The 115 wild animals were released. The competitors in the 13th edition of the Route du Rhum set off on Sunday, off the coast of Saint-Malo, benefiting from exceptional conditions. Bright sunshine, a wind of around ten knots, light seas. It's difficult to imagine a better scenario for setting out to attack the Atlantic in front of Breton coasts full of people.
At the gunshot at 1:02 p.m., monohulls and multihulls from the six categories left the Pointe du Groin behind them. At the head of this magnificent procession, the impressive Ultim (giant 32 meter multihulls) heading towards Cape Fréhel for the obligatory passage of a buoy in front of thousands of spectators who stormed the best balcony on the Emerald Coast to see the competitors. The weather looks very good for the first 48 hours of sailing with almost the entire fleet heading straight towards the Fastnet rock, then a single tack to go to the north of the Azores.
A fight between Laperche and Le Cléac’h at Cap Fréhel
The fleet, a mix of professionals and amateurs, is made up of six categories of boats: from the small monohulls that participated in the first edition, to the latest generation flying multihulls. It was the latter, the Ultim, giant trimarans reaching more than 90 km/h on the water, which were the first to escape towards the front of the fleet on Sunday. These giants of the seas can hope to complete the crossing in six days, while the slowest sailboats will take almost a month to arrive in Pointe-à-Pitre. But the weather forecasts at the moment leave little room for a possible new record. It will be difficult to find the one established by Charles Caudrelier four years ago (6 days and 19 hours) even if the conditions could change in a few days.
Among the favorites, Tom Laperche, 29, is setting off for his first big solo race aboard the SVR Lazartigue, after having won all the preparation races for a year. The latter also took control of the ranking just after Armel Le Cléac’h took the lead at Cape Fréhel. The duo of favorites was followed by Anthony Marchand's Actual, a strong challenger for victory, aboard the winning boat of the 2022 edition sold by Charles Caudrelier's team.
Very cautious departure from Charles Caudrelier
The latter also made an extremely cautious start at the helm of his new boat, Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, which is being heralded as revolutionary but which is only competing in its first race. Caudrelier passed Cape Fréhel lagging behind, in 6th position, but the race has only just begun. “We are going to test the reliability, the appendages of the boat and its management alone,” explained Caudrelier. I will continue to discover it and make it progress during the transatlantic race, and this challenge is super interesting.”
The IMOCAs for a dress rehearsal before the Vendée Globe
Behind the stars at the controls of the giant three-legged monsters, the public will follow the Imoca race very closely. 22 Vendée Globe boats (18 m monohulls) will test themselves two years before the next round the world trip. Among these participants, Violette Dorange, undisputed winner in the applause meter in the village of Saint-Malo. The young 25-year-old sailor will have difficulty seeking victory with her boat Initiative Cœur but she had made a promising start to the race at midday by passing Cape Fréhel in 5th position, a few rows behind the big favorite Sam Goodchild (Macif) at the controls of the former boat of Charlie Dalin, who died in June after fighting illness. The first Imoca should reach Guadeloupe in around ten days.
