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Loïc Caradec starts the 1986 Route du Rhum on his giant cat Royale. Within two days a severe storm struck the leaders, including Caradec, whose last message to his shore team was that he had removed all sails but that his huge 30m wing mast seemed likely to overturn him in the huge seas and hurricane-force winds. Fellow competitor Florence Arthaud later came upon the upturned Royale but could find no trace of her friend. It appears Caradec may have been trying to cut away the rig in a desperate effort to stay upright
FRANCE What a line-up
For its 40th birthday the Route du Rhum saw a record entry of 123 solo skippers and an exceptional level of competition. Six classes and 3,540nm of hard racing.
The kings of this popular singlehanded transatlantic race, leaving St Malo on 4 November for Guadeloupe, are the six Ultimes including two new boats: Sébastien Josse’s Edmond de Rothschild which finished second behind Sodeboin the last Transat Jacques Vabre after her foils failed within hours of the start; and Armel Le Cléac’h with Banque Populaire IX.
François Gabart, the current solo round-the-world record holder and winner of the last Rhum in the Imoca class, looks like the favourite (as usual!) since Macifhas been successfully revamped with much larger new foils which now allow her to fly quite easily. Thomas Coville’s Sodebois more or less in the same shape as last year. She cannot normally reach speeds higher than 40-42kt as the recent Ultimes do (up to 47-48kt!) but her skipper knows full well how to reach her top potential.
Thomas was the favourite for the Route du Rhum four years ago but he collided with a cargo ship near Ushant and so gave Loïck Peyron a free run to victory. Loïck’s boat was the previous Banque Populaire, the ex-Groupamasailed by Franck Cammas, winner of the 2010 edition. Francis Joyon is sailing that weapon now called Idec Sport. He is the current Jules Verne record holder and prays for a third consecutive Rhum victory for this VPLP design. Idec Sport and Sodebohave about the same speed capacity and they will need rough conditions across the Atlantic to compete with the newest Ultimes. The new Banque Populaire’s preparations were compromised by a capsize six months ago – and since then skipper Armel Le Cléac’h and his experienced team have been rushing to prepare for this solo sprint across the Atlantic. Five of the six entries (the sixth is Dame Ellen MacArthur’s old 75ft B&Q trimaran, sailed by rookie Romain Pillard) have on paper
16 SEAHORSE
a chance of victory. Never has a race has been so competitive in the Ultime fleet and never probably will the Atlantic be crossed so quickly between St Malo and Pointe à Pitre. Perhaps less than a week? Loïck did it in 7d 15h.
Jimmy Spithill, driver of the AC flying boats and double winner of the America’s Cup, came aboard Macifin August. At the end of a windy night the Australian champion went into raptures over this boat, capable of averaging more than 40kt in open sea in the dark driven under autopilot. New Zealander Peter Burling, who defeated Spithill in Bermuda, also enjoyed the Ultime aboard Edmond de Rothschild. Peter is less talkative than Mr Spithill but he clearly enjoyed himself just as much! These trimarans, made in France, are prodigious and their solo skippers impressed both these sailors. The autopilot is the solo sailor’s best friend. On these three hulled machines it is unthinkable to be sailing without it but the devices have to meet a very demanding list of requirements. This winter Gabart’s team developed a pilot specifically optimised for sailing at very high speeds. ‘To hold a course or an angle with the wind is not complicated, especially as the boat does not heel very much,’ said François, ‘but we have the problem of the flying mode to manage and the necessity of limiting the helm angles because of the high speeds and the power drain. ‘Macifactually now keeps a steadier course in flying mode than in Archimedean mode because the platform is usually supported only at two points: the foil and the rudder [equipped with an elevator]. On the other hand, when sailing very fast it is necessary to limit yaw as much as we can. A 10° change when we’re sailing at 45kt… that’s best avoided,’ said the fastest solo sailor around the world. Jean-Luc Nélias used to race with Thomas Coville on Sodebo and during the Rhum he is routeing for his good friend: ‘Our top speed with Sodebois around 42kt and they [Macif, Banque Pop- ulaire, Edmond de Rothschild] are sometimes going 5 or 6kt more. In moderate winds and an average sea they accelerate onto their foils straight away and we do not. Sodebois an Archimedean boat
JACQUES VAPILLON/DPPI
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