As with many first-time competitors, he faced a long, hard battle simply to get to the start line. The tears he shed a few minutes after the start are therefore a measure of the relief felt by the skipper having successfully the first stage of his campaign and finally lining up against his 39 competitors.
The second battle was played out on the water, where this experienced sailor is far more at home. He had already rounded Cape Horn three times in The Ocean Race, winning the 2012 edition on Groupama 4, and in the Jules Verne Trophy aboard the giant Ultime trimaran Spindrift.
In the early stages of his debut solo circumnavigation Sébastien made a remarkable start, then entered the doldrums in 19th place. However, he fell back to 28th by the time he reached the south-easterly trade winds. He then picked up one place before reaching the Cape of Good Hope in 27th place, despite breaking a hydraulic ram for the canting keel mechanism.
The Indian Ocean served up a series of intense low pressure systems as well as failure of his heating in cold southern seas. On December 16 he also celebrated his 40th birthday deep in the Roaring Forties.
The skipper, who finished the 2022 Route du Rhum as the first daggerboard boat and 11th overall, continued to push as hard as possible throughout his Vendée Globe. By the entrance to the Pacific ocean, when boats ahead were slowed by light airs, he regained 21st place and the lead of his small group.
"Look at how beautiful it is!”
Sébastien began the New Year with a fright no Vendée Globe skipper ever wants to encounter. He was heading straight for an iceberg and was alerted to it only by the radar alarm!
On rounding Cape Horn in 27th place in a tight battle with Louis Duc, Sébastien remarked on the beauty of the surrounding land mass and ocean: “Look at how beautiful it is, the Andes mountain range, the southern tip of the American continent, behind the Patagonian channels... Wow, it's magnificent!”
However, the climb back up the Atlantic proved an ordeal with multiple set backs. Stuck in an area of calms, Sébastien saw his competitors a little further north escape into stronger winds. He also encountered multiple system failures on his tired boat: steering, gennaker, mainsail batten boxes, autopilot and finally the engine.
Nevertheless, after crossing the equator in 26th position, Sébastien continued to savour his experience at sea, saying: "we have to make the most of the remaining time.”
By reaching the finish line in Les Sables d'Olonne, he has achieved the feat of completing a non-stop solo circumnavigation, and of showing that the dream can always be accessible, even without the resources of a big team.
