Down to the wire
Yannick Bestaven, French skipper of Maître Coq IV, is the overall winner of the ninth edition of the Vendée Globe.
02 February 2021
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Yannick Bestaven on Maître CoQ IV has been confirmed as the winner of the Vendée Globe 2020/21.
Although he actually took the gun for third place off Les Sables d’Olonne, France, at 03 hours 19 minutes 46 seconds early Thursday morning, because he carried a time compensation of 10 hours and 15 minutes – awarded by an international jury for his role in the search and rescue of fellow competitor Kevin Escoffier – Bestaven takes victory 2 hours 31 minutes 01 seconds ahead of Charlie Dalin and 6 hours 40 minutes 26 seconds of Louis Burton who both finished ahead of him and take second and third respectively.
The skipper of Maître CoQ IV was one of the two skippers who led the fleet for the longest time: 26 days, or 32 percent of the time; an excellent result for the skipper who grew up in Arcachon and has Yves Parlier as his mentor.
Bestaven finished in Biscay drizzle on a two-metre swell in 20 knots of westerly wind before being warmly welcomed back to Les Sables d’Olonne’s channel where well-wishers lined their balconies and streets to acclaim the new winner of the Vendée Globe.
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Bestaven admitted before the start, “My main quality? Stubbornness. My main flaw? Stubbornness. I also am very resilient.”
Although he was not tipped among the fancied, possible winners of the race, Bestaven revealed himself as an outstanding performer on his first time in the southern oceans where he was at his best in the Indian Ocean, passing Australia’s Cape Leeuwin in third place and then in the Pacific, emerging first at Cape Horn with a 15-hour lead.
After then building the biggest margin of the race, 440 hard-earned miles thanks to a smart climb up the South Atlantic, Bestaven must have thought his chances of winning this Vendée Globe were over when, during three frustrating days, all but becalmed south of Rio, he saw his margin evaporate like snow in the hot Brazilian sun.
But the skipper from La Rochelle on the west coast of France, an engineer as well as professional skipper, proved his race-winning credentials as he fought back into contention by the Azores. His final, key move proved to be choosing to head north on the Bay of Biscay, which allowed him to arrive on the heels of a low-pressure system and accelerate faster on a long, direct track into Les Sables d’Olonne over the last 24 hours, chasing Dalin and Burton across the line to hold his time to win outright.
The ninth edition of the race saw a record entry of 33 skippers and has been marked by complicated weather patterns for both the descent down and the ascent back up the South Atlantic, including regrouping of the leading pack in persistent periods of light winds early in the Pacific, and again off Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Podium of the ninth Vendée Globe
1 – Maître Coq IV (Yannick Bestaven) finished 28/01/2021 03:19:46 UTC.
Elapsed time 80 days 13 hours 59 minutes 46 seconds.
Time compensation: -10 hours 15 minutes 00 seconds,
Official corrected time: 80 days 03 hours 44 minutes 46 seconds.
Average speed on the theoretical course: 24 365.74 nm / 12.60 knots.
Miles sailed 28 583.80 nm at an average of 14.78 nds
2 – APIVIA (Charlie Dalin) finished 27/01/2021 19:35:47 UTC.
Elapsed time 80 days 06 hours 15 minutes 47 seconds
No time compensation.
Time difference to first 02 hours 31 minutes 01 seconds
Average speed on the theoretical course: 24 365.74 nm / 12.65 nds
Miles sailed 29 135.01 nm at an average of 15.13 nds
3 – Bureau Vallée 2 (Louis Burton) finished 27/01/2021 23:45:12 UTC
Elapsed time 80 days 10 hours 25 minutes 12 seconds,
No compensation.
Time difference to first 06 hours 40 minutes 26 seconds,
Time difference to APIVIA 04 hours 09 minutes 25 seconds
Average speed on the theoretical course: 24 365.74 nm / 12.62 nds
Miles sailed 28 649.99 nms at an average of 14.84 nds
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