And so while he might have liked to have been a little closer to the top two non foiling boats his overall result is excellent and adds to the spectacular finish he achieved in 2017 when he was dismasted 700 miles from the finish but completed his race under Jury rig. And for the second time Colman has completed his race using no fossil fuels.
If the tone of a Vendée Globe is decided in the first hour of racing, then Colman got a kind of early hint his race was not going to be easy. A few minutes before the starting gun, on November 10, a piece of rope got stuck in his propeller, preventing him from disembarking his crew. The skipper of MS Amlin had to wait to cross the line, and finally set off.
But unbowed three hours later, while the fleet was largely becalmed, Colman came back strong and even took the lead in the ranking in itself a reward for the hundreds of long hours of work he put into transforming an IMOCA which had something of an unlucky streak to date. As Kito de Pavaant’s Groupe Bel it had retire early before it nearly broke in half forcing Thomas Ruyant to retire into New Zealand in 2016 and in 2020 whilst Max Sorel finished in 10th place he had had to make substantial reinforcing repairs to the deck to finish the race safely. But Colman gave his MS Amlin a new lease of life.
Before Madeira, he tried his luck in the East like Jean Le Cam (Tout Commence en Finistère – Armor-lux). He attacks down the South Atlantic in 32nd position, and celebrates, despite a total blackout on board, his 41st birthday a few days before a big scare at Cape Finisterre, with his large gennaker falling into the water, at night, in 40 knots.
The Indian Ocean is tough and Colman goes South, to shorten the route. He climbs to 27th position, at the same time has to climb the mast repair his lazy bag battered by the southern ocean storms. In the Pacific, Conrad Colman tries again an unusual option, pointing his bow alone towards his native country to avoid the calm zone. Ten days later, there he is face to face with an iceberg, and he even gets out his drone to immortalize this chilling encounter.
At the end of the Pacific, MS Amlin does well after rounding Cape Horn in 22nd position.
"My fourth Cape Horn and certainly my most beautiful passage! It’s magnificent, and it’s proof that even in light winds, dreams come true,” he exclaimed, before weathering a storm in the Falklands that pushes him along the coast of South America.
After an exhausting Doldrums where he cools off with a quick swim to check the condition of his keel, the Kiwi who holds a US passport too, crosses the equator in 22nd position, and is still in the pack at the finish in the Azores High.
Battling with Jean Le Cam in the final days, the sailor snatches 20th place, eight years after his 16th place. Before the start, he said he wanted to “go all out and not give up!” And that is just what he did.
