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

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

) 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 Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

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 **Gale ...

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 a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

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. w ...

. 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 rec ...

*1979 : 2nd of the

*1986 : 2nd of the

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

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

Vendée Globe --> The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop, unassisted 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 Vendé ...

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

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

Transat Jacques Vabre Transat may refer to: * Transat A.T., Canadian tour and travel agency ** Air Transat, Canadian airline owned by Transat A.T. * Concept Composites MD03 Transat, French ultralight aircraft * "The Transat", also called the Single-Handed Trans-Atlant ...

*1995 : 3rd of the

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

Route du Rhum The Route du Rhum is a wikt:transatlantic, transatlantic Single-handed sailing, single-handed yacht racing, yacht race, which takes place every four years in November. The course is between Saint Malo, Brittany, Metropolitan France and Pointe-à- ...

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 Albert ...

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

2018 Golden Globe Race The 2018 Golden Globe Race was an around-the-world sailing (sport), sailing race founded by Australian adventurer and circumnavigator, Don McIntyre (sailor), Don McIntyre. The race started on 1 July 2018 from Les Sables-d'Olonne, France as the se ...

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