Charlie Dalin and Yannick Bestaven congratulate each other.

-

LOIC VENANCE / POOL / AFP

  • For his second participation in the Vendée Globe, Yannick Bestaven (Maître Coq IV) won the legendary race around the world.

  • The final classification was played out in the last hours this night, a completely new final scenario.

David Phelippeau, at Sables d'Olonne

An improbable outcome.

An epilogue that no screenwriter - even the craziest - could have imagined for a single second.

The Vendée Globe 2020 has had a crazy night and delivered a lunar verdict.

In a world tour that was at least 80 days long, four skippers found a way to return to Les Sables d'Olonne in a pocket square.

Another (Boris Herrmann) in the race for second place or even first a stone's throw from the Vendée seaside resort had the misfortune of hitting a trawler shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday evening, adding more spice to an already well-seasoned scenario.

“It was a regatta on a planetary scale”, nicely pictured Yannick Bestaven, the winner.

"A completely crazy finish with five very compact boats", for the Northerner Thomas Rettant, moved to tears.

Height of surrealism.

In the evening, Charlie Dalin cut the line first after 80 days, 6 hours, 15 minutes and 47 seconds of racing around the world solo nonstop and without assistance, knowing that he was not the one who would have the chance to lift the trophy a few hours later.

Blame it on the compensations granted quite rightly to two other of his friends (Yannick Bestaven and Boris Herrmann), who came to the aid of Kevin Escoffier in November.

Yannick Bestaven (a little) annoyed

“Normally, the Vendée Globe doesn't go like that.

The stopwatch has started.

Hope it goes well for me.

We'll see in a few hours.

It was all seen at that moment for Charlie Dalin, who knew that Yannick Bestaven was launched like a ball towards the Sables d'Olonne and that this provisional first place was going to escape him during the night.

As Louis Burton's second place would turn into third a few hours later.

“It's the magic of ocean racing, you never know the happiness of some, the misfortune of others, released, to the angels, the skipper of 

Bureau Vallée 2

.

The ranking, all that does not matter when you see the happiness it is to be here and to have completed.

"

In the middle of the night (at 4:19 exactly), the one everyone was waiting for finally arrived.

Yannick Bestaven, the winner, finally crossed the finish line… in third place.

“It doesn't mean anything to say that I won when I came third, the Rochelais immediately cut short, a bit annoyed.

I don't win by coming third, but I win thanks to corrected time because the night Kevin [Escoffier] ends up in his liferaft, I was asked to turn around.

With other skippers, we then spent the whole night on the bridge looking for a friend while the others continued their race… ”A few minutes before, the native of Saint-Nazaire had never lost his smile in the crossing of the channel illuminated by fireworks which awoke a large part of Sables d'Olonne.

“I have the impression of hallucinating…” were the first words of a man drunk with happiness, victorious in a Vendée Globe that will be remembered by all.

Sport

Vendée Globe: The winner Yannick Bestaven "does not yet realize what is happening"

Sport

Vendée Globe: Why Herrmann suddenly lost his hopes of victory

  • Sables d'Olonne

  • Vendée Globe

  • Nantes

  • Sail

  • Sport