After 221 days alone at sea, 73-year-old French sailor, Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, returned to where he started, Les Sables d’Olonne, France, winning the Golden Globe Race. He crossed the finish line at 0900 local time this morning aboard his Rustler 36, Matmut.  The veteran sailor now holds the record for being the oldest person to complete a solo round the world yacht race. 

Van Den Heed was met on his arrival by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who won the original 1968-1969 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race.  Of nine sailors who began the original race, only Knox-Johnson finished in 1969. Of the 18 sailors who began the current Golden Globe, four sailors are still competing to complete the race.

Van Den Heede led for most of the race, despite his boat being pitchpoled in early November in the Pacific in 11-meter seas and 65 knots of wind, resulting in rigging damage. Rather than put into port, he completed repairs at sea and rounded Cape Horn on November 28th.   

This is Van Den Heede’s sixth circumnavigation. He is no stranger to solo around the world races, having placed second in the 1986–87 BOC Challenge, third in the 1989-1990 Vendée Globe, second in the 1992-1993 Vendée Globe and third in the BOC Challenge 1994–95.

The remaining sailors in the Golden Globe Race are Mark Slats sailing a Rustler 36, Ohpen Maverick; Uku Randmaa sailing a Rustler 36, One and All;  Istvan Kopar sailing a Tradewind 35, Puffin;  Tapio Lehtinen sailing a Gaia 36, Asteria.  A fifth sailor, Igor Zaretskiy sailing an Endurance 35, Esmeralda, left the race for health reasons but plans to restart from Australia in October 2019 in the Chichester Class, which has no fixed time limit.