A clean start under the Breton sun
The 13th Route du Rhum began on Sunday at 13:02 Paris time. A cannon shot off the Pointe du Grouin, north of Saint-Malo, released 115 boats toward Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe. Organisers could hardly have asked for a better afternoon: sunshine, around 13 degrees and a following breeze of 10 to 15 knots, which is high for a start.
The boats were split into six classes: 8 Ultims, 10 Ocean Fifties, 49 Class40s, 22 Imocas, 13 Vintage Multis and 13 Vintage Monos. A false start would have cost five hours in penalty time. The fleet funnelled toward Cap Fréhel, the first famous passage, where thousands of spectators lined the coast. Early on, Armel Le Cléac’h’s Maxi Banque Populaire XI appeared to have the first small advantage in the Ultim class.
The race director described a tense day behind the scenes, saying alarms were going off all over his operation.
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Caudrelier’s back-to-back bid and the record
Charles Caudrelier won in 2022 and returns on the new Gitana 18 as one of the favourites. His time that year, 6 days 19 hours 47 minutes and 25 seconds, is the mark everyone is chasing. Fast conditions at the start and the progress of the boats may bring it into play, though the forecast could change toward the end of the week.
Five former winners are in the fleet. Francis Joyon, victorious in 2018, races in Vintage Multi, Armel Tripon sails an Imoca after winning in Multi50, and Sidney Gavignet tries again in Vintage Mono. Thomas Coville, 58, who won in 1998 in a 60-foot monohull, is on Sodebo 3 in the Ultim class.
Eleven women are in the field: three in Imoca, six in Class40, one in Ocean Fifty and one in Ultim. The fastest crews hope to reach Guadeloupe in about six days.
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