The Last Sea Dog tells the story of Jean-Luc Van Den Heede’s life and his many sailing adventures, during which he rounded Cape Horn 12 times and completed six solo circumnavigations.
Jean-Luc currently holds the overall record for a circumnavigation against the prevailing winds and currents.
Single-handed racing around the world started with the 1968 Golden Globe Race, won by Sir Robin Knox-
Johnston. That race, like the Vendée Globe, was solo, non-stop and without assistance via the three Capes (Good
Hope, Leeuwin and Horn).
Jean-Luc has podiumed five times in single-handed races around the world, finishing third then second in the Vendée Globe,
2 second places in the BOC Challenges of 1987 and 1995, and finally winning the retro (‘as in 1968’) Golden Globe Race in 2019 at the age of 73.
On 10th November 2024, the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe endurance race around the world started from Les Sables d’Olonne on the west coast of France with 40 entries.
When Jean-Luc took part in the first Vendee Globe in 1989/90 there were 13 it was not the high-tech, minutely planned and tracked race of today.
He had provisioned for an 150 day rounding but finished in 137 so had no complaints, except for losinga tenth of his red wine. Contained in three-litre cardboard boxeswhich became damp and disintigated, the plastic bagsturne porus. He never cooked, reheating tasty meals from a mix of canned and freeze-dried food.
Unlike his hero Bernard Moitessier in the first 1968 Golden Globe Race – which Moitessier abandoned after rounding all four Capes while leading, and continued to Tahiti.
While preparing his provisions Moitessier wrote to a dog food manufacturerto ask about buying 150 cans of their best product. They replied that it was not intended for human consumption.
Apparently this wouldn’t have caused any problem for him when added to the large supply of rice, plenty instant coffee and dark tobacco for his rolled cigarettes.
Following his victory in the Golden Globe Race in 2019 at the age of 73, Jean-Luc mused on what drives pleasure sailors to exaggerate their experiences . . . What’s the point of exagerating?
The sea desrves more than fabrication; it deserves respect.
The Last Sea Dog : £14.99 E-Book 11.99
Jean-Luc Van Den Heede
First edition; published on 5 November 2024
Published by Fernhurst Books
Available bookshops, websites and direct from www.fernhurstbooks.com
