François Gabart arrived this Friday, November 14 in Guadeloupe at 18 hours 38 minutes and 55 seconds. The skipper of Macif will have spent 12 days 4 hours 38 minutes and 55 seconds on this 10th edition of the Route du Rhum covering 3963 miles at an average speed of 13.54 knots. He thus achieves the record of the race since he beats Roland Jourdain, who held the title, by 7 hours 20 minutes and 3 seconds.
A solo winner
With this victory in the Rhum for his first participation, François reminds us that he masters ocean racing perfectly. Already in 2013, he had shone in the Vendée Globe, winning and setting the record for his first participation. On this 10 e edition of the Rhum, he proved his professionalism and determination, taking the lead of the fleet from the start and fighting with Jérémie Beyou to keep his lead.
The first words of the skipper on his arrival in Pointe-à-Pitre " It's huge, it's the Route du Rhum, it's no mean feat, I gave it my all. I'm happy with the result and the way I got there. The project was launched four years ago, I have sailed around the world and today, I could not finish better with my Imoca Macif. I knew that this was the end of a part of my life with her, we have experienced great things. I wanted to experience a Route du Rhum with the same emotions as in the Vendée Globe. I enjoyed it, it's a superb single-handed ocean race. I learned again. Times change, times go by, I don't know if there is any point in comparing crossing times. But it's true that if someone had told me that four years ago, I wouldn't have believed it. It's not because you're in the lead that it's easy, on the contrary.
I fought to lead the race from start to finish. It's very personal, not with regard to the competition, but I set myself very high standards. When Vincent (Riou âeuros PRB) left, I should have been happy, but I was disappointed because I knew we were going to have a great fight, in training, we were pulling at each other. I didn't think for ten seconds that Jeremie was already behind me.
I just created the distance three days ago; maybe because I was more confident with the boat. I had a great feeling and sensations, I was fine. I could feel at the helm when a sail was properly trimmed or when there was seaweed in the rudder. I could feel when it was time to attack. I've done a lot of sailing since the Azores, more than half of the course. I wanted to go fast. I lost my spinnaker in the Azores, just after the front. So I had no choice but to be faster than Jérémie, because I knew that at the end it was going to be slow. On the last leg, I was enjoying myself, thinking about what was next. At the same time it's sad to leave the boat, but in four years I'll be back in multihulls!"
