For the first time in the history of the Vendée Globe, we saw eight competitors follow one another on the pontoons of Les Sables d’Olonne in the space of 23 hours and 44 minutes. 23 hours and 44 minutes of joy and emotion, as intense as this planetary regatta which will have been played through contact from start to finish. It was not until the arrival of Jean Le Cam on Thursday evening to put a final order in the hierarchy of this crazy race.