Route du Rhum: Corentin Horeau and Basile Bourgnon approaching the finish

The end is approaching. Corentin Horeau (MACSF), at the top of the Imoca rankings for the 13th Route du Rhum, is well ahead of the fleet on Tuesday evening and is approaching the finish in Pointe-à-Pitre, just like the leader of the Ocean Fifty Basile Bourgnon (Edenred).

“We tweaked the wind a little, we're going to try to stay focused until the end, and look closely at the weather files. I don’t dare say anything for the moment, we’re just going to try to move the boat forward,” said Horeau, 37, in a video from on board. Winner of the Solitaire du Figaro 2023, the Morbihannais is leading the race from the north of the Azores, where he was the first to escape from a windless zone which stunned all the favorites, like Sam Goodchild (Macif) or Ambrogio Beccaria (Allangrade Mapei).

Weather forecast to be particularly unpredictable

Since then, he has had the perfect race. At 6:00 p.m. (GMT+1) on Tuesday, he was 255 miles ahead of his first pursuer Boris Hermann (Malizia) and 279 over Élodie Bonafous (Petits Princes). Horeau was expected on the line overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday. Just after him, the suspense remains for the Ocean Fifty fleet, where Basile Bourgnon regained the lead at the end of the day over Thibaut Vauchel Camus (Solidaires en Peloton) and Pierre Quiroga (WeWise).

Son of double winner of the Route du Rhum Laurent Bourgnon, who disappeared at sea in 2015, Basile Bourgnon has had to deal with numerous material problems for several days and was almost caught on Monday. Despite his lead, nothing is yet decided, due to the weather which promises to be particularly unpredictable around Guadeloupe. The last Ultim in the running, that of Alexia Barrier (Idec Sport - Cic), is expected Wednesday afternoon in Pointe-à-Pitre.

Provisional podium for the professional categories Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. (GMT+1):

Ultim multihulls

1. Tom Laperche (SVR Lazartigue) arrived in 6 days 14 h 29 min

2. Thomas Coville (Sodebo) arrived in 7 days 4 hours 40 minutes

3. Louis Burton (Armand Thiery) arrived in 7 days 6 hours 28 minutes

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Ocean Fifty multihulls

1. Basile Bourgnon (Edenred) 92 nautical miles from the finish

2. Thibaut Vauchel-Camus (Solidaires en peloton) 54.4 minutes from the first

3. Pierre Quiroga (Wewise) at 78.4 mins

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Imoca monohulls

1. Corentin Horeau (MACSF) 82.9 nautical miles from the finish

2. Boris Herrmann (Malizia) 255 minutes from the first

3. Elodie Bonafous (Association Petits Princes) at 279 mins

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Class 40 monohulls

1. Achille Nebout (Amarris) 930 nautical miles from the finish

2. Guillaume Pirouelle (Sogestran Seafrigo) 12.9 minutes from the first

3. Axel Tréhin (Exalt) at 49.4 mins

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