Dominique has completed an incredible seven out of nine round the world races and this fact got us wondering… Could it be a record?
To find out we created a competition in the form of a survey to assess which sailors had completed the highest number of round the world races and promoted it on Facebook. To gain a global perspective on the statistic, we also included round the world record attempts.
We then contacted each sailor involved in order to make sure that the results that we had gathered were correct.
Over 50 people replied in writing and we reached out to several thousand online users via social networks.
The answer was eagerly awaited and not just by us, people from around the world were interested in this as yet unknown statistic.
None of our online competitors got the correct answer, but Frenchman Pierrick Laine from Caissargues, won first prize for his extensive research, so congratulations to him!
The other prizes were awarded to online users from Poland, Australia and Switzerland.
Record holders of round the world races under sail:
Seven round the world races:
Dominique Wavre (Switzerland) has completed seven round the world races out of nine sailed
- Whitbread 81-82 on Disque d’Or (4th)
- Whitbread 85-86 on UBS Switzerland (1st)
- Whitbread 89-90 on Merit (3rd)
- Whitbread 93-94 on Intrum Justicia (4th)
- Vendee Globe 2000-2001 on UBP (5th)
- Vendee Globe 2004-2005 on Temenos (4th)
- Barcelona World Race 2007-2008 on Temenos (3rd)
Roger Nilson (Sweden) has completed seven round the world races
- Whitbread 81-82 on Alaska Eagle (9th)
- Whitbread 85-86 on Drum (8th)
- Whitbread 89-90 on The Card (5th)
- Whitbread 97-98 on Swedish Match (3rd)
- Volvo Ocean Race 01-02 on Amer Sport 1 (3rd)
- Volvo Ocean Race 08-09 on Telefonica Black (6th)
- The Race 2001 on Innovation Explorer (64 days)
Roger Nilson completed an eighth round the world, outside of competition, during the 2005 Jules Verne trophy on Orange I (50 days), which means he holds the record for ‘round the world races + round the world record attempts’ jointly with Jacques Vincent.
Grant Dalton (New Zealand) has completed seven round the world races
- Whitbread 81-82 on Flyer (1st)
- Whitbread 85-86 on Lion New Zealand (7th)
- Whitbread 89-90 on Fisher & Paykel (2nd)
- Whitbread 93-94 on New Zealand Endeavour (1st)
- Whitbread 97-98 on Merit Cup (2nd)
- Volvo Ocean Race 2001-2002 on Amer Sport 1 (3rd)
- The Race 2000 on Club Med (62 days)
Next up are:
Jacques Vincent (France) has completed five round the world races and three round the world record attempts which makes him the joint record holder with Roger Nilson in the ‘race + record attempt’ category of this statistic.
Damian Foxall (Ireland) has completed five round the world races and two round the world record attempts.
Guillermo Altadill (Spain) has completed five round the world races and one round the world record attempt.
Peter Blake (New Zealand), Pierre Fehlmann (Switzerland), Bouwe Bekking (Netherlands) and Magnus Olsson (Sweden) have all completed five round the world races.
Mike Golding (United Kingdom) has completed four round the world races and one record attempt, three of which were the wrong way round!
Herve Jan (France) has completed four round the world races and two Jules Verne trophies
Thomas Coville (France) has completed three round the world races and four record attempts.
Olivier de Kersauson (France) has completed two round the world races and five record attempts
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Dominique Wavre will start his eighth round the world race on the 10 November in the Sables d’Olonne and if he is successful, then he could become the only sailor in the world to have raced eight round the world races.
The winner of our competition/survey, Pierrick Laine, also had a go at documenting which boats have competed in the most round the world races.
Unlike the statistic about the sailors, which we scrupulously verified, we weren’t up to the task of checking the one about the yachts, so it should be taken with a pinch of salt. According to Mr Laine, two yachts are on equal points with five round the world races each. If anyone else has further information on this subject, please don’t hesitate to get in touch:
Five round the world races:
Fleury Michon IX
The 89/90 Vendee Globe (abd); the 92/93 Vendee Globe (117days, 3rd); the 96/97 Vendee Globe (as Votre Nom autour du monde. Abandoned a few miles from the finish, but completed the lap); the 2000/01 Vendee Globe (as Aquarelle, 121days); the 04/05 Vendee Globe (as Roxy, 119days); the 2000 west about round the world race (as Uunet), and the 08/09 détours autour du monde with Alexia Barrier.
Jean-Luc Van Den Heede’s Sofap-Helvim, aka le cigare rouge: the 92/93 Vendee Globe (116days, 2nd); the 94/95 Boc Challenge (as Vendee Entreprises, 129days), the 96/97 Vendee Globe (as whirlpool, 140days); the 2000/01 Vendee Globe (as Chocolats du monde – Nord Pas de Calais, 115days); the 04/05 Vendee Globe (as Benefic, 126days) and a west about record attempt in 2000 (as Algimouss).
