The skipper of Apivia is the first to have reached Les Sables-d'Olonne on Wednesday evening after 80 days of a thrilling round-the-world trip.
During these two and a half months at sea, the skipper of Apivia shared his impressions of the race at Europe 1 every week, between hope, frustration and relief.
Selected pieces from a true epic.
At the start, he was only one of the 33 participants in the Vendée Globe, the solo round-the-world sailing tour, without stopovers and without assistance, and not really the one we expected first at the entrance to the port of Sables d'Olonne, this Wednesday.
But in two and a half months, Charlie Dalin has managed to make a name for himself in the sailing world, occupying the lead for many weeks on his boat Apivia.
An ascent recounted in detail at Europe 1, every Saturday, during a logbook which saw him share his feelings about this formidably demanding competition, in which he was participating for the first time.
Find below the best moments of this meeting at the forefront of this crazy Vendée Globe 2020-2021.
1st week, Saturday 14 November: the novice's surprise
After the big start from Les Sables d'Olonne, Charlie Dalin quickly found himself in the leading pack, off Portugal, helped by the failure of several favorites like Jérémie Beyou (Charal), forced to turn around to repair just a few days after departure.
"I have not been idle from the start!" He laughs in this inaugural logbook.
"These are only my first five days of my Vendée Globe experience. Compared to my colleagues (Alex) Thomson and the others, I don't have this lived experience, this experience. I try to keep a boat in any case. 100% of its potential. Afterwards, I will be able to put my foot on the accelerator, but I have been told so many times that the road is long… "The rest will prove him right.
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Charlie Dalin's Vendée Globe: "I haven't been idle since the start"
Week 2, Saturday November 21: ambush after the Doldrums
The navigator very quickly takes his marks at the head of the race, at the end of the second week.
Apivia's performance is good and the skipper is negotiating the Doldrums well, the inter-tropical convergence zone slightly north of the equator.
"From the top of my four experience Doldrums, it's by far the easiest I've had to go through. It lasted about 36 hours," he says, ambushing behind Alex Thomson and Thomas Raucous in the standings.
"From now on, I'm going to lose about a degree a day, in water and in air."
Conditions that will not prevent him from playing the leading roles in this race.
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Charlie Dalin's Vendée Globe: "The second week went by quickly"
3rd week, Saturday November 28: already in the hard, but in the lead
It is a must in the Vendée Globe: the Quarantièmes Roissants, near Antarctica, see Charlie Dalin take the lead, ahead of the skippers Thomas Rettant and Jean Le Cam.
On Apivia, the weather conditions are getting tougher.
"It had been two weeks that I had lived day and night in shorts and a t-shirt. There, I just put on underlays and a fleece", he describes, not unsettled by this necessary "period of adaptation" and the prospect of losing a little lead over his pursuers.
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Charlie Dalin's Vendée Globe: "There's a change of mood ..."
Week 4, Saturday December 5: concern for Kevin Escoffier
Before returning to the Indian Ocean, Charlie Dalin crossed the Cape of Good Hope quite far ahead.
That day, Monday November 30, the race is marked by the rescue of Kevin Escoffier by Jean Le Cam, with whom he will spend six days on his boat before being taken in by the French Navy.
"Like everyone else, I started to wait for news. I was too far ahead to turn around, I would have taken too long, more than 24 hours, to get back to the zone. If his raft had been next door, I wouldn't have hesitated for a single second. "
In this "grueling" race, Charlie Dalin somehow continues his progress eastward, certain not to be at the end of his troubles.
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Charlie Dalin's Vendée Globe: "I passed the Cape of Good Hope without paying attention"
Week 5, Saturday December 12: an exhausting depression
When he confides his impressions to Europe 1 that week, Charlie Dalin is still marked by the secondary depression he has just gone through.
“Having to face this phenomenon halfway, in the middle of nowhere, between Africa and Australia, was not nothing. (…) I have the impression of having earned my stripes as a sailor from south seas thanks to this storm. It was memorable, physically and morally. I think it took me a little while to recover from my emotions, to recover physically from this passage where I was really at the limit, on the wire. "
Off Cape Leeuwin, the south-western tip of Australia, the 36-year-old skipper also knows he is being "picked up by competing boats".
Without losing hope of regaining control sooner or later.
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Charlie Dalin's Vendée Globe: "This storm gave me confidence"
6th week, Saturday December 19: a hunted who became a hunter
The page on the Indian Ocean has finally been turned.
