Route du Rhum

Departure and destination ports of the Route du Rhum on both sides of the Atlantic

Badge on the Grouin headland: Established in 1978 by Michel ETEVENON, the Route de Rhum begins at this headland every four years

Rocks of the Grouin headland near Saint-Malo

Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe

The Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe ( French for " Rum Route - target Guadeloupe " ) is a transatlantic single-handed awnings regatta (ie, a competition for single sailing athletes..), Which has been held since 1978 every four years in October / November. The regatta route leads from the Grouin headland in the north of Cancale in front of the French Saint-Malo to Pointe-à-Pitre in the French overseas region of Guadeloupe , 3,540 nautical miles (approx. 6,500 kilometers) away ; As with all regattas, the distance actually sailed by the participants can be well above this shortest possible distance.

Although multihulls have been sailing since the first regatta in 1978, sailing times were shortened from event to event. From 1978 to 2006, the time of the winner was third. This is said to be mainly due to material improvements and better weather forecast and routing systems.

Most of the participants in the “Route du Rhum” come from France . The regatta has a very good reputation there and is almost legendary. At every event (every four years), a large number of the French sailing professionals who are highly respected in France go to the start. It is considered a preparatory regatta for the Vendée Globe, which also takes place every four years . However, the award winners also repeatedly included members of other nationalities. After the initially overall leading French Alain Colas was lost in a cyclone on September 16, 1978 with his ship “Manureva”, the Canadian Mike Birch won the first regatta after 23 days with 98 seconds ahead of the French Michel Malinovsky. Birch had only overtaken Malinovski shortly before the finish line, when there was light winds. The French-Swiss sailor Laurent Bourgnon was the only sailor so far to win the overall ranking of the “Route du Rhum” twice (1994 and 1998). The then 24-year-old had already achieved third place in 1990. In 1990 a woman won for the first time. The Frenchwoman Florence Arthaud even set the fastest time with her victory and crossed the finish line with her trimaran "Groupe Pierre 1er" after only 14 days and 10 hours. The British record sailor Ellen MacArthur won in 1998 in the 50- foot class and in 2002 in the IMOCA 60 class. When she won in 2002, she was less than 6 hours behind the fastest trimaran .

Participating classes

Different classes are admitted to the “Route du Rhum” today . At the 2006 regatta, for example, there were eight: The five monohull classes ranged from 60-foot boats of the international IMOCA class ( International Monohull Open Classes Association ) to 40-foot (12-meter) boats of the Class 40 class . The remaining three classes were for multi-hull boats ( catamarans and trimarans ), which - as in other regattas - traditionally represent the overall winners of the Route du Rhum.

Until 2010, the largest multihull boats were the 59 and 60 foot (approx. 18 meter) long boats of the now dissolved Ocean Racing Multihull Association (ORMA). This class came under fire when only three of the 18 competitors from the class at the regatta 2002 reached the finish; the rest of them had to give up the voyage and, in some cases, their boat. One reason is said to have been that the extremely light multihull boats, built for the highest speed and always sailed to the limit, were particularly sensitive to damage in the harsh ocean conditions. This susceptibility to damage evidently resulted from a lack of stability (ability of the boat not to capsize) in favor of a higher speed potential . So - similar to dinghy sailing - a constant watch on the sails was actually necessary in order to be able to react immediately to strong gusts of wind. In long-distance one-handed regattas this is of course impossible. Therefore, there was always a high risk of capsizing for the trimarans of the ORMA class.

For the 2010 regatta, five classes were held, including the ultimate class, which no longer imposed any size restrictions. According to their own statements, the regatta organizers wanted to return to the origins of the regatta and also keep it interesting for the general public interested in such sailing giants. Despite the relatively short-term approval of the large boats, nine sailors finally registered, including the eventual winner Franck Cammas with the slightly shortened trimaran "Groupama III" (previously sailed with a crew of around nine) and Francis Joyon with "IDEC".

