At the Vendée Globe, the last of them are at the finish line: They’ve All Won – Sports

Ultimately, Sam Davis comes up with something special. A few miles from her destination, a solo British navigator abruptly stopped the course line that would lead her straight to Les Sables d’Olonne and the end of her world tour. Few people record the maneuver. Because, on the one hand, night falls over France, and no sailors are late. On the other hand, what will become a major gesture can only be seen on the tracker on February 25th – as a curved red ribbon that gradually appears as the circumference of the heart over the course of the evening.

Davies draws a thank you very much at sea with her path. It’s her way of showing her appreciation for the support that made your journey possible. Since it was linked to a donation campaign to enable life-saving operations for children with heart disease, their “Initiatives-Coeur” campaign can report assistance to 102 children.

One of them wears a chunky orange life jacket when Davis picks it up on the arch of her race yacht so they can both receive applause as they enter Les Sables harbor.

Whoever arrives is a winner, it is a principle of the Vendée Globe. To finish such a 27,000-mile journey is a daunting task for anyone taking it. Also for Finn Ari Ossela, who was the last to arrive on Thursday after 116 days alone at sea. Although the 58-year-old flight captain was unconcerned with speed, he is the second-fastest captain ever in this continuous circumnavigation of the Earth.

Probably soon his name will be forgotten as well as the name of all his predecessors, which took up to 163 days (Jean-Francois Coast, 1990) and 158 days (Pascual de Gregorio, 2001) and left with the one-time attempt. It was the adventure of their life, and they didn’t want to turn it into a profession. In any case, none of those who came to the finish line returned. Most of them did not start again.

It should not be seen as a curse to sail behind the field

Except for Sebastian Distremao. He completed the world tour four years ago with a long delay, but comforted his steadily growing audience with amusing glimpses about his floating wreckage, which he unwaveringly saved from collapse with endless tricks. He would answer each day with the same greeting: “Welcome to the office.”

When he started again underfunded and in an almost competitive car, history would only repeat itself. Desperate to look original, he built himself an environmentally friendly cover made of papier-mâché, which instantly disintegrated into its components in inclement weather for the first few days. Problems did not diminish after that. When electronic controls broke down, he gave up and went to New Zealand.

It should not be seen as a curse to sail behind the field. For some extremists like Jérémie Beyou, who started out as candidates, the role of the beaten track turned out to be a stroke of luck. After a number of victories – most recently at the Volvo Ocean Race in 2018, which he won with “Dongfeng” – the 44-year-old needed only one victory in the Vendée Globe to complete his sailing career.

When he was forced to turn back after an injury and started racing again nine days late, he did not do so in a good mood and confidence, but as the one who saw himself deprived of an opportunity. “It wasn’t the race I was expecting, I can’t deny it,” Pew said looking back. “At first I found it difficult to motivate myself.” Charal’s sponsor must have urged him to keep his promises. After all, he financed one of the best and most expensive boats in the fleet.

But over time there was a change. “I discovered an aspect of myself that either wasn’t there or I suppressed it deep down.” Pew continued, because he had always wanted to win before, never having fun sailing. Now discover that pushing yourself to the limits and having fun is not mutually exclusive. “I managed to overcome my fear of failure the moment I found it unbearable. This is a great victory over my old self.

In fact, adventure race opens a human dimension where ultimately placement isn’t important. While Pew’s thirteenth position may have been a weak one in his career, his stamina has taken him to another level. For the first time, he had a touching story to tell. So are many of the late arrivals.

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Even if it were the effort and fatigue that it meant driving an 18-meter race yacht across the oceans, it was no more bearable by the competition. “Without adrenaline, it’s hard to get up at 3 p.m. to change sails,” says Davis. “It took me a while to figure out what it was going to be like, but then I had a hack.”

At Les Sables d’Olonne, sidewalk walls were lined by the thousands because of them. All she did on her third Vendée Globe entry was to close the circuit. “It’s always great if it comes full circle,” said Pew. The reception Also retired German-French Isabelle Joshki It turned out to be no less cheerful than the leaders who arrived at the end of January, Among them is the German sailor Boris Hermann, who came in fifth place.

Sure, Sam Davis’ work was well coordinated. The auxiliary path in the shape of a heart would pass the time until dawn, when the city wakes up and gushes over the canal, as it would for any newcomer. This gesture is not due to her, but to her predecessor in Coeur Initiatives, Tangoy de Lamot, who founded the fundraising campaign and who himself sailed the sea at the Vendée Globe 2017.

Yet it represents the suffering that has been overcome. And there were quite a few of them to survive for Alexia Barrier, who was badly injured in her back, for Pip Hare, tormented by an allergic reaction for weeks, or for all the others who had never expected their boats. They approached their destination and winter storms came in the northern hemisphere.

Never before has a boat’s age range of 22 years been as large as this time. Ari Housela’s “Stark”, built in 2007, has withstood the pressures just like the other twelve boats of this generation. Huusela avoided the more windy areas of the south, was enjoying a cup of espresso every day and snapping a photo of himself. 113 views of a happy Finn with a full beard.

Like racing on the eightieth day He picked the winner when Huusela had just left the Falkland Islands. While the rest of the radicals were in the final stage, it was stuck in a sticky recession for several days. He once said, “For me, it can go on forever.” But then I ran out of sweets.