Soudée’s previous exploits made him a household name in France, sailing round the world solo over a five year period accompanied only by Monique, a chicken from the Canary Islands. Along the way he was trapped in Arctic ice for 130 days on his 9,5m sloop Yvinec – which is named after the Breton island where he grew up, and at 26 he became the youngest skipper to navigate solo the Northwest Passage between the Pacific and the Atlantic. Guirec and Monique sailed more than 45,0000 miles together, passing Cape Horn, returning home via the Caribbean.
For all of his 70,000 sea miles, including rowing solo both ways across the Atlantic. Soudée had never been on an IMOCA before he started on his four year challenge to take on the Vendée Globe. He took it all step by step, finding a sponsor (Freelance.com), a boat (Benjamin Dutreux's Farr design recruited a team with friends who supported him and benefited from the advice of Sébastien Audigane, Roland Jourdain and Corentin Douguet.
From the start of his IMOCA racing career Soudée quickly demonstrated his potential taking 6th place in the Vendée Arctique - Les Sables d’Olonne in 2022 despite tough conditions towards the end of the race, a solid performance for only his second IMOCA solo race.
His fast track learning curve complemented his appetite to learn and his innate drive and determination. But during this race Soudée has had his fair share of technical problems: spinnaker problems, torn J2 and gennaker, "lazy jacks" issues, broken halyards. And so beyond the challenges of sailing fast and competitively he has to be deal with the technical issues. He climbs the mast, repairs in his cockpit and even dived into the icy waters of the South Atlantic after Cape Horn to recover a sail which had snagged his appendages.
But beyond everything Guirec deals successfully with some horrific weather like in the Indian Ocean where he has to face gusts exceeding 70 knots. He was able to hold on in difficult times and held out to the finish line, and so finally realising his goal and experiencing the unique joy of becoming a Vendée Globe finisher.
