French sailor, 73, wins round-the-world solo-race without modern instruments

• Jean-Luc Van Den Heede spent 212 days alone at sea
• Golden Globe race involves navigation with sextants and paper maps

A 73-year-old French sailor has won an unusual, around-the-world yacht race after 212 days alone at sea without modern instruments, in what was his first sailing victory.

Jean-Luc Van Den Heede arrived on Tuesday in Les Sables d’Olonne in western France in his 35-foot yacht Matmut, the first boat to finish the 30,000-mile Golden Globe race. Of the 19 sailors who started out last July, only five were still in the race on Tuesday.

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from France | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2MDep36
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