Jean-Luc Van Den Heede (born 8 June 1945 in

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

) is a French sailor. He is best known for his achievements in

single-handed sailing The sport and practice of single-handed sailing or solo sailing is sailing with only one crewmember (i.e., only one person on board the vessel). The term usually refers to ocean and long-distance sailing and is used in competitive sailing and am ...

and set the current world-record for the westabout circumnavigation (he holds the overall record, i.e. although he sailed solo, nobody was faster on this route with a crewed boat). He also holds the record of sailing cape horn 12 times in competitions. He started sailing at the age of 17. In the

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

port city of

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

he worked as a

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. After 1989 he became a full-time sailor. Among sailors, he is also known by his initials ''VDH''.

Achievements

*1977 : 2nd of the

Mini Transat Mini Transat is a solo transatlantic yacht race which typically starts in France and ends in the Caribbean. The race uses small long yachts conforming to the Mini Transat 6.50 class rules which gives considering scope for development More rece ...

*1979 : 2nd of the

*1986 : 2nd of the

BOC Challenge The Velux 5 Oceans Race was a round-the-world single-handed sailing, single-handed yacht racing, yacht race, sailed in Race stage, stages, managed by Clipper Ventures since 2000. Its most recent name comes from its main sponsor Velux. Originally kno ...

on ''Let's Go'' *1990 : 3rd of the

Vendée Globe --> The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop round the world yacht race. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. It is named after the Département of Vendée, in France, w ...

on ''3615 MET'' *1993 : 2nd of the

on ''Sofap Helvim'' *1993 : 4th of the

Transat Jacques Vabre The Transat Jacques Vabre is a yachting race that follows the historic coffee trading route between France and Brazil. It is named after (and sponsored by) a French brand of coffee. The course was drawn up back in 1993 to follow in the wake of ...

*1995 : 3rd of the

on ''Vendée Entreprises'' *1998 : 2nd of the

Route du Rhum The Route du Rhum is a transatlantic single-handed yacht race, which takes place every four years in November. The course is between Saint Malo, Brittany, Metropolitan France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Mé ...

on ''Algimouss'' *2002 : Record crossing of the Channel aboard Adrien with

Karen Leibovici Karen Leibovici (born May 27, 1952) is a politician from Edmonton, Alberta. Following a career as a social worker, Leibovici was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in 1993, representing Edmonton Meadowlark as a member of the Alberta ...

*2004 : Record westabout circumnavigation in 122d 14h 3min 49s. *2019 : Winner of the 2018 Golden Globe Race

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Den Heede, Jean Luc French sailors Single-handed circumnavigating sailors Sportspeople from Amiens 1989 Vendee Globe sailors 1992 Vendee Globe sailors French Vendee Globe sailors Vendée Globe finishers 1945 births Living people