The Route du Rhum is a single-handed transatlantic sailing race from Saint Malo (France) to Point-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe). Find the latest news and investigations from Tip & Shaft on this historic race.
After the Ultims the Mini 6.50s and the Figaros, Tip & Shaft continues its tour of the key classes by focusing on Class40 which continues to enjoy a great dynamic, with more than ten new boats expected to launch during the coming months.
This year has been busy for Paul Meilhat. Between the build of his new Imoca Biotherm (sistership of LinkedOut) at Persico Marine then with minimal preparation for the Route du Rhum-Destination and the race itself in which he finished in sixth place, it has been a full on 2022. And it’s far from over as the French skipper flies to Alicante on Saturday to start getting ready for The Ocean Race which starts on January 15. Even so, he still found the time to answer questions from Tip & Shaft.
Barely two months after his very first sail on his new Class40, Ambrogio Beccaria finished second in the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe. Speaking from Colombia, where he is taking a few days off, the Italian skipper of Allagrande Pirelli answered some questions posed by Tip & Shaft.
The second of the five solo qualifiers for the Vendée Globe, the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe enabled a certain number of sailors to take a step forward towards their qualification. What is the state of play today for the solo round the world contenders in relation to this important formality and the need to clock up miles? Which boats are still available? Tip & Shaft looks at the situation.
Collaborators with Guillaume Verdier who designed the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, winner in the Ultim of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe, and the first two in the Imoca class, LinkedOut (Thomas Ruyant) and Apivia (Charlie Dalin), architect Romaric Neyhousser and engineer Hervé Penfornis are back for Tip & Shaft on this 12th edition of the Route du Rhum.
Charles Caudrelier won the 12th edition of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe in Ultim on Wednesday. Aided by experts – sailors Pascal Bidégorry and Franck Cammas, the race director of Finistère Atlantique (among others things) Gildas Morvan, Christian Le Pape, former director of the Finistère racing center off Port-la-Forêt, and Pierre-Marie Bourguinat, journalist who follows the Ultims for the organization -, Tip & Shaft, offers you a decryption of this announced success.
The 12th edition of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe started on Wednesday at 2:15 p.m., and there has been no shortage of twists in the first 24 hours, some of them very cruel such as the abandonment of Sam Goodchild from the Ocean Fifty class, the U-turn of Armel Le Cléac’ h in Ultim, a class in which Charles Caudrelier is under the threat of a 4 hour penalty. Tip & Shaft brought together two weather routing specialists, Dominic Vittet and Christian Dumard – who are respectively part of the routing cells of Yves Le Blevec and Francis Joyon in Ultim – to discuss the weather scenario at the start of the race.
As in every major event, Tip & Shaft has mustered a panel of experts to analyse field in each class for the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe which starts this Sunday November 6. For this second part now looking at the Ultims and Class40s, we have coaches Tanguy Leglatin and Etienne Saïz, designer Vincent Lauriot Prévost, co-founder of VPLP, Gildas Morvan, ex Figarist who was race director this year for the Finistère Atlantique and the 24h Ultim, sailors Achille Nebout and Pascal Bidégorry, as well as Didier Ravon, journalist for Voiles & Voiliers and Liberation.
As before every major event, Tip & Shaft has invited a panel of experts to analyse the line-up for the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe which starts on 6th November. In this first part dedicated to the Imoca and Ocean Fifty competitors, we talked to Antoine Mermod, the president of the Imoca class, Jeanne Grégoire, head of the Pôle Finistère Ocean Racing training centre, Daniel Souben, trainer in La Trinité-sur-mer for Orlabay, the sailors, Yann Eliès, Christopher Pratt and Vincent Riou, as well as Jacques Guyader, journalist with Ouest-France.
At 58, Roland Jourdain will start his fourth Route du Rhum in a month’s time. He is a double winner in Imoca (2006 and 2010). He now devotes most of his time to his company Kaïros and to the Explore fund but is setting off this time in the Rhum Multi class on the We Explore catamaran, a variation of the Outremer 5X, built partly in flax fibre. Tip & Shaft spoke with “Bilou“.
The record field of 138 skippers who will take on the 12th edition of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe were presented at the official press conference which took place on Wednesday in Paris. And so it proved a good opportunity for Tip & Shaft to take look at the organisation of what after all is the biggest solo ocean race in the world
Thursday this week saw a hearing held in the Paris court to examine the action brought by the Kresk group against the Ultim 32/23 class, the two parties opposing on whether the SVR Lazartigue trimaran conforms to the exact rules of the class (see our article). During the process Samuel Tual, CEO of Actual, and Ronan Lucas, director of Team Banque Populaire, explained themselves during a telephone press briefing. Tip & Shaft looks back on the day.
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