Paris (AFP)

"Hot shower", "dry bed" but no "Vendée Blues", Charlie Dalin told Friday the "simple pleasures" of his return to land after 80 days of Vendée Globe at sea, during a visit to the premises of AFP.

"The simple pleasure of the shower, I appreciated. And also to sleep in a bed which does not move and which is dry, it was pleasant", describes the Norman skipper of Apivia, first to cross the line on Wednesday. he arrived but ranked second behind the winner Yannick Bestaven because of the compensations he received after being diverted to try to save Kevin Escoffier.

"We forget that running hot water is a luxury and that not everyone has access to it on land", recalls the sailor born in Le Havre, whose drawn features light up when he describes the experience of his first shower in almost three months.

"(Just) get in the shower and do a quarter turn on a faucet and there is water falling like magic and another button to set the temperature," Dalin marvels again.

The sailor does not fear, with the rediscovery of comfort, the "famous Vendée Blues", the decompression which can accompany the return to the mainland.

"It's been months and months that I have only thought of that, he admits. The race is now over but I am thinking of the new projects that will arrive: the Transat Jacques-Vabre at the end of the year, the Route du Rum next year. "

Less than 48 hours after having set foot on the ground, Charlie Dalin slept only nine hours, even "got up twice last night asking (s) e where" he was but he is already looking ahead. now that he has "finished the thing that (he) has been thinking about for several years night and day".

"I want to debrief with the team as long as everything is fresh in my head, says the sailor. I noted a whole bunch of remarks, ideas to further improve Apivia."

Those details that count when the victory in the race around the world was only decided two and a half hours for him.

"The last afternoon, I looked at the positions of the boats a bit and I thought that was going to do it, that I was going to win because they were far enough from the line," recalls the skipper.

"Shortly after, Yannick Bestaven entered the more frequent position updating area and I realized that he was going to be able to go in a straight line until the finish and therefore that it was going to be complicated. stopped looking, "he says.

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