Vendée Globe winner Charlie Dalin dies at 42 after sailing to victory while battling cancer

A victory at sea, a battle within

Charlie Dalin, the French skipper who won the Vendée Globe 2024-2025, has died at age 42 in Quimper, Finistère. His family announced his death on Thursday 11 June 2026, saying he succumbed to a long illness. Dalin had been fighting a gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST), a rare form of cancer of the small intestine, for more than two and a half years. He completed the solo round-the-world race in just over 64 days, crossing the finish line first and breaking the event record, all while the disease was already advancing.

It is with deep sadness that my family and I announce the death of my husband Charlie Dalin, who passed away after a long illness.

He revealed his diagnosis publicly only in October 2025, in a book aimed at helping other patients. The tumour had grown larger upon his return from the race.

A champion remembered

Tributes poured in from across French sport and politics. President Emmanuel Macron called him "an immense sailor, a rare courage, a light offshore." Former prime ministers Michel Barnier and Edouard Philippe both praised his humility and character. Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, described his example as one that gave strength to the entire sporting movement.

Charlie Dalin had conquered the Vendée Globe, silently carrying another fight. France salutes an immense sailor, a rare courage, a light offshore.

Michel Desjoyeaux, the only other sailor to win the Vendée Globe twice, remembered Dalin as a multi-talented competitor who was always smiling. He noted that Dalin had effectively won the race once before, on the water if not on paper, and that his 2024-2025 victory was a confirmation of that talent under extraordinary circumstances.

He was just really good. In every area of the game, including being able to work with his team as a naval architect — he was a multi-tool. Above all he was someone of good humour, and it sucks. There are so many jerks on earth, you'd want more people like him.

The homecoming

In January 2025, days after his Vendée Globe victory, Dalin returned to his home port of Concarneau. The town welcomed him as a hero. Local reports described the moment as suspended in time, an exceptional reception from a population that saw in him not just a champion but a symbol of resilience. That image now stands as a final public memory before his illness took over.

A private fight made public

Dalin's cancer was a gastrointestinal stromal tumour, a rare form affecting the small intestine. He had been living with it throughout the race, far from any medical assistance. After his victory, he spoke about the disease with what friends and observers called humility. His wife Perrine Le Pape asked for the family's privacy to be respected in the coming days, while noting that tributes would be organised soon.