Multi Rum Class: The original spirit of the Route du Rhum in multihull

Charlie Capelle on the trimaran Acapella-Soreal © Autre Regard

The Multi Rum category includes all boats with two or three hulls between 39 and 59 feet in length and not able to enter another class of the race. This class, where the majority of sailors are amateurs, welcomes 21 skippers who have come to experience the adventure of the Route du Rhum on boats with a varied profile: cruise catamarans, racing trimarans

Chloé Torterat Published on October 9, 2018

Forty years ago, a small yellow trimaran passed a long black monohull, just a few metres from the finish and after 23 days of racing, winning the first edition of the Route du Rhum with only 98 seconds of avance?! A story that forever marked the history of racing and multihulls. The Multi Rum Class is therefore the original class of the Route du Rhum.

This same class, which for the 40th anniversary of the transatlantic race between Saint-Malo and Pointe-à-Pitre will host two sisterships of the trimaran Olympus-Photo, led by Charlie Capelle (Acapella-Soreal) and François Corre (Friends & Lovers) and which will compete against Bob Escoffier (Kriter V-Socomore-Quéguiner) who will defend Michel Malinovski's colours aboard his monohull.

Christian Guyader on Guyader Gastronomy ©François Van Malleghem

Loïc Peyron - winner of the 2014 edition with a reference time of 7 days 15 hours 15 hours 8 minutes and 32 seconds on the trimaran Banque Populaire - will return to another trimaran this time. For his 8th participation, the Baulais will come back to the sistership of Olympus Photo for an old-fashioned navigation, no GPS, no electronics, no reels, no lyophilized.

Loïck Peyron on Happy ©Pierre de Champsavin

In the Multi Rum fleet, there are also old Multi50s that are no longer able to be in their original class, in which these same multihulls are now equipped with foils. They will have come to improve the reference time established by the late Anne Caseneuve in 17 d 7 h 6' 03'. His trimaran (Air Antilles-Caseneuve Maxi Catamaran) will therefore set off again, with David Ducosson on board. But the competition will be tough in front of them with for example Pierre Antoine and (Olmix) on the ex-Crêpes Whaou?! at the origin of the Multi50 class in 2002.

In front of its trimarans, the fleet is composed of one-third catamarans. Like Bertrand de Broc (Pampero) who already has three participations, and who is leaving this time on a particularly optimized 50-foot catamaran. And this is also the case for Yann Marilley (No Limit Yacht-BMP) who built an all-carbon unit, the largest in the fleet with its 58 feet..

The confrontation is likely to be intense with the Multi50s and older generation IMOCAs, but also against the best monohulls in the Class40.