, has achieved the pinnacle result of his career after finishing a close second in 2020-2021. He will now be able to relax and fully enjoy his victory day. Dalin will have to wait for the tide to rise early this afternoon before ascending the legendary Les Sables d’Olonne channel, to step on to land for the first time since leaving Les Sables d’Olonne on start day, Sunday 10th November, and to now fully savour his incredible victory.
MACIF Santé Prévoyance skipper Charlie Dalin (FRA) is photographed after winning the Vendee Globe 2024, on January 14, 2025 in Les Sables d'Olonne, France Photo: Olivier Blanchet/Alea
Knowing well that any kind of mishap or accident could still happen, it still took Charlie Dalin some considerable composure to live through the final nervous hours of his race while making a long descent from the Point of Brittany to Les Sables d’Olonne in light airs. Even if the final miles of his course allowed him to sail through his home waters, off Concarneau and the Glenans islands, enjoying a fly by from France’s Marine Nationale, seeing coaches from his race training group, with so much at stake Dalin had to remain cool and focused until his finish gun sounded this morning off Les Sables d’Olonne’s famous Nouch Sud finish line.
The first boats set out to meet the winner at 0500UTC, with the live broadcast starting two hours later, showing Charlie well wrapped up against the cold and MACIF Santé Prévoyance sailing closehauled in light airs on gentle sea in the soft hues of the early morning twilight. Then the camera pans out to breathtaking footage of the giant fleet of brightly lit support boats escorting Charlie on the final few miles of an incredible voyage.
After a couple of final short tacks into the finish, the suspense ends and he crosses the line at 07:24 UTC, taking an emphatic victory in the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe. This was also the instant he could finally release his sheets, welcome his loved ones on board and, above all, finally let the emotions take over. Now he has time for a joyful wait and reunion before going back up the channel, which will take place as the tide rises early in the afternoon. A long day of celebration is in store for the man who is now the fastest sailor ever in the history of the Vendée Globe.
Race in figures
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Finish time: 07:24:49 UTC
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Race time: 64d 19h 22min 49s
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Record broken by : 09d 08h 12min 57s
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Distance actually covered: 27 667.91 nautical miles
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Actual average speed: 17.79 knots
