Every Saturday during the Vendée Globe, Charlie Dalin keeps a logbook for Europe 1. On his Apivia monohull, the 36-year-old skipper talks about his impressions, his strategy and the future events that await him in this legendary unmanned race and non-stop.

In this seventh week of the Vendée Globe, Charlie Dalin has returned to the lead of the race.

But for the 36-year-old skipper, who is taking part in his first edition on his Apivia monohull, the past few days have been an opportunity for him to have a new experience: spending Christmas at sea. The navigator confides in his weekly logbook on Europe 1, recorded Friday.

"I was happy to mark the occasion"

"This is the first time in my life that I spend Christmas at sea. It was special because there is not all the atmosphere of this holiday, with the decorations, the preparation for New Years Eve. But there It changes absolutely nothing in my daily life, it's just a date. There are no visual markers, no markers that tell me it's Christmas. I was still happy to mark the occasion, even if yesterday

[Thursday, note] it

was a pretty complicated day for me, because of the weather conditions.

Photo credit: Charlie Dalin

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A cassoulet and a slice of foie gras

I still ended up eating my Christmas meal: a cassoulet and a small toast of foie gras.

But hey, foie gras at 6 degrees Celsius is less tasty.

The foie gras just out of the fridge is not so good, but I don't have much choice.

I've been living in a fridge for a few weeks now. 

It's true that before the race, I was a little reluctant to bring things that I thought were superfluous, but I don't regret at all having taken my gifts with me.

It was really a nice moment to unpack them, to see the little touches of each other. 

Photo credit: Charlie Dalin

Especially since yesterday was a bit pivotal, since I was in tain trying to extricate myself from a high pressure area.

Suddenly, I was a little head to my race.

But I managed to find a time when the wind was a little more stable.

There was even a ray of sunshine when I opened my presents.

I am happy to have taken this little break on this rather crucial day for the rest of the race. "