HIS RACE IN NUMBERS
Arrival: 20:17:22
Race time: 10 days 07 hours 15 minutes 22 seconds
Gap to the winner: 1 day 17 hours 09 minutes 32 seconds
Gap to previous finisher: 1 day 10 hours 44 minutes 11 seconds
Distance sailed: 3,062.73 nautical miles
Average speed: 12.4 knots
HIS RACE IN BRIEF
For his first season in the IMOCA class, it is difficult to imagine a more demanding learning environment.
By setting course for the Arctic Circle, Nicolas d’Estais was preparing to discover an entirely new world: the High North, with its endless daylight, successive low-pressure systems and sometimes challenging seas. An adventure worthy of the ambitions that underpin his Vendée Globe project.
The only daggerboard boat in a fleet made up exclusively of foilers, the Café Joyeux skipper knew he would need to find other ways to stay in contention. His greatest asset? The quality of his sailing.
Throughout the race, he focused on building a clean, consistent and measured campaign. Often committed to the most direct route, he sought to seize every opportunity without ever losing sight of the essential objective: making his boat go as fast as possible, for as long as possible.
That approach enabled him to remain competitive throughout many phases of the race and demonstrated his ability to extract the maximum from his IMOCA. Whether in weather transitions or more demanding conditions, he sailed with commitment, accuracy and determination, never giving up on pushing forward.
Like the seven other skippers who completed this edition, he crossed the Arctic Circle and became part of a historic first for the IMOCA class. It was a highly symbolic milestone, one that he embraced with the enthusiasm that has characterised his campaign from the outset.
Because this Vendée Arctique will also leave him with memories of a remarkable voyage. The northern light, the Irish coastline, the landscapes glimpsed near Iceland and the long days spent immersed in an environment that was both wild and fascinating all added a dimension that went far beyond pure sporting performance. Even during the most demanding moments, the simple pleasure of sailing never disappeared. From a sporting perspective, this race also marks an important turning point.
Over the course of the event, Nicolas discovered that he was capable of handling situations he had never previously encountered aboard his 60-foot monohull. Accumulated fatigue, demanding weather, technical issues to resolve and persistently damp conditions all contributed to enriching his experience and strengthening his confidence. Yet this growing confidence is accompanied by a healthy sense of humility. The race reminded him just how capable both the ocean and these boats remain of springing surprises, even when everything appears to be under control. A valuable lesson for a sailor who views this Vendée Arctique as a particularly significant step on his path towards the Vendée Globe.
Sixth across the finish line, Nicolas d’Estais leaves Les Sables d’Olonne with far more than a result. He takes away a wealth of experience, solid reference points, renewed confidence in his project and the certainty that he has reached an important milestone. A defining step in the construction of his IMOCA adventure.
HIS FIRST WORDS
“I’d describe this Vendée Arctique as an adventure with a capital A. We sailed to places that are truly remote, far from everything. When something breaks up there, you know there’s nobody to rely on but yourself. At the same time, it remains a race. I pushed hard throughout the event and managed to set the commitment level very high. I’m pleased that I succeeded in combining those two dimensions: adventure and performance.
I’m taking a huge amount of confidence away from this experience because it’s probably the closest thing there is to preparing for a Vendée Globe. But that confidence also comes with a great deal of humility. There were moments when I felt very small in the face of the elements. Sometimes you quickly realise that you’re not in control of everything. This race reminded me just how much stronger the ocean remains than we are.
The boat was incredible. I’m convinced she can take me around the world. In fact, I already feel as though she’s taken me to a version of the end of the world. She’s a boat with a huge amount of experience, having already completed several circumnavigations before I took over. You can feel that experience and robustness. She hardly ever let me down. We only had one disagreement when the rudder lifted in around 30 knots of wind. I found myself knocked down for a good twenty minutes trying to sort everything out. Afterwards, we made peace and everything went very well again!
Crossing the Arctic Circle will inevitably remain one of the strongest memories. Up there, the damp cold gets right into your bones. I actually woke up from a nap because I was cold inside the boat. Visibility was very limited. When I crossed 66° North, I genuinely felt as though I was at the end of the world. Those are images and sensations that will stay with me for a very long time.
From a sporting perspective, I knew the boats ahead of me had greater outright potential than mine. On the other hand, I felt I had something to fight for against Arnaud and Manu. I have a very robust boat that I trust completely, and I knew that if I found the right level of commitment and made the right weather decisions, there was an opportunity to be seized.
I spent a lot of time at the chart table. The route that allowed me to overtake Arnaud on the way north was something I had imagined even before the start. When I saw that the scenario was becoming possible, I kept it in the back of my mind and, in the end, it paid off. I felt that I sailed exactly the race I wanted to sail.
Today, what stands out most is an immense sense of achievement. I’m proud to have taken Café Joyeux that far, proud of the work accomplished by the entire team and very happy to have completed this adventure.
Of all the races I’ve done, this is probably the one I’ve enjoyed the most. Because it resembles the Vendée Globe more than any other. You leave the usual scenarios behind. It’s almost like starting from a blank sheet of paper. You have to build your route, deal with successive low-pressure systems and embrace the unknown. The adventure remains ever-present, and that is precisely what I loved about it.”
