Bestaven the outsider, the Vendée Globe is yours! Pedote arriving in Les Sables

Yannick Bestaven on the first-generation foiler Maitre Coq is the winner of the 2020-2021 Vendée Globe, with a time of 80 days 13 hours 59minutes and 46 seconds. In the end, the 10 hours and 15 minutes rebate received for PRB-related events was decisive, allowing Bestaven to win the race despite arriving about 7 hours behind Charlie Dalin. The gap at the end between the two was just 2 hours, 31 minutes and 1 second, a time that nicely portrays the extraordinariness of this Vendée Globe, which resulted in a sprint finish never before seen in the history of the race.

Bestaven, class of 1972 from St. Nazaire, is the anomalous hero of this crazy world tour. No one gave him as a favorite, in fact he was at his first Vendée because in 2008 he disalberated a few hours after the start and since that time he had failed to be at the start of the mythical race. The 48-year-old led a cautious race in the descent of the Atlantic, but then in the Southern Oceans he took risks, often going on the attack and also taking advantage of the fragility of his opponents’ boats. While Bestaven did not show the “magic” trajectories a la Charlie Dalin, he did take the concept of resilience to the highest level.

Even when everyone gave him up for dead after being overtaken off Brazil, Bestaven on that occasion burned more than 500 miles of lead, Maitre Coq’s skipper patiently climbed back up the slope until he succeeded in the northern option feat that got him to the finish line just in time to blow Dalin out of the lead. But in a regatta like the Vendée Globe, and like this edition in particular, nothing is decided until the last meters before the finish line.

Also arriving on the night were Louis Burton and Thomas Ruyant, who go on to occupy the third and fourth spots on the list, respectively. Defeat and misfortune for Boris Herrmann: the German seemed even more in contention for victory than Bestaven, but a collision with a fishing boat, fortunately without injuries but with appreciable damage to the German’s Imoca, forced him to go on a 7-knot pace until the finish. He will cross the finish line shortly in fifth position.

Now, however, it is time to think about the arrival of Giancarlo Pedote, now only 70 miles from Les Sables, having finally passed Damien Seguin in the night. The Tuscan skipper is on his way to an extraordinary sixth place in real time, which will likely become a seventh after Jean Le Cam’s arrival, which boasts 16 hours and 15 minutes of bonus time. Breathless breath then for Giancarlo Pedote’s final hours at sea.

TRACKING

Mauro Giuffrè