French ocean racer Charlie Dalin has revealed that he was diagnosed with cancer in 2023, and completed – and won – the gruelling 2024/25 Vendée Globe while continuing treatment for the illness.

Dalin, skipper of the IMOCA Macif Santé Prévoyance had withdrawn from the 2023 Transat Jacques Vabre transatlantic race for unspecified medical issues. He confirmed in his autobiography La Force du Destin (‘The Force of Destiny’), released tomorrow, that he was in fact diagnosed with a gastrointestinal stromal tumour that autumn.

Despite this, Dalin went on to qualify for the Vendée Globe, completing the Transat CIC and return New York Vendée-Les Sables Race in the summer of 2024.

Dalin then delivered one of the most impressive winning performances in the solo non-stop around the world Vendée Globe race’s history, pushing his IMOCA to blistering speeds and maintaining a ferociously relentless work rate throughout – famously riding a low pressure system in the South Indian Ocean to pull ahead of his close rival Yoann Richomme on Paprec Arkéa.

He finished the race in 64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes, and 49 seconds, demolishing the previous course record by 10 days.

Charlie Dalin cancer diagnosis

Dalin reports that he first noticed symptoms in late 2023 during a training sail, and received his diagnosis after emergency scans.

The skipper, who sails for MerConcept, did not publicly announce that he was going through cancer treatment, though he and his team adapted his training due to the weight loss and fatigue he suffered.

Dalin was first to finish in the previous 2020/21 Vendée Globe, but fellow competitor Yannick Bestaven was awarded the race win following receiving time in redress for his part in the search and rescue of Kevin Escoffier, whose boat PRB broke up off South Africa.

Before the 2024 race Dalin had spoken about how he came to terms with the unique emotional rollercoaster of crossing his first ever Vendée Globe in first place, but knowing his victory wouldn’t last.

Dalin’s 2024 Vendée Globe

With a purpose built Verdier-designed IMOCA and – outwardly at least – apparently perfect preparation until the 2023 Transat Jacques Vabre, Dalin was a hot favourite for the 2024 Vendée Globe.

But privately, his participation was in doubt until the last minute, when a scan in November 2024 confirmed that his tumour had not grown and he was able to join the record-sized fleet on the start line in Les Sables d’Olonne. During the race he managed the illness with daily medication, and prioritised rest when possible.

“I stuck to my strategy, sleeping an average of six and half hours per 24 hours, which is more than on my first Vendée,” he told French news agency AFP, in one of several interviews ahead of Thursday’s publication of his book.

“I had stomach pains, but I just told myself: you don’t have time to worry about that. The pains went away as quickly as they had come,” he added. “By the time I got back to shore, I had almost forgotten about them.”

Speaking about his race post-diagnosis, Dalin revealed that he felt very relaxed during his second Vendée.

“On November 10, 2024, the day of the Vendée Globe start, I was incredibly relaxed. We often hear that taking part in the Vendée is already a victory. In my case, that was exactly it! Because a year earlier, I didn’t even know if I would survive,” he told French sailing magazine Voiles et Voiliers.

“In fact, during a chat during the trip up the Atlantic, when I was neck and neck with Yoann (Richomme), I said: ‘In the end, it’s just a game.’

“Many people thought it was a bluff, thinking it didn’t correspond to my usual state of mind. But no, I was really relaxed, happy to be on my boat, battling for the final victory.”

Incredible story

Dalin had considered going public with his diagnosis during the media frenzy after winning the Vendée Globe, but when offered a book deal decided that would be the better way to tell his story.

“Frankly, if a screenwriter had imagined a script around the Vendée, he would never have dared to write the story of a sailor with cancer, who returns to the race of his dreams and wins it after crossing the line first, but finishes second in his first participation…

He would have been told that it was too much, that it didn’t make sense. And yet, that’s exactly what happened,” Dalin told Voiles et Voiliers.

Dalin’s recovery

Shortly after the finish in February this year, Charlie Dalin underwent surgery and is now focusing on his recovery. “I had a tumour 15 centimetres long on my intestine. They removed it in February, but it came back elsewhere in April,” he explained to French newspaper L’Equipe.

British skipper Sam Goodchild is racing Macif in next month’s Transat Café L’or (formerly the Transat Jacques Vabre), with new IMOCA co-skipper Loïs Berrehar. The Macif team will be making a further announcement about their sailing squad later this month.

