Prevented from sailing for more than a month by a medical problem, Charlie Dalin, one of the favorites for the next Vendée Globe, announced on Tuesday that he would be able to return to the helm of his Imoca class sailboat.
“Currently undergoing treatment, the medical team has authorized me to resume sailing and this allows me to project myself again towards my goals,” declared the 39-year-old Norman sailor. “Next year will be a big season (…) I’m already looking forward to it.”
At the end of October, the skipper of the Imoca Macif had to give up at the last minute from taking the start of the Transat Jacques-Vabre, a double-handed race leaving from Le Havre towards Martinique, due to a “medical problem” which appeared shortly before but not specified.
In a statement sent to AFP on Tuesday, he only specified that it was a “digestive medical problem”. When contacted, its sponsor, Macif, did not wish to give further details, but assured that it was able to sail again. The next sporting events for Dalin, second in the last Vendée Globe and the Route du Rhum, are the Transat CIC (April 2024) and the New York Vendée (May 2024), the last two solo qualifying races before “the Everest of the Seas” in November.
Launched in June 2023, the Imoca Macif (18 meter monohull) already won the Fastnet Race this summer, and the boat continued to sail during its main helmsman’s break. “We are very happy with the behavior of the boat and its potential,” said Guillaume Combescure, technical director of the sailboat, which is preparing to enter construction for three months from December 7 in Concarneau (Finistère).