The Route du Rhum was born in 1978 and from the first edition, two women sailors crossed the Atlantic solo, among them Florence Arthaud. And this craze for the race will continue throughout the editions, except in 1994, when no woman will take the start. Big names of the race or newcomers, they continue every four years to take to the sea. In the 2022 edition, they will be 7 to take the start.
In total, less than 20 of them have dragged their oilskins on the pontoons of Saint-Malo, stars in their eyes at the idea of crossing the Atlantic solo. If some of them have made an express passage â?" Aline Marchand in the first edition, Louise Chambaz in the second, Simone Bianchetti in 1998, Anne Liardet, Cecile Poujol or Aurelia Ditton in 2006 or Christine Monlouis in 2010 or Juliette Petres in 2014 â?" others have left their mark on the Route du Rhum.
The first woman to win the Route du Rhum
And they have made history on several occasions, starting with Florence Arthaud's victory in 1990 on the 60-foot gold trimaran Pierre Ier. The " little bride of the Atlantic "She became the first woman to win the Route du Rhum and even beat the record for the race in 14 days and 10 hours and 8 minutes. A great victory for the sailor who has been participating since the first edition! She will finish 11th, 20th and then 11th on the first 3 editions.
Ellen Mac Arthur in 2002
After a second place in the 2001-2002 Vendée Globe on Kingfisher at only 24 years old, she won the 2002 Route du Rhum on the same 60-foot monohull. She also set a new record in the IMOCA class with a race time of 13 d 13 h 31'47 ''.
A great achievement since it is the first time that a monohull arrives in Guadeloupe with a multihull, in spite of a departure with 24 hours in advance, as imposed by the rules that year.
Anne Caseneuve in 2010
Anne Caseneuve was ill when she participated for the 5th time in the Route du Rhum. This enthusiast of big trimarans and founder of the sailing and cruising school of the same name in the Gulf of Morbihan set off on the last edition (2014) on board her 50-foot trimaran. This edition will be her last and she won the Rhum Class on Aneo and set a new record with a transatlantic race of 17 days 07 hours 06 minutes and 03 seconds. One year later (NDRL: November 2015), the sailor passed away from cancerâeuros¦
Regulars of the race
Even if they have not won, some women sailors participate, or have regularly participated, in the Route du Rhum.
This is the case of Servane Escoffier, who participated for the first time in 2006 on the class 2 Monohulls Vedettes de Bréhat - Cap Marine and took a 2nd place, out of 4 in her class. She will be back in 2010 in the Ultimate category, taking a 7th place on Saint-Malo 2015, the ex-Crédit Agricole.
In 2014, when she was to set sail again on a 60-foot monohull, she is forced to give up for medical reasons . She will be replaced by her father âeuros Bob Escoffier âeuros forced to abandon after a waterway.
Miranda Merron has already participated twice in the race and has signed up for a third campaign. After an 8th place in the IMOCA race in 2002, Mirande returned in 2014 in Class40 and again achieved an 8th place in the IMOCA race e place. The Briton will be back in 2018 on Campagne de France in Class40.
Newcomers, but still big names in ocean racing
Each edition of the Route du Rhum attracts its share of rookies, most of whom will only participate once, as mentioned above. And among these rookies are some of the great names in ocean racing, such as Catherine Chabaud in 1998.
After a 1996-1997 Vendée Globe, where she became the first woman to complete a solo, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation of the globe, she then took part in the mythical transatlantic race on Whirlpool/Europe 2, but abandoned the race following a dismasting.
Karine Fauconnier participated in the 2002 edition aboard her 18.28 m ORMA trimaran, Sergio Tacchini. While the conditions were expected to be Dantesque, no one sounded the alarm and the race was launched. Soon, two thirds of the fleet were out of the race. Karine continued, but quickly lost a float. She refused to abandon her boat and it was with the help of Bob Escoffier that she was repatriated to Madeira. Her trimaran could be rebuilt.
