Martin Lange (special envoy to Saint-Malo), edited by Romain Rouillard
D-2 before the big departure. This Sunday in Saint-Malo, the 12th edition of the Route du Rhum will start, almost four years after Francis Joyon’s victory over the wire ahead of François Gabart at the end of a memorable edition. This solo transatlantic race will see 138 skippers compete, who will have to reach Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe as quickly as possible.
Sailors fine-tuning the final settings on their boat and keeping an eye on what promises to be capricious weather. Nearly 30 knots of wind are forecast, the equivalent of 50 km/h. Gusts that may seem minimal, but which are more than enough to shake when maneuvering boats over 30 meters.
“It’s going to be complicated”
Especially since these winds will only be a foretaste, as confirmed by Cyril Duchesne, the race’s chief meteorologist: “Very quickly, especially from the first night and especially for Monday, it’s going to get really complicated with gusts over 50 knots, so it’s going to be complicated, especially since the sea will also be very strong with waves of around six meters and therefore sailors who will be put to the test from the first day of racing on this Route du Rhum”.
To face its six-metre hollows, the skippers of the Route du Rhum can count on their router. Charles Caudrelier, one of the favorites among the Ultimes, these flying catamarans, has three people working full time on his trajectory.
“We try to anticipate everything as much as possible”
One of them, Franck Cammas, won this Route du Rhum himself in 2010. “We try to anticipate everything as much as possible before leaving: the trajectory over the first half hour, how to make a approach to the starting line. It will go quickly, you will have to be very careful and perhaps not push the boats to their maximum at this time, it is not necessarily useful and leave this area in good health for the skipper and for the boat”.
To avoid breakage, it will probably be necessary to lower the foot. A precaution which will perhaps prevent one of these ultimates from beating Francis Joyon’s record set in 2018. The 66-year-old skipper reached Pointe-à-Pitre in seven days, 14 hours and 27 minutes.