Charlie Dalin was diagnosed with a gastrointestinal stromal tumour in late 2023 Credit: AFP via Getty Images/Loic Venance
From The Telegraph by Tom Cary
Charlie Dalin set record time of 64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes and 49 seconds, all the while receiving immunotherap
The Vendée Globe round-the-world yacht race is known as the “Everest of the Seas” for good reason. Requiring competitors to sail alone for months on end, in isolated seas, performing all boat repairs unassisted, enduring extreme sleep deprivation, it is about as tough a physical and mental challenge as it is possible to imagine.
But the winner of the last edition, Frenchman Charlie Dalin, has now revealed that, at the same time as he was battling the elements, he was also undergoing treatment for cancer.
Dalin, 41, completed the toughest single-handed yacht race in the world in January this year in a record time of 64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes and 49 seconds despite a diagnosis that came roughly a year before the start.
Dalin was diagnosed with a gastrointestinal stromal tumour in late 2023.
“I had a tumour 15 centimetres long on my intestine,” Dalin told L’Equipe in an interview ahead of Thursday’s publication of his book La Force du Destin (The Force of Destiny) in which he recounts his illness and treatment.
“They removed it in February [2024], but it came back elsewhere in April.”
Dalin, who races for MerConcept, the Concarneau-based team founded by François Gabart, said he underwent immunotherapy throughout the race.
“I was lucky to tolerate the treatment very well during the Vendée Globe,” he said. “Continuing to do what I love helped me focus on something other than the disease.”
Dalin said he first felt symptoms in late 2023 during a training sail.
⛵️ CHARLIE DALIN REMPORTE LE VENDÉE GLOBE
— la chaine L'Équipe (@lachainelequipe) January 14, 2025
Le skipper pulvérise le record avec un tour du monde bouclé en 64 jours, 19 heures, 22 minutes et 52 secondes. Une performance exceptionnelle ! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/SpXfkMr88h
Dalin, who races for MerConcept, the Concarneau-based team founded by François Gabart, said he underwent immunotherapy throughout the race.
“I was lucky to tolerate the treatment very well during the Vendée Globe,” he said. “Continuing to do what I love helped me focus on something other than the disease.”
Dalin said he first felt symptoms in late 2023 during a training sail.
He underwent emergency scans and began treatment immediately, determined not to delay.
“There’s no logic to it. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I’m fit. Why me? No reason – just bad luck,” he said. “At first you see it as an injustice. Then you accept it.”
“There’s no logic to it. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I’m fit. Why me? No reason – just bad luck,” he said. “At first you see it as an injustice. Then you accept it.”
Dalin learnt of his cancer diagnosis roughly a year before the start of the non-stop Vendee Globe race Credit: Getty Images/Sebastien Salom-Gomis
In a separate interview with AFP, he added: “I stuck to my strategy, sleeping an average of 6½ hours per 24 hours, which is more than on my first Vendée. I had stomach pains, but I just told myself: you don’t have time to worry about that. The pains went away as quickly as they had come. By the time I got back to shore, I had almost forgotten about them.”
Dalin’s win in January was particularly well received because the Frenchman famously finished second in his first attempt at the Vendée four years earlier, despite having crossed the line first.
Dalin took line honours in Les Sables d’Olonne in January 2021, only for his compatriot, Yannick Bestaven, to be awarded the win despite crossing the line in third place.
Bestaven was awarded a time compensation of 10 hours and 15 minutes for his role in the dramatic rescue of fellow competitor Kevin Escoffier.
Such rescues are part and parcel of the Vendée Globe, a race in which competitors are sometimes so isolated their nearest human neighbours are on the International Space Station.
Such rescues are part and parcel of the Vendée Globe, a race in which competitors are sometimes so isolated their nearest human neighbours are on the International Space Station.
If you get into trouble, and you cannot rescue yourself, invariably it is your fellow competitors who need to come to your aid.
Jean Le Cam, the skipper who eventually rescued Escoffier after his boat “folded in two” on day 23 in 2020, was himself saved by Vincent Riou in 2009.
Jean Le Cam, the skipper who eventually rescued Escoffier after his boat “folded in two” on day 23 in 2020, was himself saved by Vincent Riou in 2009.
Briton Pete Goss famously rescued Raphaël Dinelli in the 1996 Vendée Globe.
Alex Thomson was rescued by Mike Golding in the Velux 5 Oceans race in 2006.
Briton Pip Hare lost her mast in the Southern Ocean in the last Vendée Globe, but was able to fashion a makeshift rig before “limping” 800 nautical miles to Melbourne.
Briton Pip Hare lost her mast in the Southern Ocean in the last Vendée Globe, but was able to fashion a makeshift rig before “limping” 800 nautical miles to Melbourne.
She penned an emotional column for Telegraph Sport about the experience.
Of 240 race starts in the history of the Vendée Globe, only 146 have resulted in a classified finish.
Dalin remains under medical treatment, but hopes to rebuild strength after losing about 10 kilograms. “It’s stabilised now, thankfully. I just need to regain some muscle,” he said.
The sailor said Macif, his sponsor, has confirmed its continued support, with future plans due to be announced on October 13.
Of 240 race starts in the history of the Vendée Globe, only 146 have resulted in a classified finish.
Dalin remains under medical treatment, but hopes to rebuild strength after losing about 10 kilograms. “It’s stabilised now, thankfully. I just need to regain some muscle,” he said.
The sailor said Macif, his sponsor, has confirmed its continued support, with future plans due to be announced on October 13.
He may attend the start of the Transat Jacques-Vabre later this month, but is focused for now on recovery.
“To be at the start of the Vendée Globe, that was incredible. A year earlier I was in hospital, unsure if I would live,” he said. “Winning it – after all that – felt like I’d already won once before.”
He also told Voiles et Voiliers: “Frankly, if a screenwriter had imagined a script around the Vendée, he would never have dared to write the story of a sailor with cancer, who returns to the race of his dreams and wins it after crossing the line first.”
“To be at the start of the Vendée Globe, that was incredible. A year earlier I was in hospital, unsure if I would live,” he said. “Winning it – after all that – felt like I’d already won once before.”
He also told Voiles et Voiliers: “Frankly, if a screenwriter had imagined a script around the Vendée, he would never have dared to write the story of a sailor with cancer, who returns to the race of his dreams and wins it after crossing the line first.”
Links :
- NYTimes : Charlie Dalin won Vendee Globe in record time while undergoing cancer treatment
- VendeeGlobe : Discovering Dalin
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