Jean-Luc Van Den Heede

Jean-Luc Van Den Heede (born 8 June 1945 in Amiens) is a French sailor.

He is best known for his achievements in single-handed sailing 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 12 times in competitions.

In the Breton port city of Lorient he worked as a mathematics teacher.

Among sailors, he is also known by his initials VDH.

VDH and Yann Eliès at the start of the Vendée Globe 2012-13