10 things to know about the Route du Rhum

1 40 years

A legendary sailing race, the Route du Rhum was created in 1978 by Florent de Kersauson, Bernard Hbad and Michel Etevenon. Secretary General of the Syndicate of Producers of Caribbean Rum, Bernard Hbad is looking for an idea to relaunch the rum industry. It was just 40 years ago. They invent then a race "free": freedom of the candidatures but also freedom of the choice of the type of boat and its size.

This Sunday, all sails out, multihulls and monohulls will start from the tip of the Groin east of Saint-Malo, on the same line of 5km, at the gun given at 14:02 precisely. On land and sea, tens of thousands of people are traditionally present to encourage all these sailors preparing to leave the winter to find the summer, in Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe) after a hellish crossing.

23,542 miles of adventure

During their adventure, sailors will be allowed to stop if needed, but only once. The shortest route to Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe is 3,542 nautical miles (6,560 km), and pbades through Cape Finistère, the Azores and the West Indies. This being said, nothing obliges sailors to follow the shortest route … because sailing, and given the winds, the shortest distance is not necessarily the fastest.

Vincent LEFAI, Dario INGIUSTO / AFP

3123 competitors

Ultimate, Multi50, IMOCA, Clbad40, Multi Rum, Mono Rum … This year, an impressive fleet of 123 boats launches into the Atlantic.

Vincent LEFAI, Dario INGIUSTO / AFP

In 1994, year of the smallest edition of the Route du Rhum won by Laurent Bourgnon, they were only 25 boats at the start.

4 Flying trimarans

In 2018, this legendary race could well, for its 40^e birthday, play over the water in less than 6 days thanks to the "flying" boats. Whatever the winner, this transatlantic will indeed enter history as the first race and solo confrontation of the great "flying" multihulls.

57 days

"To go boating is not complicated, to cross the Atlantic, it's a little less, to do it alone, it's a bit more and to do it alone in the race, it becomes frankly. ", says Loïck Peyron, winner of the 2014 edition in record time of 7 days and 15 hours (Banque Populaire VII). A record: 16 days of winning since 1978.

Vincent LEFAI, Dario INGIUSTO / AFP

6 98 seconds

Loïc Peyron will also be among the competitors on Sunday but on a small yellow boat, identical to the Canadian Olympus Mike Birch, entered the legend with the first victory in 1978 in 23 days 6 hours.

This December 8, 1978, however, it is Michel Malinovski who aboard Kriter V, his monohull of 21 meters, arrived the first in front of Guadeloupe. He only had to go around the island to cut the finishing line in the lead. It was without counting Mike Birch and his small yellow trimaran less than 12 meters, Olympus Photo, who caught up with Kriter V under the dumbfounded eyes of the spectators. He will double it 98 seconds in advance. "98 seconds for eternity", will titrate "The Team" the next day.

7 favorites

At the helm of the extraordinary boats competing in 2018, great sailors: François Gabart (Macif), holder of the record of the solo world tour (42d 16h), Sébastien Josse (Edmond de Rothschild) and Armel Le Cléac 'h (Banque Populaire IX), winner of the last Vendée Globe, for those flying + flying machines. And Thomas Coville (Sodebo Ultim), author of a solo world tour record (49 d 3 h), and Francis Joyon (Idec Sport), holder of the Jules Trophy (crewed world record, 40 d 23 h) for Ultim first generation, so that do not fly.

Of the gear that will fly over the water, two are very recent. Launched less than a year ago, 'Edmond de Rothschild' and 'Banque Populaire IX' were designed from the outset to fly. And the one skippered by Josse is the most flying of all. Just behind Gabart's tip with a 3 year old boat, but completely revisited last winter go even faster in even higher on the water.

8Six women

This year, six women will sail: the British Samantha Davies and Miranda Merron as well as the French Isabelle Joschke, Alexia Barrier, Morgane Ursault-Poupon and Claire Pruvot.

For the record, Samantha Davies will compete against her companion in the city, Romain Attanasio, who will also compete but separately.

9 disappeared

"We are in the Channel, at each Route du Rum there are incredible stories, dramas, capsizing, collisions, demastings, disappearances unfortunately, "recalls Yann Eliès, competing on a monohull Imoca (Ucar Saint-Michel) .From the first edition, Alain Colas This was also the case of Loïc Caradec in 1986. In 2002, out of 18 multihulls, only 3 arrived safely.

Yann Eliès, dreamy globe

10 elements

Beware of the first 24 hours, which are mostly decisive, regardless of the boat. "As soon as we pbad the Héaux de Bréhat, in the bottom of the bay of Saint-Brieuc, there is the fight, it is left for the violent body-to-body with the elements", continues Eliès. Sunday, the start is in good conditions but it will quickly spoil with a storm on Tuesday. Of what strongly worry small boats, the Clbad40, is half of the fleet (53 monohulls).

C.C.