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By Vendee Globe
Conrad Colman, the Kiwi skipper of MS Amlin, completed his second Vendée Globe today when he crossed the finish line off Les Sables d’Olonne at 04 06 33 hrs (UTC).
He takes 21st place in an elapsed time of 85d 16h 04min, 13 minutes after 20th placed Jean Le Cam. In the biggest and most competitive Vendée Globe fleet ever, Colman has completed an assured, accomplished race on a modest budget on a boat which he extensively refitted and made reliable himself with a very small team.
After a strategic error in the first section of the race, Colman fought back, pulling back hundreds of miles by pushing hard and making some better decisions.
And so while he might have liked to have been a little closer to the top two non-foiling boats his overall result is excellent and adds to the spectacular finish he achieved in 2017 when he was dismasted 700 miles from the finish but completed his race under jury rig. And for the second time, Colman has completed his race using no fossil fuels.
If the tone of a Vendée Globe is decided in the first hour of racing, then Colman got a kind of early hint his race was not going to be easy. A few minutes before the starting gun, on November 10, a piece of rope got stuck in his propeller, preventing him from disembarking his crew. The skipper of MS Amlin had to wait to cross the line, and finally set off.
But unbowed three hours later, while the fleet was largely becalmed, Colman came back strong and even took the lead in the ranking - in itself a reward for the hundreds of long hours of work he put into transforming an IMOCA which had something of an unlucky streak in the gruelling race to date.
As Kito de Pavaant’s Groupe Bel it had to retire early before it nearly broke in half forcing Thomas Ruyant to retire into New Zealand in 2016. In 2020, whilst Max Sorel finished in 10th place he had to make substantial reinforcing repairs to the deck to finish the race safely.
However, Colman gave the boat a new lease of life.
Conrad Colman finished the gruelling race in 21st position. Photos / Vendée Globe
He attacked down the South Atlantic in 32nd position, and celebrated his 41st birthday despite a total blackout on board. A few days later, Colman had a big scare at Cape Finisterre with his large gennaker falling into the water, at night, in 40 knots.
The Indian Ocean is tough and Colman went south to shorten the route. He climbed to the 27th position and, at the same time had to climb the mast to repair his lazy bag battered by storms. In the Pacific, he went for an unusual option, pointing his bow alone towards his native country to avoid the calm zone. Ten days later, he came face-to-face with an iceberg (immortalising the chilling encounter with a drone).
Colman rounded Cape Horn in 22nd position.
"My fourth Cape Horn and certainly my most beautiful passage! It’s magnificent, and it’s proof that even in light winds, dreams come true,” he exclaimed, before weathering a storm in the Falklands that pushed him along the coast of South America.
After an exhausting Doldrums where he cooled off with a quick swim to check the condition of his keel, he crossed the equator in 22nd position, before battling with Le Cam in the final days - moving up as high as 20th, eight years after his 16th place.
