After all he’d been through, battling three-story waves didn’t seem that daunting.
French sailor Charlie Dalin started feeling intense abdominal pains in 2023 and was diagnosed with a six-inch tumor on his small intestine. And it was cancerous.
He’d been planning to race in the Vendée Globe, a famously dangerous 24,000-mile race to circumnavigate the world through boundary waters off southern Africa, Australia, and Antarctica—some of the most treacherous environments on Earth.
Held every four years, the race is nicknamed the “Everest of the Seas” and only a fraction of the participants finish. One entrant disappeared completely.
Surely, Dalin would have to withdraw, right? He couldn’t do this race with cancer, could he?
One highly-regarded doctor told Dalin he could probably still compete if he maintained a strict regimen of daily immunotherapy pills.
“I decided to handle it the way I would when I have a problem on board,” Dalin said in an interview with The Washington Post. “I don’t talk about it when the problem arises. I talk about it when it’s repaired.”
He started exercising and entered a few events as a tune-up for the Vendée Globe. He fought fatigue across the Atlantic in a pair of races between New York City and France. He persevered through the pain and believed he could still enter The Vendée Globe in November 2024.
The only thing left to do was go for it. (Watch the victory video at the bottom…)
Sailors must compete “solo, nonstop, and without assistance” for the duration of the race. Often there are only about 40 competitors willing to brave the frigid temperatures and towering waves in pursuit of glory. Dalin was one of them.
He left France and navigated around the treacherous Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa, keeping pace with the competition while staying consistent with his daily medicines.
But near the southern coast of Australia, Dalin faced a critical decision. A massive storm had developed, forcing him to choose a safer and slower route north, or a faster, and potentially perilous route south.
He’d consistently stared down danger and cancer over the last year, so naturally, Dalin went south.
His boat was bombarded by ferocious swells and gale-force winds over the next several days, but he persevered. And when the seas calmed, he was in the lead—on a record-breaking pace.
Near Antarctica, he lost the lead. Near Brazil, he regained it. After more than two months at sea, Dalin became the Vendée Globe champion, crossing the finish line in January 2025 with a time of 64 days, 19 hours—a new race record.
His tumor had grown during the race, but he soon underwent surgery to have it removed.
As a cherry on top, he was named the 2025 Rolex World Sailor of the Year in November and won the 2025 Magnus Olsson Prize in December, which is awarded to sailors who embody excellence, sportsmanship and innovation.
Dalin doesn’t know what the future holds, but he’s working hard to steer his life and his health back to normal—and he’s keenly aware that sometimes life’s sweetest victories lie just beyond the rough seas and dark skies.
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“I am the happiest man in the world today, that’s for sure,” Dalin said after winning the Vendée Globe. “These are crazy emotions I’ve never felt before. Crossing the line with the dawn light shining on perfectly smooth water, the boat gliding along. It was simply fabulous. An explosion of emotions in my head (and) immense joy. It is, by far, the most beautiful finish of my entire career.”
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