France’s Charlie Dalin completed the Vendee Globe around-the-world sailing race in record time on Tuesday when he crossed the finish line at Les Sables-d’Olonne in under 65 days.
It marks the second time Dalin has crossed the finish line first but he was denied a victory in the 2020-21 edition after losing out to Yannick Bestaven, who had received a time compensation for diverting to assist another competitor.
This time, however, Dalin was in a league of his own after the Macif Sante Prevoyance skippered by the Frenchman took the lead on Dec. 30 as they navigated their way north in the Atlantic Ocean.
As the sun rose on the horizon, Dalin crossed the line with his arms raised with a time of 64 days, 19 hours and 22 minutes to smash the course record of 74 days, three hours and 35 minutes set by Armel Le Cleac’h in the 2016-17 edition.
On the home stretch, the 40-year-old Dalin even sailed a few miles offshore of his home town of Concarneau in waters he was well familiar with having trained there for years.
His nearest competitor is fellow Frenchman Yoann Richomme, who had initially broken the 24-hour record in November when he sailed more than 550 nautical miles in a single day – a record since broken by Sebastien Simon (615.33 nautical miles).
Richomme is set to finish second and had just reached the French coast when Dalin crossed the line, more than 120 nautical miles behind.
