73-year-old French sailor wins first solo race — without using modern instruments

For Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, it was a race like no other.

The 30,000-mile Golden Globe yacht race was last held 50 years ago, and participants had to sail alone without using modern equipment, with the exception of being able to sometimes use a short-wave radio to communicate. Armed with just a sextant and paper maps, the 73-year-old Frenchman set off last July, along with 18 other competitors; when he arrived in Les Sables d'Olonne in western France on Tuesday, just five people were still in the race. "Rediscovering the real roots of navigation like 50 years ago is what excited me about the race," he told AFP.

Van Den Heede has circumnavigated the globe six times, but this is his first victory. There was a close call — his mast was damaged during a storm in November, and Van Den Heede had to fix it himself, as going to shore for a repair would have disqualified him. "What I've done is a big question of mental strength," he said. "It's more useful to have strong mental strength than physical strength."

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