After winning the Vendée Globe in January, Charlie Dalin was determined to continue his momentum in 2025 on the Imoca circuit aboard Macif Santé Prévoyance. A medical unforeseen event changed the situation, forcing his team and his sponsor to make a rare decision: the 2025 season will be without him, but with Sam Goodchild , seconded by Lo ïs Berrehar. Explanations.
The bad news fell on Tuesday, June 24. After having to give up “for medical reasons” to run the Course des Caps which starts on Sunday from Boulogne-sur-Mer, Charlie Dalin will not participate in the Défi Azimut in September, nor in the Transat Café L’Or (starting on October 26). It is the British sailor Sam Goodchild who will replace him throughout the 2025 season at the helm of the Imoca Macif Santé Prévoyance, assisted by Loïs Berrehar, ex Skipper Macif in Figaro (2022-2024) and now engaged with Banque Populaire – he is expecting his future Imoca in spring 2027 (see our article).
“This was a difficult decision to make, but health must come first, commented the Le Havre native in the press release sent Tuesday. I’m obviously disappointed not to be able to sail this season, but I have full confidence in Sam and Loïs to carry the colors of MACIF Santé Prévoyance high. The team remains fully committed, and I will be following their progress with great pride and support”.
This rare announcement, the team and its sponsor have been preparing for it behind the scenes for several weeks, even though the decision has been taken “with a heavy heart,” confides to Tip & Shaft Jean-Marc Simon, health and welfare director at Macif, before adding : “Over the weeks, we collectively understood, including Charlie, that things weren’t going to go as planned this year.“
After a few weeks of rest after the Vendée Globe, a surgical operation forced the Norman skipper to miss the prize-giving ceremony on May 10 in Les Sables d’ Olonne, and then, gradually, to give up on his racing season. “When it comes to health, it is always complicated to have a clear and definitive vision, so We tried to take things in order,” comments Jean-Luc Nélias, team manager of Macif Santé Prévoyance.
“We couldn’t
sacrifice the collective”
The team and the sponsor then had to answer a first question : should the Imoca program continue without Charlie Dalin on board? “It’s not so easy to continue with another skipper, especially since Charlie and Macif have a long and solid history, recalls Jean-Marc Simon. But we have always claimed that our excellent results were the result of an excellent skipper, but also of excellent collective work. In this logic, We couldn’t sacrifice the team and take a blank year. Macif’s responsibility is also to keep this collective alive.”
“The day after the Vendée Globe awards ceremony, we therefore found ourselves having to come up with a plan B, and find, in addition to a co-skipper for the Transat Café L’Or, a new skipper,” explains Jean-Luc Nélias. Not so simple in a post-Vendée Globe season marked in particular by The Ocean Race Europe and “a big transfer window for good sailors, which means a lot of logistics in terms of schedules.”
For the co-skipper, the matter was quickly settled. Charlie Dalin had already chosen Loïs Berrehar, his replacement skipper in the last Vendée Globe, to race alongside him. And even if his signing with Banque Populaire for the 2028 Vendée Globe delayed the discussions a little, the uncertainties about his availability, while the former Figaro sailor is also engaged with Team Malizia in The Ocean Race Europe, quickly became removed. “For the skipper, it was also Charlie’s choice. After an hour of discussions, Sam was the first on the list, he was the first one we contacted,” continues Jean-Luc Nélias.
The strengths of the Briton, who finished his first Vendée Globe this winter in ninth position ? “He has a lot of experience, he knows how to win, he was Imoca 2023 champion as soon as he arrived on the circuit. Above all, he has also been with a lot of teams, so he is used to working with different people. He can make decisions and take responsibility for them; he’s a skipper, that‘s what we were looking for,” sums up the team manager. He adds: “The suit is not easy to put on, he arrives in a champion team, with a sailor who has won everything, but he accepted the mission and He’s doing us a great service .”
“First sad for him before
being happy for me”
For the former skipper of Vulnerable, contacted by Tip & Shaft, the Macif team’s call in mid-May “was of course a big surprise , it came at a time of uncertainty with the end of my project with Thomas Ruyant.” While he had committed to working alongside Paul Meilhat on Biotherm for The Ocean Race Europe and was working to set up a new Imoca project to be at the start of the Vendée Globe 2028, did the British skipper hesitate ? “Frankly no, It is clearly an offer that cannot be refused. My first thought was mainly to check on Charlie, because I’m sad for him before being happy for myself. But from a sporting perspective, of course it ‘s a very precious opportunity , and I want to live up to this honor.”
Since the end of May, training has begun aboard the Verdier design, which was launched in June 2023. “So far, Sam and Loïs have more work to do to adapt to us than the other way around, except that we had to buy a pair of binoculars, because Charlie doesn’t use them, but Sam does!” smiles Jean-Luc Nélias. “The team welcomed me with open arms,” comments Sam Goodchild. “It’s a chance to sail on this boat, which I’ve obviously been watching very closely for a long time. Now, It’s up to me to deliver, and this time, I will not have no longer the excuse of not having a latest generation boat if I don’t perform.”
The challenge is all the more important as the Briton has not given up on his ambition to set up an Imoca project for the 2028 Vendée Globe with Leyton, who has been with him since 2019. “I’m still working on the project, everyone is adapting and showing understanding,” he confirms. My luck is to be surrounded by great people and to be integrated into great teams, with a long-standing partner at my side who understands my sporting career . Even so, I admit I no longer have time to take on other roles! I have six busy months ahead of me, we’ll rest this winter!”
“2025 is a parenthesis”
On Macif’s side, the line of conduct is also very clear: “This is not a transfer and we are not working on a substitution. Charlie remains at the center of the project and our skipper, we are only waiting for one thing: for him to come back,” confirms Jean-Marc Simon. “2025 is a parenthesis, not a starting point,” adds Jean-Luc Nélias, who is trying to “maintaining the team in a positive dynamic despite the disappointment of not working with Charlie this year .”
What about the future? and in particular the Vendée Globe 2028, while the partnership with Macif officially runs until the end of 2026? “It’s a complex subject, we’re in a sport that requires a lot of preparation time, but at the same time, we’re living in a period where it ’s complicated to plan ahead,” replies Jean-Marc Simon. Even if we want to, we have to give ourselves a few months. We try to be in the right position, especially towards Charlie, but also towards the team, the internal staff and the public.”
Photo : Ronan Gladu / disobey. / Macif
