The cameraderie of the sailors
It is not so much a specific moment as a feeling, which many of you have retained from this tenth edition. That of attending, amused, the birth or confirmation of beautiful complicities. In this compact fleet, it is not only the competition that has marked their relationship, far from it, but also a sincere mutual admiration and a lot of comradeship, like Benjamin Ferré (Monnoyeur – Duo For a Job, 16th) and Tanguy Le Turquais (Lazare, 17th).
Maurice de Coulon, 80, wanted to emphasize this in a message left on our website. "This Vendée Globe will remain in my memory particularly for the spirit that reigned among and between all the skippers, being a community despite the sporting competition. In these times of war and political irrationality, I have found myself thinking that all the heads of government in the world should be condemned to do a Vendée Globe. I'm sure they'd come back pacifist and hug each other on the pontoon in Les Sables d'Olonne and decide to make peace in the world! It's a lifelong learning experience that every skipper does. I would even say that following their adventures is almost also a life apprenticeship! It was exciting, warm, contagious with emotions and empathy. Thank you, and see you in 4 years,"
The "savagery" of the Deep South
These immense waves, like walls of water captured by a camera shaking from the cockpit, these gusts that whip the equipment, or these icebergs filmed for the first time since 2008. Images as sublime as they are frightening to capture the essence of these "wild" lands, which so few people will ever have the chance to discover. Here, more than anywhere else, we don't cheat.
This is what Josiane Ferry, this "grandmother passionate about the Vendée Globe", who came from Nice to Les Sables d'Olonne with her daughter to discover the boats on the pontoon, will remember. "Thanks to the skippers, we are at the heart of this race and we feel like we are living it with them. Some of their videos impressed me, like the one of Guirec Soudée in the Indian in the middle of a storm and these waves so high. I have great admiration for all of them," writes our reader, recalling the courage of those who brave the worst, with a special mention for the "Mc Gyver of the Great South", Antoine Cornic (Human Immobilier, 28th) and Guirec Soudée (Freelance.com, 23rd), forced to take shelter under the island of Saint-Paul and in the Kerguelen Islands. "We are already in short supply!!!! And we are sure to come back in four years."
The winningest dawn of Charlie Dalin
How can we not remember this moment, inevitably? This masterful sunrise, of breathtaking color in the heart of the Atlantic winter. "As if the weather itself had understood that it was necessary to take a break, and welcome this great champion with dignity," writes Antoine Bapt, 34, who lives in Paris. Four years ago, this sports enthusiast had already followed the Vendée Globe and "even though I had really appreciated Yannick Bestaven's personality and I found his compensation perfectly justified to win the 2020 Vendée Globe, I was still not so secretly hoping that Charlie Dalin would be able to take his revenge. And he did it with so much panache that I will always remember that finish, and his emotion when he was finally able to release the immense pressure on his shoulders. Thrills, and magic!"
A podium being fought over
It is often said that to make a good winner, you need a good runner-up. In the case of this tenth edition of the Vendée Globe, we would even be tempted to add: and a fine third. The fighting spirit of Yoann Richomme (PAPREC ARKÉA, 2nd) and Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil, 3rd) has not escaped you, and many of you have singled out their two finishes among the highlights of this non-stop, unassisted round the world race.
“First of all, there's the joy of Yoann, who almost acts clever by saying that it seemed short to him, and then there's the madness in Les Sables d'Olonne for the skipper from the Vendée who completes the podium despite missing a foil, it was completely crazy, even if early in the morning. Special mention for the guys in swimsuits in the middle of January when everything was frozen! Zoé, 24, a student in Paris, laughs.
The Last Storm
If these three arrivals were made in rather idyllic conditions, afterwards, it was a different story. A time trial against the storms that gave rise to eventful hand-to-hand combat until the last miles of the race, and that many of you remember in the future.
"It felt like a final boss standing in front of them," writes Sean David, who writes to us from London. And we were all gritting our teeth to see if it would work for them. I was frankly scared for Justine Mettraux (Teamwork – Team Snef, 8th) and Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE, 9th) with their mainsails completely torn. And then, when we thought we had seen the worst, there is Benjamin Dutreux (Guyot Environnement, 10th) and Clarisse Crémer (L'Occitane en Provence, 11th) forced to take refuge in La Rochelle, and Boris Herrmann (Malizia – Seaexplorer, 12th) and Samantha Davies (Initiatives-Cœur, 13th) who face the worst in the last few days... If it had been a film, it would have seemed that the screenwriter was exaggerating a little to try so hard! »
The oldest and youngest
Of course, we said that all the sailors in this Vendée Globe were mentioned by our readers in their favourite moments. But we have to admit that some names come up more than others! If Romain Attanasio (Fortinet – Best Western, 14th), thanks in particular to his karaoke that has gone down in posterity, almost stole the show, it was still difficult this year to overshadow the two darlings of the public.
The first, eternal, is of course Jean Le Cam (Tout Commence en Finistère – Armor-lux, 20th) whose "clac-clac-clack" obviously still pleases you just as much, especially when they are done at the top of the mast when you have forgotten something at the bottom. And the second was of course the young Violette Dorange (Devenir, 25th), who literally made you capsize. "Violette is a bit like the person we want to be, or that we all have a little bit in ourselves. The one who moves, the one who relishes, the one who fights," writes Violaine Dard, 27, who lives in Marseille. Since I discovered her in the Vendée Globe, I often think of her voice when she said she was so scared when she climbed the mast, and it gives me courage when I feel like I'm lacking it."
"Violette has already fascinated me before the start, for her courage and simplicity, for her kindness and generosity," writes Pascale Morel, a reader from Switzerland, in unison, who sums up our feelings perfectly in the rest of her message. "I followed all the skippers as far as possible. The first because they were the first; Justine because she is a woman and a Swiss like me; Tanguy and Pépin because they were so nice and they made me laugh a lot; King John because he is my age; Eric and Arnaud who made me cry during their struggles; the other Swiss out of patriotism; Romain because he sings out of tune very well; Guirec because I've been following him on Instagram for years... In fact, I could name all the participants! I forget Samantha and Isabelle and the others... The very fact that I refer to the skippers by their first names shows that I feel like I'm part of the family. A huge thank you for these moments full of emotion, admiration and for your work. Thank you also for giving us the opportunity to thank you, I was wondering how I was going to be able to do it!"
