Vendée Globe: the eventful return of the “King” Jean Le Cam
French skipper Jean Le Cam celebrates his arrival in Les Sables-d'Olonne after more than 80 days of racing in the Vendée Globe.
JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER AFP
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
4 min
The skipper Jean Le Cam crossed the finish line of the Vendée Globe on Thursday 28 January after 81 days, 5 hours, 59 minutes and 55 seconds at sea and is ranked fourth.
But the adventure of the lonely seas could have turned into a drama.
The oldest of the race ended up with a boat damaged by structural problems.
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Back under the moonlight, he is now on dry land after completing his fourth Vendée Globe for his fifth participation.
Tireless, a man of conviction with a weathered face, Jean Le Cam is not the type to feel sorry for himself.
But the adventure of this 61-year-old man could have ended in drama.
“
I have known a lot of rather difficult things in my life, but then I experienced the unbearable and in fact the unbearable, we get there
”, explained the skipper of Yes We Cam, injured in a rib and worried about his damaged boat.
Jean Le Cam crossed the finish line in eighth position but finished fourth due to the sixteen hours and fifteen minutes of compensation he received for the rescue of Kevin Escoffier, who was wrecked after his boat broke in two.
5th @VendeeGlobe, 4th place overall.
Jean will have marked this edition, minds and hearts!
Thank you all for your unconditional support!
#YesWeCAM # VG2020 #ibisSport @ca_finistere pic.twitter.com/kzCLfdniMP
- Jean Le Cam (@JeanLecam) January 29, 2021
"
That I am here today is a miracle
"
"
When I landed Kevin on the"
Nivôse "[the French Navy frigate which recovered Escoffier, editor's note],
I was in the hot front,
says the former student of Eric Tabarly, with whom he worked his first world tour.
The next day, I will see at the front of the boat, it was delaminated
[sheared, note].
When you have the shell that moves two inches like that, the foam that cracks, you tell yourself that it's going to blow out at any moment, and if it breaks, you sink.
I repaired for the first time, after that it broke again.
Stop a second time, repair.
And there every day, every hour, you say to yourself
"it shouldn't hit".
Hubert
[the name he gives to his boat, editor's note]
brought me back and I helped him bring me back.
That's why I said it was very difficult.
"
► To read also: Jean Le Cam, contemporary Poseidon
"
That I am here today is a miracle
", added the dean of the test who knows that the sea can take you quickly.
So much so that he can ask himself the question of putting the cover back.
"
You say to me
'I leave tomorrow?', [I answer]
no
.
Now it's hot.
This question is asked of me every time.
In fact, I don't know
, ”says the hero who saved a wrecked competitor.
In 2009, Jean Le Cam was wrecked in the Pacific, off Cape Horn.
Locked under his overturned boat, mast in the water and keel in the air, it had been recovered by Vincent Riou, nineteen hours after the capsize, during an eventful rescue operation.
Last night, to celebrate the hero of the seas, many people stood along the channel to cheer him.
He danced on his boat, to the rhythm of Johnny Hallyday's song
Envy
, and above all happy to be alive.
Before docking his 13-year-old monohull, he was joined by Escoffier and the riders of ocean racing, Roland Jourdain, Bernard Stamm and Vincent Riou.
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