Route du Rhum

The Route du Rhum is a transatlantic single-handed yacht race, which takes place every four years in November. The course is between Saint Malo, Brittany, Metropolitan France and Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, overseas France. The first competition, won by Canadian Michael Birch in his boat Olympus Photo by a margin of 98 seconds over second-placed Michel Malinovsky in Kriter V, was held in 1978, and was marked in tragedy by the disappearance of Alain Colas during the crossing.

Route du Rhum

First held	1978
Type	single-handed off-shore race
Classes	Ultim, IMOCA, Multi 50, Class40, Rhum
Start	Saint-Malo
Finish	Pointe-à-Pitre
Champion	Edmont de Rothschild Charles Caudrelier
Most titles	Laurent Bourgnon (2)
Website	http://www.routedurhum.com

Foot impression of Michael Birch, first winner of the Route du Rhum race

The current record is 6d 19h 47m 25s, set on November 16, 2022, by Charles Caudrelier.

Participation

	1978	1982	1986	1990	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	2022	Total
AUS		1					1					1	3
BEL	1		1	1	1		1	1	2	2	2		12
BUL									1	1			2
CAN	1		2	1	1	1	1						7
CHN												1	1
CRO												1	1
ESP	1								1	1			3
FIN									1	1	1		3
FRA	27	44	25	24	21	29	48	65	70	70	102	117	642
GBR		1	2			2	4	5	2	2	7	4	29
GER	1	1							1	1	2	2	8
HUN												1	1
ITA	2	1				1	1		3	3	2	2	15
JPN											1	1	2
NED	1							1					2
NOR									1	1			2
NZL									1	1		1	3
POR													0
POL			1										1
RSA											1	1	2
SUI	1			1	1	2	2	1	2	2	2	4	18
SWE											1		1
USA	1	2	1		1			1			2	2	10
Starters	36	50	32	27	25	35	58	74	85	85	123	138	768
Starters - Female	1	1	2	1	0	3	4	5	2	2	5	7	33
Starters - Male	35	49	30	26	25	32	54	69	83	83	118	131	735
Finish	24	31	13	20	14	27	30	60	71	65	70	103	528

Classes

Class	1994	1998	2002	2006	2010	2014	2018	2022
Ultim 32/23					•	•	•	•
Multihull - ORMA 60		•	•	•
Multihull - Multi 50 / Open Fifty		•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Monohull - Open 60	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Monohull - Class 40			•	•	•	•	•	•
Rhum				•	•	•
Rhum Multihull							•	•
Rhum Monohulls							•	•

Results

Line Honours

Year	Starters	Finish	Winning Sailor	Boat Name	Elapsed Time	Ref
1978 - 1st Edition	38	24	Michael Birch (CAN)	Olympus Photo	23d 06h 58m 35s
1982 - 2nd Edition	52	31	Marc Pajot (FRA)	Elf Aquitaine	18d 01h 38m
1986 - 3rd Edition	33		Philippe Poupon (FRA)	Fleury Michon	14d 15h 57m
1990 - 4th Edition	31	20	Florence Arthaud (FRA)	Pierre 1er	14d 10h 08m
1994 - 5th Edition	24	14	Laurent Bourgnon (SUI)	ORMA 60 - Primagaz	14d 06h 28m
1998 - 6th Edition	35	27	Laurent Bourgnon (SUI)	ORMA 60 - Primagaz	12d 08h 41m
2002 - 7th Edition	58		Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA)	ORMA 60 - Géant	13d 07h 53m
2006 - 8th Edition	74		Lionel Lemonchois (FRA)	Gitana 11	07d 17h 19m 06s
2010 - 9th Edition	87	71	Franck Cammas (FRA)	Groupama 3	09d 03h 14m 47s
2014 - 10th Edition	88	65	Loïck Peyron (FRA)	Banque Populaire VII	07d 15h 08m 32s
2018 - 11th Edition	123	70	Francis Joyon (FRA)	IDEC SPORT	07d 14h 21m 47s
2022 - 12th Edition	138	103	Charles Caudrelier (FRA)	Edmond de Rothschild	06d 19h 47m 25s
2026 - 13th Edition

