64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes and 49 seconds: these are figures that will go down in the annals of ocean racing. On Tuesday 14 January 2025, skipper Charlie Dalin crossed the finish line of the 2024/2025 Vendée Globe, breaking the world record. An impressive performance hailed by the entire sporting world.
Some first places have a very special meaning. It was to great applause that Charlie Dalin became the Vendée Globe record holder in his tenth edition. It took him less than 65 days to complete this solo round the world yacht race, smashing Armel Le Cléac’h’s previous record. He achieved this feat in 74 days, 3 hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds. It was a crowning achievement for the 40-year-old skipper from Normandy, who has been in love with the waves since his early youth.
Sailing since the age of six
Although his parents were not particularly immersed in the world of the sea, Charlie Dalin’s maternal grandfather, Christian Le Pape, is the former director and co-founder of the Finistère Course au large national training centre, which has trained some great skippers. At the age of six, the young sailor from Le Havre enrolled in L’Optimist, a small single-handed dinghy class, in Crozon.
‘As a native of Le Havre, I’ve always had a fascination for the sea and pebbles. For me, it all started on a family holiday in Crozon. My mother signed me up for Optimist classes so I wouldn’t get bored. That was the start of my passion,’ Charlie Dalin told Actu.fr.
It was at the age of 15 that he actually started racing as part of the French 420 championship. Close to the ocean, the young man studied at the Porte Océane high school, then at the University of Southampton in naval architecture from which he graduated in 2006, aged 22. A year later, with Laurence Château, he won the Transgascogne double-handed race in the Series, then the solo race in 2009.
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Featured photo : © Charlie Dalin
