Thomas Ruyant, 7th in the Vendée Globe 2024
by Vendée Globe media 24 Jan 2025 21:54 PST
25 January 2025
The skipper of VULNERABLE, Thomas Ruyant (FRA), trains on April 16, 2024 off the coast of Lorient, France © Eloi Stichelbaut / Polaryse
This Saturday, January 25, at 04:49 UTC, after 75 days, 16 hours and 47 minutes at sea Thomas Ruyant, solo skipper of VULNERABLE, crossed the finish line of the Vendée Globe in 7th position off Les Sables d'Olonne. On his third Vendée Globe Ruyant started as one of the podium favourites. A fast, dynamic and smart sailor from Dunkirk in the north of France, his TR Racing team stable fielded two boats named VULNERABLE, his own latest generation Koch-Finot Conq design and the Verdier boat sailed by Brit Sam Goodchild.
Known as the King of the Transats because of his record on the Autumn sprints from Europe to the Caribbean, Ruyant won the last two Transat Jacques Vabre races and the 2022 Route du Rhum but against the toughest, most competitive Vendée Globe fleet ever, Ruyant suffered from a few niggling technical problems, not least losing his workhorse J2 headsail in a squall in the South Atlantic which rendered him compromised in race for the top placings in the peloton, behind the runaway top three.
For 43 year old Ruyant who finished sixth on the last Vendée Globe even after losing his port foil and retiring into New Zealand out of the 2016-17 race when his boat suffered a major structural failure, this seventh is not quite where he hoped to finish, even in this white hot fleet, but he put in a solid performance all the way round. He was fast out of the blocks and sailed cleverly down the light, fickle breezes of the North Atlantic to carry a slender lead across the Equator after making the best choice in the Doldrums.
In the Southern Ocean, the intensity increased. Between storms, electrical blackouts and technical breakdowns, Ruyant really had to push his limits. In the Indian Ocean, like others he chose to be prudent rather than push into the big depression which was the passport to the podium for winner Charlie Dalin and third placed Seb Simon.
He was in good shape, fighting valiantly in the peloton on the climb up the Atlantic. Violent squalls, including one at over 55 knots, put his boat to the test causing irreparable damage to his J2 (headsail). Fighting to the end he managed to hold off Justine Mettraux on the climb from north of the Azores to take a well deserved, hard won seventh tonight.
A meaningful IMOCA
Beyond the race, his IMOCA, flying the flag for vulnerability, has engaged hundreds of thousands of people. This unique project has helped raise awareness of the latent strengths that vulnerability can reveal. It has also brought together hundreds of economic, associative and institutional leaders around a common conviction: without changing our perspective on the vulnerability of Humans and the Planet, no lasting change is possible. And so although this Vendée Globe did not give Ruyant the honors he sought, it remains an enthralling high performance adventure marked by an ability to overcome challenges with calm, commitment and professionalism.
Race in figures
Arrival time (UTC)Saturday 25 January 2025 at 04h49
Race time75d 16h 47min 27s
Difference from first10d 21h 24min 38s
Thomas Ruyant covered theoretical course of 23?906 miles at an average speed of 13.16 knots.
Thomas Ruyant covered an actual course of 29?360 miles at an average speed of 16.16 knots
Race highlights
In the Top 10 since the start, Ruyant quickly noticed a small leak at the front of his IMOCA. The pump is in action on board, which tires the skipper of VULNERABLE.
Off the Canaries, Ruyant is 11th and takes advantage of a drop in wind to plug the small leak that forces him to bail regularly.
The entry into the Doldrums is not easy for the skipper from Dunkirk who took advantage of his shift to the West to come back strongly to the head of the fleet. For the first time since the start, he takes the lead in the ranking and crosses the equator first.
The pace accelerates in the South Atlantic, while the leaders catch a depression that pushes them straight on the road. The speeds are high, "we feel like a small animal, in survival mode", explains Ruyant!
Thomas Ruyant rounds the Cape of Good Hope in 2nd position chasing in pursuit of Charlie Dalin, but closely followed by Yoann Richomme and Sébastien Simon.
A little slow in his first miles in the Indian Ocean, Ruyant is dropped by the leading trio, and is worried about the large depression that is forming in front of his bow. Compared to the first three, the timing is not ideal and forces him to make a safety decision, and climb to the North to avoid the bulk of the sea core.
Joined by Yoann Richomme in the North of the center of the depression, the two sailors are working hard in the storm, but the gap with the two leaders is widening.
Ruyant rounds Cape Leeuwin in 4th position, trying to catch up with the first three after Yoann Richomme accelerated. But the lack of wind south of Australia prevents him from accelerating, and Ruyant is caught by Jérémie Beyou and Nicolas Lunven before passing into the Pacific.
General blackout aboard VULNERABLE! Big scare for Thomas Ruyant, who had overloaded the onboard batteries a bit too much.
VHF chat between Ruyant and Nicolas Lunven, side by side in the middle of the Pacific! The race is intense in the trio they form with Jérémie Beyou.
Ruyant rounds the legendary Cape Horn for the second time in his life, not without emotion! "I found myself talking to my boat, it's never happened to me before," he says, while he is in 4th position, 200 miles ahead of his competitors.
Caught in a squall at over 55 knots off the coast of Uruguay, Thomas sees his J2 shredded to pieces. "I've never had anything like that," he says, still in shock, and also handicapped by damage to his first reef.
Caught by his pursuers, Ruyant opts for the offshore option to cross Cabo Frio, but loses ground upwind.
After having suffered a major depression off the Azores, the skipper of VULNERABLE is going back up the Portugal coast to fight with Justine Mettraux and his stablemate, Sam Goodchild, who suffered a tear in his mainsail a few days earlier.
After 75 days at sea, Ruyant crosses the finish line in Les Sables d'Olonne in tough conditions, in 7th position.
Passage of the channel expected around 11.55 a.m UTC for Thomas Ruyant, just after Nicolas Lunven.