Last Sea Dog

Jean-Luc Van Den Heede has rounded Cape Horn twelve times and completed six solo circumnavigations, achieving five race podiums and one world record (circumnavigation against the prevailing winds and currents, which he still holds). He finished third then second in the Vendée Globe, and won the retro (‘as in 1968’) Golden Globe Race in 2019 at the age of 73.

• Introduction; Foreword to the English Edition – Don McIntyre; Foreword to the French Edition – Thomas Coville; 1. Knock-down; 2. A solitary childhood; 3. The call of the Golden Globe Race; 4. Birth of a dual calling; 5. Searching for the five-legged sheep; 6. From college to my first boat; 7. The objective: 240 days; 8. The other side of the horizon; 9. Not without fear or blame; 10. Seven months without setting foot on land; 11. The Bardiaux effect; 12. Settling into a routine; 13. The roaring Oceans – Indian & Pacific; 14. Lucky stars; 15. A strange stopover; 16. Confessions & convictions, part 1; 17. My twelfth Cape Horn; 18. Confessions & convictions, part 2; 19. The endless ascent; 20. Victory!; 21. And now; Acknowledgements

“An honest, very readable and absorbing account (I struggled to put it down, inhaling the words from the page!) … This is an absolute page-turner.” (Practical Boat Owner)“This superb translation has opened a whole new adventure to me, being able to absorb and understand the man behind the story, the man that has been my friend of so many years. I devoured every word with pure joy. This is a great read, an all-time classic that shows me a man not unlike Bernard Moitessier or Eric Tabarly.” (Don McIntyre)“His journey, both literally and figuratively, is simply incredible.” (Thomas Coville)