8:01 AM Mon 2 Feb 2009 GMT
 | | 'Solo round the world sailing race non stop without assistance (24840 NM). Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA) winner on Open 60' monohull FONCIA. He won the Vendee Globe race before in 2000/01.He etablished a new race record : 84 D03 Hours 9 minutes and 8 sec'
ThMartinez © |
Michel Desjoyeaux on his 60 foot monohull Foncia crossed the finish line of the Vend?e Globe 2008/2009 this Sunday 1st February 2009 at 15h11'08'' UT.
Foncia's race time is 84 days, 03 hours, 09 minutes and 08 seconds. He covered the 24,840 theoretical miles (46,003.68 km) of this course, single-handed and without assistance, at the average speed of 12.30 knots.
As such he has beaten the previous record set in 2004 (Vincent Riou on PRB of 87d 10h 47m) by 3 days 07 hours and 39 minutes.
It is worth remembering that Michel Desjoyeaux:
- had a deficit of 41 hours on the head of the fleet when he set out from Les Sables d'Olonne a second time on Tuesday 11th November,
- had a total deficit of 670.3 miles on Saturday 15th November behind the leader,
- covered 1,160 additional miles along the theoretical course in the Southern Ocean given the N'ly position of the obligatory ice gates along the route.
As we await the definitive number of miles actually covered by FONCIA, we can guess that Michel Desjoyeaux covered over 28,000 miles at the average speed across the water of 14 knots (the exact number of actual miles covered will be revealed tomorrow Monday 2nd February).
Michel Desjoyeaux thus adds his name to the list of Vend?e Globe winners for a second time following on from: Titouan Lamazou (1989-1990), Alain Gautier (1992-1993), Christophe Auguin (1996-1997), Michel Desjoyeaux (2000-2001), Vincent Riou (2004-2005) and Michel Desjoyeaux (2008-2009).
Michel Desjoyeaux lead/deficit at the key points along the course:
- Equator: 1 day 6 hours 43 minutes deficit on Lo?ck Peyron (Gitana Eighty)
- Cape of Good Hope: 4 hours 56 minutes deficit on S?bastien Josse (BT)
- Cape Leeuwin: 50 minutes lead over Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement)
- International Date Line: 2 hours 55 minutes lead over Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement)
- Cape Horn: 8 hours 50 minutes lead over Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement)
- Equator: 3 days 5 hours and 52 minutes lead over Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement)
Initial reactions from Michel Desjoyeaux after crossing the finish line:
Thoughts: 'It's incredible. In addition there was a small ray of sunshine as I crossed the finish line. It's magical; it's indescribable. It's really phenomenal. I can't really get my head round it. I don't understand, I'm making the most of it and I'll get my head round it afterwards.'
The second start after the damage: 'I didn't think twice about it. I said to myself: there's a long way to go. We'll resolve the problem and head out to sea again and then what's history is history. It's not even a beautiful story, it's TOO beautiful'.
The recipe:'The race is won 80% before the start: in the choices made by the team, in the organisation, in the serenity, in the experience, it's a whole bunch of things. The remaining 20%: it's the competition, the race.'
Damage: 'It's the hardest race there is, and when you see the difficulties we've had, it's only natural that there aren't very many of us at the finish.'
80 days:'Jules Verne said it took 80 days to circumnavigate the globe. Even with these boats, in 4 years time, it'll easily be feasible. If you take away the 40 hour deficit and follow a less N'ly trajectory without ice, it's feasible.'
by Kate Jennings/ThMartinez images
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