‘You have to live your dreams not dream your life away’
That was the maxim that drove Manuel Cousin to leave his life as an executive selling forklift trucks to major accounts with Toyota, to move from his native Normandy to Les Sables d’Olonne and pursue new goals ocean racing.
Cousin, 53, reached the pinnacle of that new life today when he completed the 24,365 nautical miles Vendée Globe, crossing the finish line off Les Sables d’Olonne at 07:35:40 hrs UTC this morning in 23rd position. After struggling at times with a cracked rudder and more recently keel ram damage, Cousin’s elapsed time on Groupe SETIN is 103d 18hrs 15m. He sailed an actual course of 29,116 nautical miles at an average of 11.69kts.
