You can be a proud Captain Hook, an athlete with a Paralympic medal, and yet still be shaken by the emotion surrounding the descent of the Sables d'Olonne channel at the start of the Vendee Globe. Four years after an edition without an audience in which he finished in 7th place, Damien had a hard time "getting back into his race" after the enormous wave of support offered by the Vendéen public.
Already a little behind the head of the fleet at the start of his race, the skipper fell into calm winds off the Canaries, and routed to the east when all the big names in the IMOCA class went towards the west. This created a gap early in the race that he could never close.
The setbacks piled up in a complex passage through the doldrums and Damien crossed the equator in 17th place. In the South Atlantic, he battled with Pip Hare, Romain Attanasio and Louis Burton, before heading further north in the Indian Ocean to preserve his IMOCA, the former Maître CoQ IV, winner of the 2020 edition, brought up to date with large foils during a major refit.
December 13 was a day to forget when a chainplate was torn off in a storm, creating a leak on board. While trying to make a repair Damien injured his neck and knee, and was forced to regularly wear a neck brace throughout the remainder of his race.
The rubber band snaps
The Pacific was no easier for Groupe APICIL, even if he managed to make up more than 500 miles on Romain Attanasio. But unfavourable weather systems followed one after the other and, just behind, Jean Le Cam, who had been able to sail a far more direct route, caught up with him.
Damien rounded Cape Horn after 54 days at sea, three fewer than in his 2020 Vendée Globe, but his troubles were not over. The ascent of the Atlantic was also an ordeal, as he was the first to be stopped by a high pressure system creating a barrier and twice saw the group behind catch up, some of them gaining 2,000 miles. The rubber band had snapped, and the pain was intense!
Damien was forced to dig deep to continue fighting, particularly in an exceptionally difficult passage of the doldrums. The ultimate reward for this round the world race, however, is this victory in the final battle, in a sprint from the north of the Azores in a regrouping of the fleet.
Launching his foiling boat at full speed, the Groupe APICIL skipper takes the lead over his seven nearest competitors, and manages to lengthen his stride to cross the finish line first. It’s a long way from the results he scored on The Transat CIC (8th) or on Retour à La Base (5th) but with the satisfaction of having nevertheless played with the cards he was dealt. Before the start, he explained: "you really have to understand that the Vendée Globe is a race apart, and where absolutely anything can happen."
