Le Cléac’h Rescued, Laperche Takes Line Honors in 2026 Route du Rhum

Last Wednesday, November 4, we reported that the 100-ft Ultim Maxi Banque Populaire XI had capsized and that the skipper, Armel Le Cléac’h, was inside the capsized boat, approximately 550 miles northwest of the Azores, awaiting rescue. Le Cléac’h was picked up a couple of days later by the cargo ship Palexpo.

The clip below, shared by Team Banque Populaire, was filmed by by Táo HP, a member of the Palexpo crew.

Earlier in the race, Francis Joyon, sailing the trimaran Oceans in the Classic Multihull class, also capsized and was picked up by the merchant vessel Maersk Columbus. The two capsizes are by no means the only casualties of this 3,542-mile race from Saint-Malo, France, to Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, with numerous entries dropping out of the race due to either personal injury or damage to the vessel.

In good news, the first three boats have reached the finish. Tom Laperche of the Ultim SVR-Lazartigue took line honors on Sunday, November 8, at 0331, Paris time. He completed the race in 6 days, 13 hours, 27 minutes and 40 seconds.

Route du Rhum describes Laperche’s entry as “a well optimised, reliable Ultim trimaran which he knows like the back of his hand … he proved fast in every condition, smart and agile during transitions, and both incisive and dominant from the very start of the race.”

Laperche covered 4,308.32 miles, clocking an average “actual” speed of 27.18 knots. It was his first Route du Rhum race.

The Route du Rhum starting fleet comprised 115 boats across six classes. At the time of this writing, three boats have crossed the finish line and 18 are retired, leaving 94 boats still racing to the finish.