Vendée Globe: stoic Pedote against breakdowns, completes his second round-the-world race

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Giancarlo Pedote, lying on the bow of Prysmian, pays tribute to his boat after crossing the finish line of the Vendée Globe.

It was not a foregone conclusion but Giancarlo Pedote on Prysmian completed, in 86 days, his second Vendée Globe, finishing 22nd on the leaderboard. It was not a foregone conclusion because the Italian’s Imoca 60 gave the skipper a hard time throughout the round-the-world race, with technical problems especially at the rudders, proving to be a boat that was perhaps a bit “tired” after more than 10 years of ocean battles with Jean Pierre Dick first and Giancarlo Pedote later. Perhaps it was not the Vendée Globe the Tuscan had dreamed of, more complex than the previous edition from a boat point of view and also from a strategic point of view, with some tactical choices in the descent of the Atlantic that severely punished both Pedote and other illustrious names, opening the first rifts in the fleet between those who ran away to the south and those who stayed longer in the little wind. Compared to the 2020 edition, where he had finished eighth, Pedote took six days longer to complete the course; without the breakdowns he faced his time would have been in line with last year’s if not slightly less. The law of the Vendée Globe, however, does not discount, and to have made it to the finish line in spite of everything is still an achievement for the few.

Who is Giancarlo Pedote

Giancarlo Pedote – Photo Giuffrè Journal of Sailing

Born in Florence in 1975, he graduated in Philosophy in 2002, an instructor since he was 18, his passion for offshore racing came later, after 2005, when he decided to engage in his first Mini 650 campaign. She participated a first time in the Mini Transat in 2009 in the Series category, finishing the transatlantic in fourth position. He tried again in 2012 in the Proto category with the famous 747 and finished in second position after dominating the race, stopped only by a bowsprit breakage that robbed him of victory in the last 48 hours of the race. From then on he divided his time between Class 40, Moth and Multi 50, before landing in the Imoca 60 class in 2017 and kicking off the project with Prysmian, a sponsor that has followed him for much of his career. The Giancarlo Pedote appreciated in the Imoca 60 class is a sailor perhaps a little different from the one in the years in the Mini 650, less attacking and more reflective, but on this change of strategy also counts the fact of having worked in these years always with a very small team and with budgets that have nothing to do with those of the top French teams, which imposed by necessity a different and more prudent conduct in regattas. Pedote’s undisputed merit is that he has never given up, in any regatta, has always brought the boat to the finish line, and has put himself on the line during these 8 years in the queen class of ocean racing, even with a small team and with important budget limitations. He completed two round-the-world races, eighth in 2020 and 22nd in this tenth edition of the Vendèe Globe, results that today remain the benchmark for Italian ocean sailing.

What will be Giancarlo Pedote’s future in the ocean? It is hard to say right now, and the sailor himself will probably be the one to tell us soon. The wish is that we can see him again, perhaps with a more competitive project and with a newer boat that will really allow him to race and not have to settle for having as his goal to get to the finish line. That is our wish, but much will also depend on Pedote’s willingness to continue on this path and in what way to do so. In any case, thank you Giancarlo for taking Italian sailing to the top.

Mauro Giuffrè

Follow the Vendèe Globe with us!

Follow the Vendèe Globe with the Sailing Newspaper! In the section “The Vendèe Globe Newspaper” you will find all the up-to-date news on the race, while on our Youtube channel you can review the live broadcasts of “The Vendèe Globe Trial” (in collaboration with Raymarine, Antal and Gottifredi&Maffioli) where our experts, along with a parterre de roi of great sailing guests, comment on the great adventure of the solo round-the-world race.

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