Swiss sailor, Alan Roura, 23, is the youngest competitor in the Vendee Globe single-handed ’round the world race. American, Rich Wilson, 66, is the oldest. Both recently rounded Cape Horn, with Roura roughly 12 hours ahead of Wilson. The two sailors are 13th and 14th in the current 18 boat fleet. Twenty nine competitors began the race but 11 have now dropped out.

This is not the first time that Rich Wilson can claim the honor of being the oldest sailor in the Vendee Globe. As we posted a year ago, in 2009, Wilson was the oldest sailor in the Vendee Globe at 58. He finished ninth of the thirty boats which began the race. Wilson was the only American in the eleven boats which finished. This year, Wilson and Roura are also the only American and Swiss competing in the current race.

AAlan Roura, while the youngest in the fleet, is still highly experienced. He started sailing with his family as a child, spending twelve years traveling across the Atlantic and Pacific on their 43′ sailboat, Ludmilla. A veteran of four major Transatlantic races, this is his first round the world race.

By Thursday, Armel Le Cléac’h and Alex Thomson are expected to cross the finish line in Les Sables d’Olonne, France ending a tightly contested round the world race between the two leaders.