Vendée Globe: Beyou and Meilhat celebrate, "unprecedented conditions" for Herrmann

Both in Les Sables-d'Olonne and among the Vendée Globe participants, the waves were high today. It is waves of emotion and the waves of the Atlantic, coupled with stormy winds, that ensure that pleasure and sorrow remain very close together in the solo race around the world.

Jérémie Beyou and Paul Meilhat experienced their final in Les Sables-d'Olonne in wind and rain, but that didn't stop the fans or the skippers from cheering. The scenes shown during the live broadcast from the French start and finish harbour of the Vendée Globe were beautiful.

There are nice fourth places and not so nice fourth places. This is a nice fourth place." Jérémie Beyou

Jérémie Beyou was the first of the two Friday finishers to cross the finish line during the night. He took fourth place in his fifth Vendée Globe. Anyone who was worried that the pre-start co-favourite would be too upset about missing out on the podium was pleasantly surprised. The 48-year-old enjoyed his parade and was smiling, charming and refreshingly open. Beyou then said: "It's the challenges that make this race so worthwhile. I am incredibly proud of this fourth place."

Jérémie Beyou is a proud Vendée Globe fourth-place finisher

After arriving at the dock in Port Olona, the "Charal" skipper reflected on the process he had to go through in this race: "At some point, I had to realise that I could no longer reach the podium. That was hard to accept." But he never gave up: "I had been travelling in Figaro mode since the Indian Ocean."

Beyou said of the British "Vulnerable" skipper Sam Goodchild, with whom he had fought such a thrilling duel until his mainsail broke: "These guys, Nico Lunven, Sam Goodchild, they are champions. Sam Goodchild is quite a monster. What he did there with his mainsail... it's crazy. He sailed very well. He's a great sailor like Nico, like Paul, like all the sailors in this group. The standard was very high."

Click here for the race tracker and the intermediate results.

With his time of 74 days, 12 hours, 56 minutes and 54 seconds, Beyou was almost six days faster than Charlie Dalin four years ago, when he crossed the finish line first. In this race, Beyou was 9 days, 17 hours, 34 minutes and 5 seconds off Dalin's new fabulous record. "Charal" covered the 29,048.9 nautical miles with an average speed of 16.2 knots. In contrast, Paul Meilhat, who followed him in fifth place, has almost 1,000 nautical miles less in the stern of his "Biotherm" with a total of only 28,051 nautical miles over ground. He achieved an average speed of 15.6 knots.

Race management makes storm gate a target

The race organisers activated the "Ligne Tempête" for the "Biotherm" skipper for the first time on Friday afternoon. The storm gate lies in front of the usual finish line and is a compulsory gate that can be converted into a finish line in heavy weather. The line is longer and further out than the classic finish line of the Vendée Globe so as not to force the sailors too close to the coast in stormy winds. However, Paul Meilhat's timing enabled him to enter the channel directly after Jérémie Beyou.

The 42-year-old Meilhat has reached the Vendée Globe finish line for the first time at his second attempt. After the unfortunate break eight years ago, the "Biotherm" skipper crossed the finish line on Friday afternoon in an overjoyed fifth place, around nine hours after Jérémie Beyou. His time for the successful solo around the world: 74 days, 22 hours, 38 minutes, 15 seconds.

With one of the smaller budgets in the top 15, a private bank loan for a pair of new foils (the same as Boris Herrmann's) and plenty of competitive spirit, the "Biotherm" dynamo started his second Vendée Globe. His home port is Lorient, where he lives with his wife and ophthalmologist Stéphanie and two primary school-age boys. After studying sport and many years in Olympic sailing classes such as the Laser and 49er, Meilhat entered the Imoca class in 2015.

Meilhat's declaration of love for the Vendée Globe

His Vendée Globe premiere in 2016/2017 was cancelled after the "SMA" suffered severe keel problems and was officially abandoned on Christmas Eve 2016. He was in third place at the time. He then made a name for himself with race wins at the Route du Rhum and other successes. Now highly favoured as a co-skipper by top riders such as Charlie Dalin and Sam Davies, Paul Meilhat has spent four years building up his own small, but excellent project with Team Biotherm.

"I learnt to sail with the new foils during the race. I knew that they would be good for me in the long term. That was a strength," the 42-year-old "Biotherm" skipper summarised after his arrival. It was also "incredible" to "be able to compete side by side with the boats in contrast to my other Vendée Globe", said the competitor Meilhat. He is now "absolutely tired and knackered", but the race was "never boring".

