1978 - 98 seconds to separate the first 2
With 56 boats on the starting line, it is Mike Birch who with his yellow trimaran beat Michel Malinovsky to the finish line. He finished the race in 23 days, 6 h 59 min and 35 s. It took Jacques Palasset more than 34 days to cover the 3 510 miles. The first edition was also marked by the loss of Alain Colas november 16, 1978 with the trimaran Manureva.
1982 - 52 starters and 19 withdrawals and Argos beacons
It is on board of Elf-Aquitaine marc Pajot was the first to reach Pointe-à-Pitre, ahead of Bruno Peyron by 10 hours and Mike Birch by 14. Eric Tabarly, on the other hand, did not manage to reach the finish line with his hydrofoil trimaran Paul Ricard. Although the trend is already towards multihulls, the big ones are making their appearance with the 27-meter William Saurin skippered by Eugène Riguidel who finished 18th.
1986 - Succession of depressions in the Atlantic
Philippe Poupon finally sees victory on his trimaran Fleury Michon VIII . Arrived in 14 days, 15 hours and 57 minutes, he is well ahead of his challengers Bruno Peyron and Lionel Péan with a 2 day lead. Out of the 33 boats to leave, only 5 are monohulls and the first one arrives at the 12th place... out of 14. There were many retirements, 19 to be exact: Eric Tabarly, Loïck Peyron, Olivier de Kersauson... Once again, the race was plunged into mourning with the loss of Loïc Caradec on 14 November 1986 when his 60-foot maxi-catamaran capsized.
1990 - Little bride of the Atlantic dressed in gold
The first woman to win the Rhum, Florence Arthaud took the opportunity to break the record for the event in 14 days and 10 hours and 08 minutes after an incredible race. The size of the boats was limited to 60 feet and all-carbon boats were introduced. Philippe Poupon came second, 8 hours after Florence, but 5 minutes ahead of the Swiss Laurent Bourgnon.
1994 - 14 competitors at the finish, 24 participants
Laurent Bourgnon is taking advantage of the dismasting of Loïck Peyron's Fujicolor II to come in first with a new record of 14 days, 6 hours and 28 minutes. Paul Vatine is ahead of him by 2 hours. With as many multihulls as monohulls, this race gave rise to a separate ranking and it was Yves Parlier in a monohull who won ahead of Alain Gautier and even finished third, all categories combined.
1998 - A double for a classic
For the 20th anniversary of the event, Laurent Bourgnon offers us a one-two in 12d 8h and 41 min ahead of Alain Gauthier and Franck Cammas. Thomas Coville, who replaced Yves Parlier at short notice, won the monohull race. This edition also revealed a young British woman of 22 years old who conquered the hearts of the public, Ellen MacArthur, winner in 50 feet.
2002 - Apocalyptic conditions
First of all, with 58 competitors at the start, divided into 6 classifications, the race was the most devastating single-handed transatlantic race in history, with 30 retirements. Of the 18 boats in the Orma class, only 3 arrived in Pointe-à-Pitre, a real hecatomb in the difficult conditions of the Bay of Biscay. Ellen Mac Arthur, on her Imoca, won the event and broke the previous record for the category by two days. Third to cross the finish line after Mike Golding in monohulls, Michel Desjoyeaux, recent winner of the Vendée Globe, takes the lead in the multihull ranking after three technical stops. Only 6 hours separate the course times between the monohulls and the multihulls, a revealing sign of the technical evolutions.
- IMOCA Class (Monohulls) : Ellen MacArthur, Kingfisher, 13d 13h31'47
- Class 1 (Monohulls) : Bruno Reibel, Ville de Dinard, 27d 22h00'41
- Class 2 (Monohulls): Nick Moloney, Ashfield Healthcare, 27d 22h00'41''
- Class 3 (Monohulls) : Régis Guillemot, Storagetek, 21d 01h11'50
- ORMA Class (Multihulls) : Michel Desjoyeaux, Géant, 13d 07h53'00''
- Class 2 (Multihulls) : Franck-Yves Escoffier, Crêpes Whaou, 6d 23h09'42
2006 - The edition of all records
74 sailors, 7d 17h 19min, 19 knots average speed, it's Lionel Lemonchois who will calm everyone down with his multihulls. He thus pulverized the record of the event held by Laurent Bourgnon since 1998 by almost 5 days. In the 60-foot IMOCA monohull category, Roland Jourdain won, despite a broken boom in a gybe in the Azores.
- IMOCA Class (Monohulls) : Roland Jourdain, Sill-Veolia, 12 d 11 h 58 min 58 s
- Class 1 (Monohulls) : Philippe Chevalier, Antilles-Sail.com 23 d 22 h 51 min 42 s
- Class40 (Monohulls): Phil Sharp, philsharpracing.com, 18 d 10 h 21 min 18 s
ORMA Class (Multihulls) : Lionel Lemonchois, Gitana 11, 7 d 17 h 19 min 6 s - Class 2 (Multihulls) : Franck-Yves Escoffier Crêpes Whaou, 11 d 17 h 28 min 11
2010 - A rolling story
85 competitors will take the start of this 9th edition, divided into five categories: Ultime class, 60-foot multihulls with 9 entries; Multi50 class, 50-foot multihulls with 12 entries; IMOCA class, monohulls Open 60 feet with 9 registrants; class40, 40 feet monohulls, with 44 registrants and the Rhum category, all the other monohulls and multihulls that do not fit in the previous classes, with 11 registrants. Franck Cammas on board the trimaran Groupama 3 arrived first in Guadeloupe with an average speed of 16.14 knots. Followed 10 hours later by Francis Joyon on IDEC then Thomas Coville aboard Sodebo all three on multihulls in the Ultime class. Lionel Lemonchois, the 2006 winner, will be first in the Multi 50 class. Roland Jourdain will win the event in the Imoca category.
2014 - The edition of all records
The 2014 edition of the Route du Rhum will see 91 starters lining up on the starting line, the largest number of participants in the history of the race. It will be marked by a host of records in all the classes, with reference times in shambles: François Gabart in IMOCA alex Pella in Class40, Erwan Le Roux in Multi50 and Anne Caseneuve in the Rhum Class .
But this edition will also be Loïc Peyron's. He had participated in six races, but had never won (three retirements, two times 5th, once 17th). He was going to start the race "the old-fashioned way" on a small 11-meter trimaran, the sistership of Olympus Photo, the first winner of the Rhum. However, he will be called to replace Armel le Cléac'h on the Maxi Trimaran Banque Populaire VII, since the latter has injured his hand and will not be able to participate.
The sailor from La Baule leads his title-winning trimaran (Groupama 3 in 2010) with a master's hand, becoming, at 55 years old, the first to do so, the oldest winner of the solo transatlantic race he beat the absolute record in 7 days 15 hours 8 minutes and 32 seconds.
2018 - A remake of the first edition
This 40th edition of the race will be marked by the incredible duel between Francis Joyon and François Gabart. While the latter was considered the favorite, it was Francis Joyon on Idec Sport who won by only 7 minutes and 3 seconds. Although he was leading the whole race, with Francis Joyon in his rear view, François Gabart paid the price of going around Guadeloupe in the wind. This is how Francis Joyon crossed the finish line with a race time of 7 days 14 hours 21 minutes and 47 seconds and set a new record. This is the smallest gap in the history of the race since the 98 seconds of the first edition...
