At the head of the Route du Rhum, Tom Laperche expected during the night from Saturday to Sunday in Pointe-à-Pitre

Alone in the lead since the capsize of Armel Le Cléac'h, navigator Tom Laperche (SVR Lazartigue) should win his first Route du Rhum on the night of Saturday 7 to Sunday 8 November in Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe), after a race controlled from start to finish.

Laperche expected in Pointe-à-Pitre around three a.m. Paris time

The youngest of the Ultim class took the lead of the fleet just after the gun went off in Saint-Malo and, a little less than 500 kilometers from the finish, showed a more than comfortable lead of around 430 miles (around 800 km) over his first pursuer, Thomas Coville (Sodebo) on Saturday morning at the nine o'clock clock. According to the latest estimates from race management, the winner of the Solitaire du Figaro 2022 must reach Pointe-à-Pitre around 10 p.m. local Saturday, or three a.m. Sunday morning in Paris time.

"We've had a few very intense days and it's leaving its mark. I try to take naps whenever I can, to stay lucid at all times," explained the 29-year-old skipper at the session on Friday. Former protégé of François Gabart, who entrusted him with the helm of his giant trimaran three years ago, Laperche must arrive before Sunday morning at 8:49 a.m. (Paris time) if he wants to beat the record established in 2022 by Charles Caudrelier (6 days and 19 hours).

“It’s not won, we have to go to the finish line”

Rounding Guadeloupe and its wind zones is the last major difficulty to negotiate for Laperche. In 2018, the exercise was very costly for his mentor who was overtaken by Francis Joyon just two miles from the finish. "We are getting closer. We will still have to change sails often because it will strengthen, soften, we will have to tack. It is not won, we have to go to the finish line", warned Laperche, determined to "applie to the end".

Thomas Coville is expected at the famous Basse Terre buoy around four o'clock local time on Sunday, or nine o'clock Paris time, and therefore two to three hours later at the finish line. Despite his experience and tenacity, he was never able to really worry Laperche, who had the best prepared boat in the Ultim fleet for a transatlantic crossing, with Le Cléac'h's Banque Populaire. But launched on the heels of the SVR Lazartigue during the first third of the crossing, the Jackal capsized, as in 2018, before being rescued "in good health" by a Panamanian cargo ship.

Louis Burton (Armand Thiery) should complete the podium of the Route du Rhum at the end of the weekend, a great reward for his first major race at the helm of an Ultim, made possible by the retirements of Actual and the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild due to damage.

After the maxi-trimarans, the other classes of boats will arrive in clusters from Tuesday in Pointe-à-Pitre. Leader in Ocean Fifty, Basile Bourgnon (Edenred) could imitate his father Laurent, winner of the Route du Rhum in 1994 and 1998. In Imoca (the 18 meter monohulls which take part in the Vendée Globe), Corentin Horeau (MACSF) had a magnificent race since the start in Saint-Malo, narrowly extricating himself from a weather trap in the north-east of the Azores, where all the favorites are are stuck. With more than 305 miles (560 km) ahead of his first pursuer, he also seems to have won the race.

Provisional podium of the professional categories Saturday at 9:00 a.m.

Ultim 1. Tom Laperche (SVR Lazartigue) 251 nautical miles from the finish 2. Thomas Coville (Sodebo) 424 minutes from the first 3. Louis Burton (Armand Thiery) at 459 mins

Ocean Fifty 1. Basile Bourgnon (Edenred) 856 nautical miles from the finish 2. Thibaut Vauchel-Camus (Solidaires en peloton) 117 minutes from the first 3. Pierre Quiroga (Wewise) at 128.4 mins

Imoca 1. Corentin Horeau (MACSF) 984 nautical miles from the finish 2. Boris Herrmann (Malizia) 265 minutes from the first Sam Goodchild (GBR/MACIF Santé Prévoyance) 320 minutes from the first 3. Boris Herrmann (Malizia) at 326 mins

Class 40 1. Guillaume Pirouelle (Sogestran Seafrigo) 1,840 nautical miles from the finish 2. Achille Nebout (Amarris) 4 minutes from the first 3. Robin Follin (Solano) at 35 mins