France's Violette Dorange is the youngest-ever finisher in the Vendée Globe solo round-the-world race
French sailor Violette Dorange completes the Vendée Globe at the age of 23.
News from PARIS
9th March 2025.
The Vendée Globe Sailing Race Route
Violette Dorange completed her first Vendée Globe race at 10:39hrs (UTC) Sunday 9 February, becoming the youngest ever finisher on the solo round the world race at the age of 23. Dorange takes 25th place after 90 days, 22 hrs, 37 minutes at sea.
The youngest skipper in this Vendée Globe had her fair share of problems. In the Indian Ocean, she completely dismantled and reassembled her pedestal ‘coffee grinder’ winch, which took seven hours.
Then things got tough south of Cape Leeuwin, where she passed in 26th position in tough conditions. In a 50-knot squall, the runner block broke. “I thought the mast was going to break in two. I was extremely lucky,” she said. Later facing a major engine failure that reduced her energy generation capacity.
Her accomplishment comes some 24 years after the 2000/01 second-place finish of the legendary British sailor Ellen MacArthur, then aged 24, who completed her race in 94 days, 4 hours, 25 minutes.
Read the Old-English Article
“Madamoiselle Violette Dorange of FRANCE, hath achieved a feat of wonderous daring…”
Bibliography
Sailweb (2025). Violette Dorange is the youngest-ever finisher on the Vendée Globe solo round-the-world race. 9 February 2025. Available at: https://www.sailweb.co.uk/2025/02/09/vendee-globe-violette-dorange-youngest-ever-finisher-on-the-solo-round-the-world-race/ (Accessed: 22 March 2025).
Vendée Globe (no date). What is the Vendée Globe?. Available at: https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/what-vendee-globe (Accessed: 22 March 2025).