All of us at Yachting World sincerely wish Charlie and his family the very best for the future. Charlie and his team generously gave me the opportunity to sail aboard his incredible Macif in September 2024, and it was an absolute privilege to witness him at the helm. We hope to see him back there very soon.

Although he’s the crew boss and watch captain of 100ft Maxi yacht Scallywag in his own right, Pete Cumming is always eager to learn from the best. After operating as a driver/trimmer on board Volvo 70 Tschüss 2’s line honours victory in the Transatlantic Race 2025 in June, he was inspired by the calm leadership of watch captains Neal McDonald and Stu Bannatyne.

“Neal and Stu are really good at making sure everyone on the boat is connected with the decision-making process, which keeps everyone motivated and all pushing towards the same objective. Which might seem really obvious, but I’ve been on plenty of boats where the front end of the boat has no idea what the people at the back are thinking.

“The moment Neal or Stu come off watch, they’re checking in with the navigator, Campbell Field, just getting an overview of what’s going on before they go to sleep. Are there going to be any sails challenges coming up in the next four hours while they’re off?”

Done right, the watch captain spans many roles, from co-ordinating the boat handling up on deck to making sure everybody on their watch is physically and mentally able to work to their best within a demanding and maybe even sometimes hostile working environment.

Here are Pete’s five key tips for being the best watch captain you can be.

Staying in the loop

I think it was Brad Butterworth who said that when a team breaks down, lunatics start running the asylum.

When there’s no communication through the boat, and maybe a lack of trust, you get in situations when the crew suddenly decide they’re going to call the gybe because the navigator’s asleep and you don’t want to disturb him. With the seasoned pros this lack of comms is never allowed to happen.

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It’s the watch captain’s job to make sure the chain of communication is always operating smoothly. Splinter groups develop on boats all the time, but if you can work with the navigator and the guys on deck so that everyone’s got buy-in to the strategy and the decision-making process, it makes the world of difference to the atmosphere on board, and ultimately to the team’s performance.

Earn respect

To be an effective watch captain you’ve got to earn the respect of the people around you, and that generally only comes with experience, a sense of competence and a good deal of self-confidence without arrogance.
If someone questions you, you’ve got to be able to cope with that and not look weak with your decision-making. Sometimes there can be big egos on board and you have to be able to stand your ground. You also need to lead from the front and occasionally show the guys that you’re prepared to get your hands dirty and do a tough or unpleasant job yourself.

That said, it’s important to choose the right moment. Don’t go down a rabbit hole of trying to get one small job done if that takes your attention away from the big picture. That’s your main job. Ultimately you’ve got to have good knowledge of most areas on the boat, without being an expert at everything, which is why watch captains tend to be recruited from the middle of the boat – a trimmer or someone who’s worked in the pit area who’s connected to the front and the back of the boat and understands the challenges of both ends.

Questions, not commands

A good watch captain empowers his team to make their own decisions, to run their own part of the boat as best they can. You have to be able to ask questions of each other, to check in on each other and ask for thoughts and ideas rather than pretending that you’ve got all the answers.

Stu and Neal are brilliant on watch and they might ask me: “Pedro, question for you: is the staysail over-trimmed? I’ll leave it with you.” It’s not an order, it’s a prompt. So I’ll go forward and I’ll see if the staysail needs a bit of an ease. They’re very good at empowering every team member to make their own decisions.

Keep it fun

Sometimes you can forget why you’re out there. We do this because it’s fun, and it has to be fun for all the crew. You might be capable of extracting the best performance in the world, but if you’re a miserable bugger you can shut that watch down pretty quickly. It reaches a point where everyone just counts down the minutes until they can go off watch.

Don’t be that person. Keep it fun, maintain an open dialogue where everyone feels comfortable talking to everyone else and enjoying each other’s company.

Have a quiet word

If there’s a bad atmosphere, as a watch captain you need to get to the root of the problem quickly. If someone is playing up or not fitting in with the team for whatever reason, the worst thing you can do is try and shame that person in front of the crew. It’s not always easy to find a place on board to have a quiet word with them, but that’s the way to approach it.

Find your moment to hear what they’ve got to say, because sometimes the reason for the upset can be completely different to what you might have imagined. Most people will appreciate the fact you’ve tackled the problem head on.

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