Charlie Dalin: Most recent Vendee Globe winner dies aged 42 after cancer battle

French sailor Charlie Dalin – the most recent winner of the non-stop round-the-world Vendee Globe race – has died aged 42 after a long battle with cancer.

Dalin was dealing with a rare form of gastrointestinal cancer as he won the 2024-25 edition of the Vendee Globe.

He covered the 24,300-mile (39,100km) route in a record time of 64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes and 49 seconds to beat Armel Le Cleac’h’s mark set in 2017 by more than nine days.

“It is with deep sadness that my family and I announce the passing of my husband, Charlie Dalin, following a long illness,” his wife Perrine Le Pape said in a message to AFP on Thursday.

Dalin was joined on his boat by his wife and their son Oscar after crossing the finish line to win the 10th edition of the Vendee Globe race in January 2025.

He had finished second in the previous edition of the gruelling solo race in 2020-21, crossing the line first before being relegated to second when runner-up Yannick Bestaven was given a time bonus for helping in the rescue of a rival.

Dalin later withdrew from the Transat Jacques Vabre race in late 2023 because of a medical issue.

It was not until last October that he revealed he had been diagnosed with a tumour a few days before the start of the race and had treatment before returning to competition.

He made the revelation in a book in which he chronicled his battle with cancer, saying that he received immunotherapy treatment throughout his record Vendee Globe victory.