IMOCA 60

Year	Entries	Finishers	Winning Helm	Winning Yacht	Winning Time
2002	17	12	Ellen MacArthur (GBR)	Kingfisher	13d 13h 31m 47s
2006	12	10	Roland Jourdain (FRA)	Sill & Veolia	12d 11h 58m 58s
2010	09	08	Roland Jourdain (FRA)	Véolia Environnement	13d 17h 10m 56s
2014	09	07	François Gabart (FRA)	Macif	12d 04h 38m 55s
2018	20	15	Paul Meilhat (FRA)	SMA	12d 11h 23m 18m
2022	38	34	Thomas Ruyant (FRA)	LinkedOut	11d 17h 36m 25s

Multihull Ultime (Maxi)

Year	Sail No.	Boat Name	Year	Name / Nationality	Finish Time	Elapsed Time	Speed	Distance Sailed	Ref.
2010		Groupama (3)	2006	Franck Cammas (FRA)		09d 03h 14m 47s	16.16
2014		BANQUE POPULAIRE VII	2006	Loick Peyron (FRA)	2014-11-10 - 05:08:32	07d 15h 08m 32s	19.34
2018		IDEC SPORT	2006	Francis Joyon (FRA)	2018-11-12 - 04:21:47	07d 14h 21m 47s	19.42
2022		Edmond de Rothschild	2017	Charles Caudrelier (FRA)	2022-11-16 - 09:02:25	06d 19h 47m 25s	21.63 / 26.86	4399.58

Multihulls - ORMA 60

Referred to as the ORMA 50, Ocean 50 and Multi 50

Year	Starter	Finisher	Sailor	G	Boat Name	Year	Designer	Time	Speed	Distance Sailed	Ref.
1990			Florence Arthaud (FRA)	f	Groupe Pierre 1er	1989	VPLP	14d 10h 08m 28s
1994			Laurent Bourgnon (SUI)	m	Primagaz	1990	VPLP	14d 06h 28m 29s
1998			Laurent Bourgnon (SUI)	m	Primagaz	1990	VPLP	12d 08h 41m 06s
2002	18	3	Michel Desjoyeaux (FRA)	m	Géant	2002	VPLP	13d 07h 53m 00s	11.07 / 0
2006	12	11	Lionel Lemonchois (FRA)	m	Gitana 11	2001	VPLP	07d 17h 19m 06s	19.11 / 0

Multihulls - Multi 50

Referred to as the ORMA 50, Ocean 50 and Multi 50

Year	Starter	Finisher	Sailor	Boat Name	Year	Designer	Time	Speed Rhum / Water	Distance Sailed	Ref.
2002			Franck-Yves Escoffier (FRA)	Crêpes Whaou			16d 23h 09m 42s
2006			Franck-Yves Escoffier (FRA)	Crêpes Whaou			11d 17h 28m 11s
2010			Lionel Lemonchois (FRA)	Prince de Bretagne			15d 04h 50m 48s
2014			Erwan Le Roux (FRA)	Fenêtre A Cardinal			11d 05h 13m 55s
2018			Armel Tripon (FRA)	Réauté Chocolat			11d 07h 32m 40s
2022			Erwan Le Roux (FRA)	FRA 21 - KOESIO			10d 21h 35m 52s	13.54 / 16.04	4197.23

Class 40

Year	Starter	Finisher	Sailor	Sail No.	Boat Name	Design	Time	Ref.
2006	24	22	Phil Sharp (GBR)	GBR 4	PSR	Pogo 40S1	18d 10h 21m 01s
2010	44	40	Thomas Ruyant (FRA)	FRA 88	Destination Dunkerque	Tyker 40 Evolution 2	17d 23h 10m 17s
2014	43	32	Alex Pella (ESP)	ESP 123	Tales II	Botin	16d 17h 47m 08s
2018	52	34	Yoann Richomme (FRA)	FRA 154	Veedol-AIC	Lombard	16d 03h 22m 44s
2022	55	37	Yoann Richomme (FRA)	182	Paprec Arkea	Lift V2	14d 03h 08m 40s

External links

• (in French), Official Homepage of the Route du Rhum
• (in English), Photos of boats