• Guirec Soudée should complete its Atlantic rowing crossing on Wednesday or Thursday off Brittany.

  • Known for his adventures with Monique, the navigator has been at sea for 100 days and continues to fight against the currents.

  • Leaving the United States in June, the 29-year-old adventurer had already crossed the Atlantic in the other direction at the start of the year.

He has already traveled 9,500 kilometers using only the strength of his arms. Having left in mid-June from the small town of Cape Cod, in the northeast of the United States, Guirec Soudée is now very close to his native Brittany. After more than 100 days at sea, rowing sometimes for up to eighteen hours a day, the adventurer is very close to completing his crossing of the Atlantic from the north. Deprived of any means of communication for weeks, Guirec Soudée has rediscovered the joy of interacting with sailors thanks to his radio for several weeks. Saturday afternoon, the navigator known for his adventures with his hen Monique had the joy of exchanging about fifteen minutes with the crew of a French Navy plane which flew over his area.

According to the latest estimates, he and his boat called Romane (a tribute to his deceased cousin) should cross the finish line "Wednesday or Thursday" and arrive in Brest on Saturday.

“I have only one hurry, it is to arrive.

There it's good, I can smell Brittany.

Damn, what a pleasure to arrive in Brittany, because I was not sure to arrive there ”, declared Guirec in a recording diffused by the national navy.

"I'll admit that I'm starting to get a bit exhausted and irritated in a lot of places."

Left with a little food, the young man wanted to be reassuring about his reserves which should be sufficient to complete his crossing.

A U-turn in the middle of the Atlantic

Alone in his funny canoe, the 29-year-old adventurer spoke for the first time about the storm that had shaken him at the very beginning of his journey.

A blow of tobacco which had rendered some of its devices unusable, in particular preventing any communication with its team on the ground.

“It was off to a bad start.

I rolled over in a small tropical storm and had a small window open that I couldn't close.

Suddenly, the boat filled with water, I had no more air inside, suddenly I had to get out.

I stayed upside down for hours, trying to straighten my boat, except that I couldn't.

I ended up succeeding but it was hot ”.

Long deprived of communication, the young Breton seemed delighted to be able to converse for a few minutes.

"I am very moved to see you on a plane," he said before waving his Breton flag.

Since his departure in June, the navigator has suffered from numerous headwinds which prevented him from moving forward.

“When I passed freighters and asked them the weather, they kept telling me, it's east wind, east wind.

A while ago I was not very far from Ireland and there I said to myself, I have to make a decision because I was in a current that was really carrying me towards the north-west and towards Iceland.

Suddenly, I decided to turn around and I went to the southwest, opposite Brittany.

It took 25 days to recover my starting GPS point, 25 days to struggle, but I got there ”.

His team is now waiting to see him enter the perilous Ouessant rail, before considering towing to Brest if conditions allow.

Remained on the ground, his hen Monique will not fail to celebrate him.

And she won't be the only one.

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  • Kayak

  • Ocean

  • Navigator

  • Veil

  • Brest

  • Reindeer

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