For the charismatic 47 year old French skipper Romain Attanasio, finishing the Vendée Globe solo round the world race is becoming something of a habit.

When he sailed Fortinet - Best Western across the finish line off Les Sables d’Olonne this Sunday morning at 10:50.18hrs to take 14th place from 40 starters, it was the third consecutive time he has made the finish line in a very respectable placing. His elapsed time for the race is 83 days 22 hours 48 minutes and he finishes 3 days and 34 minutes behind 13th placed Sam Davies (Initiatives-Coeur).

It is a very solid result for Attanasio who managed to put distance on the big group of boats behind him led by Damien Seguin. And in the Indian Ocean in mid December Attanasio enjoyed the happy news he is to be a father for the second time. He has stepped up his speeds and performance on each successive race, this time sailing a foiling IMOCA for the first time in the shape of the former Malizia.

Romain Attanasio will be happy to be back on land and soon return to the everyday life as a dad, the little joys of family life, and no doubt return to the mountains where he first grew up and where he loves to decompress. His race very nearly did not happen. He was dismasted at only two months before the start and had to find last minute funding to purchase a replacement, including a public campaign.

Since competing on the Figaro circuit Attanasio has collected a fine set of results to which he adds gis 14th today, among them he finished 10th in the Route du Rhum (2022) and the Rolex Fastnet Race (2023).

Over the course of this Vendée Globe, he has raced hard often neck and neck with other skippers. On the way down the Atlantic he was not far from from Boris Herrmann (Malizia Seaexplorer) at the Azores, he passed the Cape of Good Hope alongside Benjamin Dutreux (Guyot Environnement – ​​Water Family) and crossed the Pacific Ocean with Damien Seguin (Groupe APICIL). It is not easy though: he splits his chin when he was thrown forwards on his boat and then has to deal with a series of depressions in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. He passes Cape Horn for the third time in his career at the very beginning of the year before a tricky ascent of the South Atlantic where he is forced to climb the mast due to hook problems.

In the battle of a peloton of skippers, he manages to escape clear ahead across the Equator into the North Atlantic and consolidate his 14th place. His results show his consistency: Attanasio was 15th in 2017 and 14th in 2020. 
 

Race in figures

Arrival time (UTC): Sunday 2 February 2025 at 10h50
Race time: 83d 22h 48min 18s
Difference from first: 19d 03h 25min 29s

Romain Attanasio covered theoretical course of 23 906 miles at an average speed of 11.86 knots.
Romain Attanasio covered an actual course of 28 899 miles at an average speed of 14.34 knots.

Source : Vendée Globe