The Route du Rhum Spectacle

Perhaps the biggest race most Americans have never heard of is about to get underway in France. A spectacle like no other, the quadrennial Route du Rhum singlehanded transatlantic race begins this Sunday, November 4, in Saint-Malo, a Breton port city on France’s north coast. More than 120 intrepid skippers will take the start of this marathon race across the Atlantic, which spans some 3,542 miles from Saint-Malo to Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadaloupe, in the Caribbean. After reviewing this year’s race village statistics and anticipated crowd draw for the start, we can’t think of a single sailing event on Earth that will turn out as many spectators in one place at one time. More than half a million fans are expected to turn up, rain or shine, to watch the departure of the 11th Route du Rhum, with around 2 million visiting the village in total.

The race seems to get bigger and better; in 2018 the 123 boats registered have shattered existing records. By far the largest division in the race, some 54 Class 40s have entered, including several non-French skippers and even one American. While the Class 40 division will likely offer the best competition, the two divisions that are likely to see the lion’s share of media coverage are the Ultime trimarans and the IMOCA 60s. With two classes that are on the forefront of high-performance sailing and foil development, we can’t recall a more highly anticipated battle than the ones we are about to witness.

In the Ultime category — reserved for unlimited maxi-multihulls — François Gabart and his now fully foiling trimaran MACIF have to be the odds-on favorite to win. After shattering the solo round-the-world record (and very nearly besting the crewed record), Gabart returns with a boat that has been extensively modified and is now even faster. For an English-language video of Gabart sailing MACIF with Jimmy Spithill, see www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2PJQj7MA9o.

Gabart will have his work cut out for him as both Armel le Cléac’h on Banque Populaire IX and Seb Josse on Gitana 17 are on the line with their brand-new foiling monsters. The boat that has won the last two Route du Rhums — formerly as Groupama 3 and then Banque Populaire VII — is back this time in the hands of Francis Joyon and known as IDEC Sport. Many Latitude readers will remember this boat from its days as Lending Club 2, when it was sailing all over San Francisco Bay at close to 40 knots. She has now been modified to foil as well.

In the premier monohull division, 20 IMOCA 60s will be on the line, including a handful of new builds such as Jeremie Beyou’s revolutionary new Charal, whose high-flying antics and blistering speed runs have earned the three-time Figaro winner plenty of press coverage. There is also a Multi 50 division (trimarans) and a handicap (Rhum) division for monohulls and multihulls.

For more, see www.routedurhum.com/en, or compete in the virtual regatta at www.virtualregatta.com/en/index_vroffshore.php.