Seul

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Vendée Globe, 17 December 2000. Aboard Aquitaine Innovations, his 18-metre racing machine, Yves Parlier is pushing hard to claw his way back to the front of the fleet. Nicknamed “the alien” by his peers for his astonishing weather-routing gambles, he has made a mistake. Leading since the start from Les Sables-d’Olonne and setting a relentless pace for the rest of the fleet, he headed too far south after rounding the Cape of Good Hope.

It is an error of judgement that wounds his pride as he watches Desjoyeaux and Jourdain seize the lead, driven by more favourable winds further north. For a man obsessed with victory, the blow is brutal. Unable to hold himself back, he drives his boat to the very limits of its capabilities. Intoxicated by speed, surfing 15-metre swells at nearly 30 knots, Parlier charges after those who dared to take the lead from him.

But the euphoria comes to an abrupt end in the middle of the night with a deafening crash, when the mast of his monohull snaps into three pieces…