Four years after his Vendée Globe victory, fate was less generous for the La Rochelle based skipper, whose boat experienced a series of damage towards the end of the Pacific ocean. Nevertheless, the solo sailor has completed his circumnavigation and will ascend the Les Sables d'Olonne channel for a final time to an enthusiastic public welcome.
He had announced before his departure that this Vendée Globe, his fourth, would be his last. "If I have a 1% chance of winning it again, it's better to try it rather than stay at home, on the sofa, eating chocolates in front of the TV!", he joked before the departure, saying he was "rather relaxed".
Sailing a new boat, launched in 2022, he rounds Cape Finisterre in the top 10, despite encountering gusts of 48 knots. Later, on a wild ride in the South Atlantic, he humorously describes his daily life as being: "like monkeys, always hanging on".
He then passes the Cape of Good Hope in 8th position, just ahead of Paul Meilhat, with whom he will battle the length of the Indian Ocean, also joining Sam Goodchild. Together, they negotiate angry weather in this tricky ocean, including a big depression.
Problems in quick succession
The entrance to the Pacific is just as sporty and in the first low pressure system Yannick notches up 531 miles in 24 hours, climbing back to 7th place. But by the time he’s halfway to Cape Horn, the first problems are starting to emerge: first the breakage of the attachment system for his Code 0, which also damaged a foil. Next his large FR0 headsail explodes in a squall, while he’s also concerned about damage to the outer skin of the structure on the starboard quarter.
A major steering failure a few days later becomes a decisive issue. Maître CoQ V was forced to slow down considerably, with Yannick helplessly watching his comrades escape. The day after his 52nd birthday, he enjoyed another rounding of Cape Horn, happy despite a very handicapped boat. "I feel like I'm driving a car without a steering wheel," he explained, looking very tired. A few hours later, the announcement came: "After assessing the situation and studying the different options with the Maître CoQ sailing team, Yannick decided to stopover in Ushuaïa (Argentina) to repair his boat with his team.”
He could have stopped there, let his team bring the boat back after repairs, but the winner of the 2020 edition of the Vendée Globe was not ready to step away from his adventure. On January 6, after repairs were carried out in record time, Yannick Bestaven set sail again. "I have to and I want to finish," he explained. “There are a lot of people waiting for me at the finish. I know that all the colleagues who were unable to celebrate my arrival four years ago because of COVID are keen to do so this year. I can't wait to set sail again and complete the loop. It really wasn't what I had planned, but hey, we're going to do everything we can to make the end of this round the world trip as beautiful as possible."
