This month Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast tells the dramatic story of French offshore sailor and Vendee Globe winner, Charlie Dalin. On January fourteenth 2025 Charlie Dalin sailed across the finish line of the non stop solo round the world marathon in first place. For Charlie Dalin the offshore sailor, the win put him at the pinnacle of a very elite group. But for Charlie Dalin the man, it was the start of a whole new challenge.

Robertson sat down to talk with Charlie Dalin almost a year after that Vendee win. It's been a year since winning the biggest title in offshore sailing, but for Charlie, it's been a complicated time, because a year before crossing the Vendee start line, Charlie Dalin was diagnosed with cancer. He chose to keep it a secret. He raced under the remote supervision of a cancer specialist, and he won. The toughest solo offshore challenge in sailing. And in doing so he set a new monohull solo circumnavigation record that took a stunning ten days of the existing record.

Robertson and Dalin do discuss the cancer diagnosis, but this is not the defining part of Dalin's story. In this, Part 1, they discuss his early life, one as a young boy, then man, obsessed with the sport of sailing. His stories of chasing the dream are enchanting, from dusting the snow off the boats in the dinghy park, to a mis-communication with a complete stranger in the Yacht Haven in Cowes....

"So I thought I was going to go for another twilight sail, so I met him late afternoon....and he started showing me all this safety gear. and I knew British people were into their safety but I thought that was a bit much for a Friday night event. At the end of the safety tour of the boat he picks up a sailing map, deploys it and says 'so we're here going there!' and that's when I realised I was going to sail double handed with him to Brixham! I thought I was going to be back in my tent two hours later but no!!..... I thought I'd be back on Firday night and I was back on Sunday in Cowes!"

The duo discuss Charlie's route in to the IMOCA world, via the Figaro Solitaire circuit, and eventually discuss his two Vendee Globe campaigns. For the sailor interested in offshore sailing, this is a must listen chat, Charlie Dalin's Vendee stories are compelling. Of his repair in the Southern Ocean he compares the fix to that of Apollo 13's, as his team gathered around the available spares of his boat at the team base back in France to figure out a fix...:

"Everyone here in Mer Concept, they gathered, It was a bit like the Apollo 13 mission you know, they had a list of everything I had on board, and they said 'right, he's got this on board, what can we do', and they sent me this repair programme with so many steps to make this replacement bearing for the foil!"

Charlie's first Vendee Globe was then heavily effected by redress time given to other competitors involved in the dramatic rescue of PRB's Kevin Escoffier. It meant Charlie took the runner's up spot by a matter of hours, despite crossing the finish line first. It's a result he's not at all bitter about, and readily admits focusing on how he could have regained those lost hours, rather than the negative thoughts of a lost win.

The duo end Part One with his thoughts post that first Vendee Globe, but also looking forward to the 2024 edition, the edition he would go on to win....

This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via most popular podcast outlets. The podcast is produced and written by Tim Butt - for further enquires, please contact podcast@shirleyrobertson.com.

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