Death of Charlie Dalin: why did he decide to talk about his cancer?

The illness gave him no respite. Charlie Dalin is now sailing in other skies. For two years, the sailor had been battling intestinal cancer. Despite his rage to win, the winner of the 2024-2025 Vendée Globe died this Thursday, June 11, 2026 at the age of 42.

An illness that he only revealed publicly in the fall of 2025, on the occasion of the release of his book The Force of Destiny. On January 14, 2025, Charlie Dalin made history by winning the Vendée Globe with record time. That day, no one imagined that he had just completed his last great crossing. Because behind the sporting feat was a much more difficult fight. Diagnosed a year before the start of the race, the sailor chose to keep silent about his state of health. Despite illness and treatment, he set off solo around the world and achieved one of the greatest performances in the history of sailing.

Charlie Dalin on the Vendée Globe: “It’s a double victory”

A few months later, the skipper whose partner was his most loyal supporter released the news. He has a gastrointestinal stromal tumor diagnosed in the fall of 2023. Guest of Sonia Devillers in The Big Picture in October 2025, he looked back with emotion on his victory in the Vendée Globle, such a special period of his life cradled between dream and nightmare. “That day, it was a double victory,” he explained. That of the Vendée Globe, “the ultimate race” which he had dreamed of since childhood, but also against illness. “It is also a victory against this disease which was declared almost exactly a year before the start of the race. Despite everything, I managed to win it and it’s an incredible day.”he confided.

Throughout the competition, Charlie Dalin chose not to talk about his state of health. A secret he carried alone as he faced one of the most demanding sporting events in the world. “I had a pill to take every dayso I had an alarm going off and I was organized around that. […] But then, paradoxically, during the race, I forgot it a little bit.”he declared during an interview with the Sports department of Radio France.

Charlie Dalin: “Cancer is omnipresent in our lives”

Faced with Sonia Devillers, the navigator also explained why he had finally agreed to speak publicly. A decision encouraged by his oncologist. “He thought talking about it would help people,” he explained. “Now I realize that cancer is omnipresent in our lives. Either we are personally affected, or there is someone in our close circle who is affected.” The sailor also spoke of the fear this illness inspired in him. “Cancer has always been a disease that scared me“he admitted. “There is this hidden side in the shadows that often reveals itself when it is too late.”

Despite the treatments and extraordinary determination, Charlie Dalin ultimately did not win this last fight.