Great art, great Armel!
After 74 days of solo, non-stop, non-assisted circumnavigation, Armel Le Cléac'h (Banque Populaire VIII) won the Vendée Globe, the most extreme sailing race, on Thursday, January 19!
An immense feat achieved by the Julbo skipper, equipped with Race 2.0 goggles.
He's been staring at this victory for a long time. Second in 2009, second in 2013, Armel Le Cléac'h has this time realized his dream. For his third participation, at the age of 39, the Breton sailor has finally added his name to the pantheon of the Everest of the Seas. A just reward for this talented skipper, who is meticulous, precise, fast and inspired in his strategy. It's also the fruit of real teamwork with his Banque Populaire team, who designed and built a monohull for him.
At 16:37 in Les Sables d'Olonne, Armel Le Cléac'h crossed the finish line. This marked the end of a breathless race and a duel at the top which pitted him against Britain's Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss), who was a close runner-up this morning. The ambassador of the Julbo nautical team completed his circumnavigation in record time: 74 days, 3 hours, 35 minutes and 46 seconds, beating the time set by François Gabart in the previous edition by almost 4 days! A breathtaking performance, made possible in part by technological innovations and in particular the development of hydrofoils (curved appendages that create lift at high speeds, enabling the boat to rise above the water), but above all thanks to man!
The Julbo teams are to be congratulated for their efforts in designing the Race 2.0 sunglasses, which are also state-of-the-art in terms of optical sun protection.
Armel Le Cléac'h's first words: “I realize that I've done something huge. Nervously, it was hard because Alex kept coming back! I did everything I could to push myself to the limit. With my boat, we fought right to the end. I'd like to thank my team, my dream team and all the people who believed in me. I wanted this victory so badly... It's done! It's a ten-year project, ten years of my life. I'm very happy.”
THE STORY OF A VICTORY.
Like the 28 other extreme skippers who set off from Les Sables d'Olonne on November 6, Armel was quickly thrown into the deep end of the ocean. The start was invigorating, to say the least. Flashing by at more than 32 knots (60 km/h) in the Bay of Biscay, the Julbo skipper was quickly positioned at the front of the pack.
After a week's racing, as they approached the Doldrums (the inter-tropical convergence zone), the first strategic options began to take shape within a fleet that had so far been grouped together. This was the moment Alex Thomson chose to place the first banderole and seize control of the fleet. The start of a naval battle between Armel and the Welshman.
After speeding down the Atlantic Ocean, the two leaders reached the Cape of Good Hope at the end of November. The first of the three great capes is the gateway to the southern seas, the Roaring 40s and the Howling 50s... In these hostile latitudes, conditions are getting wetter and wetter, the cold is raging, the swell is growing, the waves are breaking on deck and the Albatrosses are flying over Banque Populaire VIII, offering Armel a veritable aerial ballet.
A few days later, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Armel met another strange bird: a French Navy helicopter, with some exceptional shots to boot!
A few hundred miles further on, on December 3, the Julbo skipper fulfilled a promise: to be at the head of the Vendée Globe for his son Edgar's birthday. Two days later, the father-sailor crossed the longitude of Cape Leeuwin, south of Australia, the course mark that marks the entry into the Pacific Ocean.
On the outside of the boat, it's a tough one! And in this inner fortress, Armel, far from any land, feels his first bouts of the blues. But the Deep South is comforting, offering him all its magic: its azure blue sky by day, its beautiful starry nights, the reflection of the moon in the waves and its supersonic surfing... Meanwhile, the gap to Hugo Boss is widening, becoming almost abysmal: over 800 miles (almost 1500 km) by the time they round the mythical Cape Horn on Christmas Eve!
The climb back up the Atlantic, at first comfortable on board, turns out to be full of pitfalls and traps to avoid. Physical and mental fatigue took its toll. And the gap with Alex Thomson melts like snow in the sun as temperatures rise. Around the tropics, Armel is not spared by the weather, which is favorable to his rival's comeback. With the Doldrums slowly digested, Armel confides his hunger for victory and gobbles up the nautical miles. The Atlantic is smoking! With three days to go to the finish, the two skippers are neck and neck, and the counters are going wild: more than 500 miles (over 900 km) covered in 24 hours...
The final “straight line” is tortuous. The last leg stressful. But right to the end, with an eye in the rear-view mirror, “the jackal” is in control. In the money time, his strategy paid off. And on January 19, he finally clinched the ultimate grail. Well done!