"I never asked myself what I was doing out there. It was full throttle the whole time," explained Meilhat. He continued: "We built up our whole philosophy over four years, made decisions four years ago that worked. That's just brilliant!" The night before crossing the finish line on Friday lunchtime was once again very difficult because he had a storm front behind him.

The Vendée Globe is fantastic!" Paul Meilhat

Meilhat reported: "There were gusts of 40 knots. I made a few crash gybes. It wasn't easy, but things calmed down this morning. I knew I still had a bit of time before the canal run. So I thought about the race. What we have achieved. I'm really proud of myself, proud of the team. The boat is in pretty good shape. And now I'm just happy to see human faces. Because I haven't seen people for two or three months. It's so nice to see my friends, my family and the team. I'm super happy! Thank you!"

Purist Paul Meilhat was not one of the top favourites before the start of the race, but made the most of his opportunities with good strategic decisions, a gripping repair performance and mental strength. He used "Biotherm's" advantages in light and medium winds very skilfully at times when others were running out of breath. In the end, he was able to position himself better in the duel with Nico Lunven for sixth place on the Biscay final sprint.

The sea challenges the still active Vendée Globe skippers

The fact that Meilhat sailed his solo from a deliberately open cockpit of the 2022 Verdier design "Biotherm", which has been tried and tested in the Ocean Race, made him feel at ease: "This is crucial for me to stay in contact with the sea that I love so much." This sea has recently been a major challenge for the skippers following Beyou and Meilhat at sea on Friday.

Nico Lunven, who was in sixth place heading for the finish, knew a thing or two about it. In a never-ending jibing marathon, the "Holcim - PRB" skipper fought his way towards redemption in stormy winds. He was followed in turn by Thomas Ruyant, Justine Mettraux and Sam Goodchild. All four boats appeared to be lined up in single file across the Bay of Biscay on the afternoon of 24 January: Lunven still had around 50 nautical miles to go to the finish. A good 110 nautical miles behind him, Thomas Ruyant on "Vulnerable" defended his seventh place.

Justine Mettraux has recently lost some ground on Ruyant. However, the Swiss "TeamWork - Team Snef" skipper defended her eighth place against the second "Vulnerable" man Sam Goodchild, who continued to attack even with a damaged mainsail.

Storm warning spoils Davies' Vendée Globe final

Sam Davies was close to tears on this eventful Friday when she announced via video that she had made her decision on how to deal with the storm warning for Sunday and Monday. The "Inititatives - Cœur" skipper has already slowed down her journey. "I already pulled the handbrake during the night. The frustrating thing is that I could sail to the finish line, but the conditions would be so difficult after crossing the line that I couldn't possibly sail into Les Sables-d'Olonne."

Sam Davies continued: "The forecasts show that there could be 40 to 50 knots of wind. That's very dangerous this close to the coast. I had to make a decision now, then it would have been very difficult to turn back and wait here. I know it's safer here, even though it's bumpy. I'm so disappointed not to arrive on Sunday and extend my race time now." This could also be seen in the tracker, as her boat was moving in the "wrong" direction at times.

Good seamanship is my priority." Sam Davies

Sam Davies explained her difficult decision: "I have to look after my boat, which has almost completed a whole circumnavigation. I know that being in a hurry to get home at any cost can lead to accidents. Now I have to find another weather window to get to Les Sables-d'Olonne safely. That's not easy. On Tuesday, for example, we have ten metres of swell in the Bay of Biscay. That's not practical... All in all: 'Race mode off, adventure mode on'."

Boris Herrmann observes the development

"Malizia - Seaexplorer" skipper Boris Herrmann, who was now almost "on a par" with her as a result of Davies' decision, wanted to continue on his course for the time being and observe the wind and weather developments. He described his current challenge as an "exercise in patience", saying on his sixth circumnavigation: "I've never experienced anything like it." The 43-year-old sailed his Imoca on Friday with a broken port foil on the "good bow" in moderate winds.

However, he is also keeping a close eye on the threatening weather and wind scenario for his final race. Nevertheless, Team Malizia's skipper remained true to his course for the time being, saying: "I will continue sailing as I am now. I'm around the Canary Islands. So there's still a long way to go. The forecasts could change. As for the wind strength and wave height at Cape Finistèrre: I've never experienced conditions like this in my life. I don't know what to make of it..."

UPDATE: here is the latest clip from Boris Herrmann from Friday evening:

REPLAY! Click here for the afternoon programme with Pip Hare and former Malizia sailor Christopher Pratt in the studio with presenter Andi Robertson as well as beautiful pictures of the recent finishes and welcome celebrations: