{"id":8546,"date":"2025-03-26T14:58:55","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T13:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.guillaumeverdier.com\/?p=8546"},"modified":"2025-05-22T15:02:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T14:02:12","slug":"vendee-globe-charlie-dalin-i-feel-like-i-often-took-a-lot-of-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guillaumeverdier.com\/en\/vendee-globe-charlie-dalin-i-feel-like-i-often-took-a-lot-of-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"Vend\u00e9e Globe\/ Charlie Dalin: “I feel like I often took a lot of risks”"},"content":{"rendered":"

One week after his victory in the Vend\u00e9e Globe, we sat down with Charlie Dalin to reflect on his performance and the intensity of this round-the-world race, completed in a mind-blowing 64 days. We discussed his seasons in the Figaro class, his fierce rival Yoann Richomme, and the mental training he\u2019s been working on for years. Here\u2019s the first part of our Anticyclone interview.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Voiles et Voiliers:<\/strong> We\u2019ve seen and heard from you everywhere since your Vend\u00e9e Globe win. What haven\u2019t you told us yet\u2014about yourself or your race?<\/p>\n

Charlie Dalin:<\/strong> Oh wow, I\u2019m not sure! One thing that hasn\u2019t been mentioned much is that the Vend\u00e9e Globe podium is 100% made up of Figaro sailors. Almost the entire top 10 competed in the Solitaire du Figaro. The generation that dominated this Vend\u00e9e has been forged on the Figaro circuit over the last ten years: Beyou, Lunven, Meilhat, Mettraux\u2026 All of the frontrunners in this 10th edition came through that path. If we want the same level of intensity in the Vend\u00e9e Globe ten years from now, now is the time to act: we need to promote and support this talent pool, encourage young sailors to join the circuit and stay longer. Each major sponsor in the IMOCA class could back a Figaro with a young hopeful on board so promising sailors can be trained to compete at the top level in the Vend\u00e9e.<\/p>\n

Voiles et Voiliers:<\/strong> Since you brought it up, the other two podium skippers have both won a Solitaire du Figaro. You\u2019ve finished on the podium five times, but never won. Is that a frustration in your sailing career?<\/p>\n

Charlie Dalin:<\/strong> Yes, it’s a race I\u2019d still like to win someday. I don\u2019t know if five podiums equal one victory, but that remains an unmatched record. In 2016, I missed the win against Yoann Richomme by five minutes, and in 2018 I finished third when S\u00e9bastien Simon won. I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019ll return, because it\u2019s a circuit that requires a lot of commitment. You can\u2019t just rent a Figaro before the Solitaire and hope to win. That\u2019s not realistic.<\/p>\n

Voiles et Voiliers:<\/strong> We know you analyze your races a lot. Have you already started doing that for the Vend\u00e9e Globe?<\/p>\n

Charlie Dalin:<\/strong> Yes, we\u2019ve started debriefs with the team. We go through it in small chunks\u2014two-hour sessions\u2014because I\u2019m still a bit tired. It\u2019ll take three or four sessions to go through everything.<\/p>\n

Voiles et Voiliers:<\/strong> How do you review a round-the-world race?<\/p>\n

Charlie Dalin:<\/strong> We break it down by systems: deck hardware, running rigging, standing rigging… We divide it into sections and analyze everything, plain and simple. We try to do it while it\u2019s still fresh.<\/p>\n

Voiles et Voiliers:<\/strong> That\u2019s with your technical team, but have you also started analyzing things in your own head?<\/p>\n

Charlie Dalin:<\/strong> Yes. I\u2019ll also debrief with my mental coach, my sleep team\u2026 I\u2019ll get my osteopath to check the state of my back. One thing I regret is not taking biological measurements\u2014blood tests, body fat percentage, weight, arm and leg circumference\u2014before and after the race. I know I lost muscle in my thighs, for example, but I don\u2019t know exactly how much.<\/p>\n

Voiles et Voiliers:<\/strong> You like to go into that level of detail?<\/p>\n

Charlie Dalin:<\/strong> Yes, because I think we can draw conclusions for nutrition and adjust the provisioning. I don\u2019t think you can do much to prevent lower-body muscle loss\u2014I\u2019m not going to start doing squats during the race, it\u2019s already intense enough. But things like blood tests could be useful to understand how nutrition affects the body.<\/p>\n

Voiles et Voiliers:<\/strong> Coming back to your victory: people often say a great winner needs a great runner-up. Was Yoann Richomme the perfect opponent?<\/p>\n

