Charlie Dalin: “The future winners of the Vendée Globe are at the Transat Paprec!”
- Antoine Grenapin
- 20 hours ago
- 3 min read
The winner of the last Vendée Globe was present at the Transat Paprec village this Saturday afternoon. After a chat on stage with the race host, Serge Herbin, he enjoyed a little walkabout with the visitors present. Afterwards, the Macif skipper took the time to reflect on his history with this race and offer some advice to the competitors. Charlie is involved in his own way: he's lending a helping hand to the duos Martin Le Pape and Mathilde Géron (Demain) and Victor Le Pape and Estelle Greck (Région Bretagne-CMB Espoir).
What did you feel as you walked through the Transat Paprec village? It's a race I really like. I won it in 2012 and I had two dismastings, so I prefer to remember the victory (laughs)! It's truly a unique transatlantic race, a transatlantic race on equal terms, which has been mixed since 2023. There's a great field this year, a very good level but also a lot of newcomers... It's nice to see that there's a renewal of the circuit and that the class is attracting so many young people.
You are involved since you help two pairs with their weather preparations...
Yes, I'm helping Martin Le Pape and Mathilde Geron (Demain) as well as Victor Le Pape and Estelle Greck (Région Bretagne-CMB Espoir). I'll have to get back behind the computer quickly to get to work.
“Remember their names, tomorrow’s winners are here!”
What will the first days of racing be like?
They'll set off downwind in a medium wind. It'll be a fairly flat sea start in Port-La-Forêt Bay. As they head southwest, they'll have slightly stronger winds and a small low-pressure center to manage the first night. There may be some adjustments before making a near-direct route to Cape Finisterre. There, they'll be caught by a ridge of high pressure, a zone of light winds. They'll have to find the right trajectory to manage it before finding themselves in slightly stronger winds along Portugal to the La Palma waypoint. After that, it's a bit too far.
You won this race... What are the keys to winning?
It's difficult to win. Even for a fast crew, a duo that has a little more control over their boat, the speed difference isn't enough to compensate for a strategic error. It's a race where there are often outsiders who have won because they dared a little more, pushed an option a little harder, or moved away from the fleet. You have to know how to believe in your options. And if the fleet stays together, it comes down to trimming, to small shifts as you put in the hours at the helm. It's raced at very high intensity with very little gap at the finish.
A question about you... Are you physically and mentally recovered from your Vendée Globe?
Not quite yet. It'll take a few more months to fully recover, but it will come. I should be ready for another double-handed transatlantic race at the end of the year (the Transat Café L'Or)!
You are in great demand by the general public now... How are you coping with it?
This is good news, it shows that more and more people are following ocean racing and that's also evident here. What I often say is that the competitors at the start of the Transat Paprec are undoubtedly the future winners of the Vendée Globe, in eight or twelve years; so remember their names, tomorrow's winners are here!
