LIVE - Route du Rhum: the start of the 13th edition was given in exceptional conditions

Probably not, but the weather could still change in a few days. We are talking here about the Ultim record, established four years ago by Charles Caudrelier, in 6 days, 19 hours, 47 minutes and 25 seconds. The boats have progressed since the last edition. In terms of pure performance, the skippers estimate that the gain is between 5 and 10% but the weather projections hardly inspire optimism for the establishment of a new reference time even if they can still change. “We are a little pessimistic because the trade winds are not very well established at the moment. We are not immune to a pleasant surprise, but we are counting on a time of six to seven days,” projects the sporting director of the Banque Populaire team, Sébastien Josse.

Imoca: one man is favored by the forecasts, Sam Goodchild. The Briton took over from Charlie Dalin, who died last June and won the Vendée Globe last year. One man could overshadow him, Jérémie Beyou, who ends his career in this class before turning, perhaps to an Ultim. This is also the category of Violette Dorange who has a high-performance boat after her highly publicized Vendée Globe.

Ocean Fifty: There could be damage in this category made up of ten fickle trimarans which can capsize but one name keeps coming up for victory: the young Basile Bourgnon (Edenred), son of his father Laurent, double winner (1994 and 1998).

Class 40: with 49 starters, professional and amateur skippers armed with a small budget like Rodolphe Sepho, it is difficult to name a single favorite even if Corentin Douguet will play for the win, like Achille Nebout or Alexis Loison.

Vintage Mono and Multi: it is almost impossible to give names because these two categories compete with different boats with performances that have nothing to do with each other. In multihulls, the Orma of Éric Péron, Francis Joyon and Damien Seguin should be untouchable.

Stealing the start is very costly for the competitor who will be heavily penalized. He will be given a 4-hour penalty to complete during the first 48 hours of racing. If a competitor crosses the line that is not assigned to him, he will be inflicted with a 6-hour penalty over the first 48 hours of the race.

Also note that the starting line closes at 3:15 p.m. If a competitor is not able to start 1 hour after the gun goes off, he must make a request to the race committee and the Race Direction and can start at the longitude of the Saint-Malo landing buoy. His race time, of course, will be calculated from the start time at 2:15 p.m.

There are six:

-The Ultim (8 starters), trimarans 32 meters long and 23 meters wide capable of traveling at up to 59 knots (110 km/h) are the stars of the event.

-The Imoca (22 participants) are the 18 meter (60 foot) Vendée Globe monohulls. Extremely fast technological jewels but still less than the Ultim.

-Class40, smaller monohulls (12.18 meters). The 49 sailors in this category are professionals or amateurs.

-Ocean Fifty: 15 meter long trimarans, very fast but flighty subject to high risks of capsizing. Ten participants.

-Vintage Multi: multihulls of maximum 15 meters which have marked the history of ocean racing. Thirteen participants.

-Vintage Mono: monohulls of a length less than or equal to 39 feet (12 meters) not falling into any other class. Thirteen starters.