Circumnavigating the globe: The unusual solo of adventurer Guirec Soudée
Tatjana Pokorny
· 27.12.2025
At 11.36 a.m. French time on 23 December, shortly before Christmas Eve, Guirec Soudée started his attempt to break the record for single-handed round-the-world sailing against the prevailing winds and currents. The record has been held for 21 years by Jean Luc Vand Den Heede with 122 days, 14 hours, 3 minutes and 49 seconds. "I'm embarking on something not easy, a kind of mission. It's pretty much exactly what I like," said Guirec Soudée before setting off.
A new adventure with plenty of Imoca experience
He has now passed the Canary Islands on the Ultim "Macsf" and is heading south in the Atlantic to the Cape Verde Islands. Guirec Soudée finished his first Vendée Globe on 8 February this year after 89 days, 20 hours and 16 minutes in 23rd place out of 40 challengers and fifth place among the non-foilers.
To prepare for the most famous solo race around the world, Guirec Soudée had competed in almost a dozen Imoca series races on board his Freelance.com before his Vendée Globe start, including prestigious transatlantic races such as the Route du Rhum, the Transat Jacques Vabre and the Transat CIC, as well as the Vendée Arctique, the Bermudes 1000 and Le Défi Azimut in 2022.
Guirec Soudée had already made headlines when he crossed the North Atlantic in a rowing boat in 107 days in 2021. Before joining Imoca, however, he had never taken part in a regatta in his life. The man, who travelled to Australia as an 18-year-old with no knowledge of English, initially lived on the streets there, travelled the country and worked as a fisherman on a shrimp boat, among other things, had joined the Imoca class as a rather unusual career changer.
The partner also supported Vendée Globe skipper Isabelle Joschke
However, Soudée, who grew up on the family-owned island of Yvinec opposite Plougrescant on the Côte-d'Armor and will celebrate his 34th birthday on 3 January, became famous for travelling the world for five years with a 30-foot steel sailboat and his hen Monique. YACHT visited him in 2019 and talked to him about his thirst for adventure.
Guirec Soudée bought the 19.70 metre sailing boat for his first big voyage in 2012, underwent an intensive refit himself and learnt to sail within a short space of time. More than 13 years later, Guirec Soudée is now an experienced sea sailor. He is currently taking on the most difficult record challenge that international sailing has to offer.
"We were delighted with Guirec Soudée's project to sail round the world in the opposite direction! It's a human and sporting challenge, characterised by a desire for performance, which fits in well with Macsf's values," said Stéphane Dessirier, CEO of the Macsf Group, explaining the commitment of his company, which sailing fans have also come to know as the sponsor of the French-German Isabelle Joschke.
The adventure: around the world from East to West
Stéphane Dessirier states: "Very few sailors have dared to embark on such a circumnavigation alone on such a large boat. We are delighted to be accompanying Guirec on this incredible adventure. It is very different from the Vendée Globe project, which we are continuing to pursue, but it also complements it very well."
On the evening of 27 December, after a good four days at sea, Guirec Soudée had the first 1500 or so nautical miles in the stern. He still had just under 20,580 to master with the Ultim "Macsf". In a windless phase Soudée reported here on his progress and Christmas at sea. The tracker for Guirec Soudée's circumnavigation can be found here.