Charlie Dalin:<\/strong> Yes. From the moment Yoann\u2019s project was announced, I knew he\u2019d be one of my main rivals, even before knowing what boat he\u2019d have, which designer he\u2019d work with, or who\u2019d be on his team. Our paths split at the end of 2016, when his Skipper Macif selection ended. He went on to Class40 and other projects. The first time we were direct competitors again was at the 2023 Rolex Fastnet. We were side by side near the finish, and I ended up five minutes behind him. In 2024, he won the Transat CIC, I won the return leg, the New York Vend\u00e9e\u2026 It was a preview of what would happen in the Vend\u00e9e.<\/p>\n

Voiles et Voiliers:<\/strong> Yoann sailed more miles and was a bit faster\u2026<\/p>\n

Charlie Dalin:<\/strong> Yes, I saw the stats at the finish. I think he covered more ground by taking a northerly route around the low near the Kerguelen Islands in the Indian Ocean. I had lighter winds then, while he had stronger winds for longer. But yes, he was a bit faster.<\/p>\n

Voiles et Voiliers:<\/strong> You sail very differently. He said he listened to a lot of podcasts, read books\u2026 Were you also able to mentally escape the boat?<\/p>\n

Charlie Dalin:<\/strong> No, that\u2019s not really my style. I had taken some podcasts, but I didn\u2019t listen to a single one. I did listen to a bit of music. But yes, we don\u2019t sail the same way. I feel like sailing solo isn\u2019t quite his thing\u2014he needs to talk, hear voices, feel a presence. I prefer being in my own bubble. I didn\u2019t pay attention to what was happening on shore. That helps avoid being affected by any particular news.<\/p>\n

Voiles et Voiliers:<\/strong> Would you say your way of sailing is compulsive?<\/p>\n

Charlie Dalin:<\/strong> Compulsive, I\u2019m not sure. But I do like to stay focused on what I\u2019m doing and not be distracted.<\/p>\n

Voiles et Voiliers:<\/strong> Let\u2019s talk about the intensity of this victory. Do you feel like you pushed beyond what you thought was possible?<\/p>\n

Charlie Dalin:<\/strong> What\u2019s certain is that breaking 70 days didn\u2019t surprise me, but I would never have bet on going under 65 before the start. We had a crazy run at the front of the fleet. Having Yoann there allowed us to push the boat to the max. It wouldn\u2019t have been the same if one of us had been alone out front\u2014we\u2019d have gone much slower. I feel like I took a lot of risks. I was sailing at the upper edge of the sail configurations a lot. After the doldrums, I kept the full mainsail up when I should\u2019ve reefed\u2014and I did that a bunch of times. I was often overpowered. Off Portugal, I was clocking some crazy speeds. In 27\u201328 knots of wind, I still had the full mainsail and J0 up\u2026 You realize you can hold it and it\u2019s faster. I started sailing like I did in the Figaro again. One day, I nearly hit 600 miles in 24 hours. At that point, I was pushing past what I thought were my limits to catch up to Yoann, but I could tell I was damaging the boat. I didn\u2019t like that. And sure enough, a few days later I found a crack in the hull\u2014that\u2019s when it happened.<\/p>\n

Voiles et Voiliers:<\/strong> You also mentioned a lapse\u2026<\/p>\n

Charlie Dalin:<\/strong> \u2026in sleep. I don\u2019t remember exactly when, but I slept for three hours straight. That\u2019s not something you normally do. When you realize you overslept, the first thing you check is if you stayed on course. Then you check your average speed during that sleep phase. The body is amazing\u2014if your brain decides not to wake you up, it\u2019s because the conditions haven\u2019t changed. In the end, it was probably a good thing\u2014I needed the rest. But I\u2019m glad it happened in the Southern Ocean and not in the Atlantic, where there\u2019s a lot more traffic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One week after his victory in the Vend\u00e9e Globe, we sat down with Charlie Dalin to reflect on his performance and the intensity of this round-the-world race, completed in a mind-blowing 64 days. We discussed his seasons in the Figaro class, his fierce rival Yoann Richomme, and the mental training he\u2019s been working on for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,178],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-en_news","category-en_newscast"],"yoast_head":"\nVend\u00e9e Globe\/ Charlie Dalin: "I feel like I often took a lot of risks" - Guillaume Verdier<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.guillaumeverdier.com\/en\/vendee-globe-charlie-dalin-i-feel-like-i-often-took-a-lot-of-risks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vend\u00e9e Globe\/ Charlie Dalin: "I feel like I often took a lot of risks" - Guillaume Verdier\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One week after his victory in the Vend\u00e9e Globe, we sat down with Charlie Dalin to reflect on his performance and the intensity of this round-the-world race, completed in a mind-blowing 64 days. 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