"So far, that has clearly been the hardest part," rewinds Charlie Dalin.
"The Pacific is off to a great start, but it is still very long."
Calm seas, sun warming the boat… In second position behind Yannick Bestaven, the skipper takes advantage of good sailing conditions to discover with gusto the surprises left by his loved ones in his Advent calendar.
"It feels good to see friends, family in pictures. I prefer the days when they are pictures than the days when they are sweets," he slips, impatient to tackle Cape Horn.
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Charlie Dalin's Vendée Globe: "I taste the Pacific Ocean"
Week 7, Saturday December 26: first Christmas at sea
For this December 25, did Charlie Dalin dream of being a favorite in the Vendée Globe as the ideal gift?
In any case, the skipper is experiencing this "first Christmas at sea" without the festive atmosphere specific to that date.
"There are no visual markers, no markers that tell me it's Christmas. I was still happy to mark the occasion, even though it was a pretty complicated day for me, due to the weather conditions. ", he relates, after a cassoulet and a slice of foie gras as a New Year's Eve menu.
But in his mind, like that of the other participants, the competition is never far away.
"The day was a bit pivotal, as I was trying to extricate myself from a high pressure area. But I'm happy to have taken this little break in this day which was quite crucial for the rest of the race."
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Charlie Dalin's Vendée Globe: "It's my first Christmas at sea"
8th week, Saturday January 2: Dalin and the Cape Horn "monument"
With the entry into the Atlantic Ocean, Charlie Dalin becomes a "Cape Hornier", named after the skippers who have managed to cross the southern end of the American continent.
"It's a monument, a monster," he underlines at the start of 2021. Still second behind Yannick Bestaven, the skipper of Apivia is looking forward to what follows.
"What will dictate the rest are the weather patterns. They vary a lot, there is a lot of activity, highs, depressions, fronts to manage ... There will be opportunities to come back, that, j 'I'm sure of it. We'll just have to know how to grab them and continue to sail to the max while preserving the machine and the sailor. "
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Charlie Dalin's Vendée Globe: "I can't wait to cross Cape Horn"
9th week, Saturday January 9: in the Atlantic, "anything can happen"
Hounded by Thomas Roût and left behind by Yannick Bestaven, Charlie Dalin begins the ascent of the South Atlantic in the skin of the hunter.
"The boats have been at sea for two months already. The sailors are worn out. Suddenly, I hang on, I fight. I put everything in working order to go as quickly as possible, continuing to preserve the boat to go. look for Yannick ", he confides, optimistic in the face of uncertainty.
“There is an expression in the boat that says that until you cross the finish line anything can happen. There have been a lot of twists and turns since the start. The race is still on. long, there are over 5,000 miles left to Les Sables d'Olonne. A lot can still happen in this Vendée Globe. "
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Charlie Dalin's Vendée Globe: "The milder conditions give you energy"
10th week, Saturday January 16: the pressure mounts before the "money time"
Determination pays off in Apivia: Charlie Dalin takes the lead of the Vendée Globe from Yannick Bestaven off the Brazilian coast, in a pocket square with his pursuers.
"Everything is possible, you should never give up," he insists, his eyes riveted on the final goal of Les Sables d'Olonne.
“Having boats side by side pushes us to be even more precise on the settings, regular on the adjustments. We must not forget that this is not a one day race, we still have two weeks and we must keep up. "
And in this veritable marathon of the seas, "no one is 100% any longer", which augurs well for a most open end of the race.
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Charlie Dalin's Vendée Globe: "It feels good to be at the head of the race"
11th week, Saturday 23 January: the "home stretch" of an extraordinary adventure
"We're really on the home stretch."
When crossing the Azores high pressure, Charlie Dalin is well aware that he and his pursuers are "approaching the goal".
And for these last days of racing, the sailor has a thought for his family.
"I can't wait to reunite with my son and my partner. It's been three months since I left them."
Even if he is one of the favorites, the skipper's first objective is to finish the race.
"I have always said that, already, it would be a success to finish the Vendée Globe. A round-the-world race in 2020 is not trivial. We have all proved it over the weeks of racing, through events, storms, damage. "
So many events that had an impact on his career;
even his life: "I come back changed, I come back transformed in a certain way, after having experienced so many things, so many emotions", which the readers and listeners of Europe 1 were able to discover from the front row.
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Charlie Dalin's Vendée Globe: "Everyone will increase in intensity"