Classes and victories 2018

At the 11th regatta, the 123 registered boats were scored in 6 classes.

class	description	reported	winner	country	boat	time
Ultime	Trimarans with no size limit	6th	Françis Joyon	France	Idec Sport	7 d 14 h 21 min 47 sec
Imoca	60 feet (18.28 m) long monohulls	20th	Paul Meilhat	France	SMA	12 T 11 hours 23 min 18 sec
Multi50	Multihulls of 50 feet (15.24 m) in length	6th	Armel Tripon	France	Real chocolate	11 T 7 h 32 min 40 sec
Class40	40 foot (12.19 m) long monohulls	53	Yoann Richomme	France	Veedol-AIC	16 T 3 hours 22 min 44 sec
Rhum Multi	all other multihulls	21st	Pierre Antoine	France	Olmix	15 d 21 h 15 min 5 sec
Rhum mono	all other monohulls	17th	Sidney Gavignet	France	Cafe Joyeux	16 T 10 h 18 min 5 sec

The winners of the overall ranking

Route du Rhum 2010: The later runner-up Francis Joyon on IDEC (followed by Crêpes Whaou! 3 )

Route du Rhum 2010: The later third-placed Thomas Coville on Sodeb'O in Brittany between onlookers

Manureva , which (under Alain Colas ) was the first multihull boat to be sailed around the world with one hand , a few days before the first Route du Rhum in 1978, when she and Colas went missing

year	space	Award winners	country	boat	time
1978	1	Mike Birch	Canada	Olympus photo	23 T 6 hours 59 min 35 sec
	2	Michel Malinovsky	France	Criter V	23 T 7 hours 01 min 13 sec
	3	Philip Weld	United States	Rogue wave	23 T 15 hours 51 min 32 sec
1982	1	Marc Pajot	France	Eleven Aquitaine	18 d 1 hour 38 min
	2	Bruno Peyron	France	Jaz	18 T 11 h 46 min
	3	Mike Birch	Canada	Vital	18d 13h 44min
1986	1	Philippe Poupon	France	Fleury Michon	14 d 15 h 57 min
	2	Bruno Peyron	France	Ericsson	16h 17h 3 min
	3	Lionel Péan	France	Hitachi	17 t 7 hrs 8 mins
1990	1	Florence Arthaud	France	Pierre 1 ^er	14 d 10 hrs 8 mins
	2	Philippe Poupon	France	Fleury Michon	14h 18h 39 min
	3	Laurent Bourgnon	Switzerland / France	RMO	14h 18h 46 min
1994	1	Laurent Bourgnon	Switzerland / France	Primagaz	14 d 6 h 28 min
	2	Paul Vatine	France	Région Haute-Normandie	14 T 9 hours 38 min
	3	Yves Parlier	France	Cacolac d'Aquitaine	15 h 19 h 23 min
1998	1	Laurent Bourgnon	Switzerland / France	Primagaz	12 T 8 hours 41 minutes
	2	Alain Gautier	France	Brocéliande	12h 11h 54min
	3	Franck Cammas	France	Groupama	12h 19h 41 min
2002	1	Michel Desjoyeaux	France	Géant	13 d 7 h 53 min
	2	Lalou Roucayrol	France	Banque popular	13 T 19 h 36 min 18 sec
	3	Marc Guillemot	France	Biscuits La Trinitaine	14 d 7 hrs 1 min
2006	1	Lionel Lemonchois	France	Gitana 11	7 d 17 h 19 min 6 sec
	2	Pascal Bidégorry	France	Banque popular	8 T 4 hours 25 minutes 7 seconds
	3	Thomas Coville	France	Sodeb'O	8 T 13 hours 39 minutes 2 seconds
2010	1	Franck Cammas	France	Groupama III	9 T 03 h 14 min 47 sec
	2	Francis Joyon	France	IDEC	9 d 13 h 50 min 48 sec
	3	Thomas Coville	France	Sodeb'O	10 T 3 hours 13 min 11 sec
2014	1	Loïck Peyron	France	Banque Populaire VII	7 d 15 hours 8 min 32 sec
	2	Yann Guichard	France	Spindrift 2	8 d 5 h 18 min 46 sec
	3	Sébastien Josse	France	Edmond de Rotschild	8 d 14 h 47 min 9 sec
2018	1	Françis Joyon	France	Idec Sport (Ultime)	7 d 14 h 21 min 47 sec
	2	François Gabart	France	Macif (Ultime)	7 d 14 h 28 min 55 sec
	3	Armel Tripon	France	Reaute Chocolate (Multi50)	11 T 7 h 32 min 40 sec