Michel Desjoyeaux Wins The Vendee Globe Race for a Second Time

His Time 84 days 03 hours 09 minutes

After winning the race in 2000-1 on PRB, eclipsing the young emerging British skipper Ellen MacArthur by 1 day 28 minutes, Desjoyeaux joined the 30 strong field for this race, the biggest entry ever round the world race in sailing history, as one of the clear favourites.

After a successful odyssey into big racing multihulls, Desjoyeaux returned to monohulls in 2007 when he won the highly competitive Solitaire du Figaro, going on to win the Transat Vabre in late 2007 on his return to the IMOCA Open 60 class in which the Vendée Globe  

Desjoyeaux crossed the finish on Sunday 1^st February at 15:11.08 GMT , after 84 days 03 hours 09 minutes of racing. Foncia completed the race in twenty knots of breeze under sunny skies, greeted by a massive armada of spectator boats before bekiung warmly welcomed by huge crowds who gathered along the waterfront and harbour area of Les Sables d’Olonne, where the race departed at 1202 GMT November 9^th 2008.  

The gruelling race has taken a high toll of the 30 skippers who started the non stop solo round the world race.  As Desjoyeaux finished this afternoon, nine are climbing northwards in the Atlantic ocean while some 7,700 miles behind two are expected to pass Cape Horn and leave the Pacific tomorrow.  Eighteen skippers have been forced to abandon. In early December Yann Eliès had to be evacuated off his Generali when he sustained a broken femur while working on the bow of his boat, and Jean Le Cam was rescued when he capsized off Cape Horn by Vincent Riou, the 2004-5 winner of the race.  

In reality the race for Desjycould not have started worse for the solo skipper from Port la Forêt: after setting out at 12h02 GMT on 9th November under grey skies and in a freshening south-westerly, Foncia having sailed 200 miles, had to return to les Sables d’Olonne.  A leak in the ballast tank  flooded the engine compartment and burnt out an electrical circuit… After a lightning pit stop, Michel Desjoyeaux set sail again on 11th November, some 360 miles or forty hours sailing behind the leaders, Peyron, Josse, Jourdain and Dick, who were already enjoying moderate downwind conditions in the Portuguese trade winds.  The gap would increase, as Michel had to deal with light airs off the Spanish coast: on 15^th November, Michel Desjoyeaux was 670.3 miles behind Loïck Peyron, the leader at that point, the biggest gap that he was to see in his Vendée Globe.