Vendee Globe: Yannick Bestaven wins ninth edition after time bonus
- Published
Yannick Bestaven was the third competitor home but was awarded time for helping to rescue Kevin Escoffier
Yannick Bestaven was declared the winner of the Vendee Globe sailing race after being handed a time bonus for his role in rescuing a fellow competitor.
He crossed the line in the solo round-the-world race third in 80 days, 13 hours, 59 minutes and 46 seconds.
But compensation of 10 hours and 15 minutes for helping rescue Kevin Escoffier saw Bestaven, 48, win by more than two hours from Charlie Dalin.
"I feel like I'm living a dream," said Bestaven, skipper of Maitre CoQ IV.
A third Frenchman, Louis Burton, completed the podium, with the top three crossing the finish line within eight hours of each other.
Germany's Boris Herrmann was in the reckoning for a podium finish on Wednesday but his hopes faded when he struck a fishing boat around 90 miles from the finish line.
Bestaven was one of the two skippers who led the fleet for the longest time - 26 days, or 32% of the race, which begins and ends in Les Sables d'Olonne, France.
He was ninth to reach the equator on his outward journey and eighth to reach the Cape of Good Hope off southern Africa on 2 December after being one of four skippers asked to locate Escoffier.
The Frenchman was rescued in heavy seas, more than 11 hours after his yacht broke in two on 30 November.
Bestaven passed Australia's Cape Leeuwin in third place and emerged first at Cape Horn off South America before heading north to the finish on the western coast of France.
An international jury announced time compensations for Herrmann, Bestaven and Jean le Cam after the closest finish in the race's history.
"I thought I would win at Cape Horn, but then I thought that if I finished 25th, then that would be good enough," said Bestaven.
"But I managed to pull myself together and regain some ground on Charlie [Dalin], enough to make up the time. It was an amazing regatta."
This was the ninth edition of the Vendee Globe, which is held every four years, and saw a record entry of 33 skippers.
Britain's Alex Thomson, one of the pre-event favourites, was forced to retire from the race in November after suffering damage to the starboard rudder of his boat, while fellow Briton Sam Davies' bid ended in December.
Pip Hare and Miranda Merron are still competing, with Hare currently 19th and Merron 22nd., external