The first edition and those mythical 98 seconds
Just after florence Arthaud's incredible victory The memory of the skippers of the Route du Rhum remains the first edition and these only 98 seconds difference between Mike Birch and Michel Malinovsky ! After 23 days of racing led by Malinovsky's big blue cigar, Birch and his little yellow trimaran won!
"I wasn't born, but when I think of the Route du Rhum, I spontaneously think of the 98-second gap between Mike Birch and Michel Malinovsky in the first edition, explains Paul Meilhat. An opinion shared by Olivier Cardin "The first edition of the race in 1978. Those 98 seconds between Birch and Malinovsky, it was still crazy... And what about this image of the small trimaran passing in front of the big monohull! The announcement of a real change in sailing!"
And a motivation for several skippers, including Kito de Pavant "There are several, many even, but there is one that has marked me for life, it is the arrival of the first edition. I was 17 years old at the time and that's precisely what made me want to do the Rhum. In the end, I had to wait until I was 50 to do my first one, proof that to do things, you need both stubbornness? and desire."
The 2002 edition, "the rout of the Rhum
24 hours after the monohulls, a record fleet of 18 Orma trimarans (out of 58 boats at the start) set off from Saint-Malo. But the conditions were bad and as soon as they set off, Franck Cammas capsized on Groupama off the island of Batz. And in an improbable scene, the latter was hit by Bonduelle (Jean Le Cam) who had arrived from behind and who, in the dark, was unable to avoid him. In total, 14 trimarans suffered the torments of the storm, and some were lost forever. This edition will be won by Michel Desjoyeaux, who will take advantage of Steve Ravussin's capsize as he approaches Guadeloupe to cross the finish line first. He will be followed by Marc Guillemot and Lalou Roucayrol, the only one who did not stop? en route.
"Le Rhum 2002. The scenario was? incredible, with Dantesque weather. Of the 18 competitors at the start of the ORMA class, we were? only three to arrive in Guadeloupe. This inevitably added to the euphoria on site. I inevitably have a special memory of it, especially since it was my first Route du Rhum and, a few months before, I had lost a float and, consequently, put the boat back in the water very late" explains Lalou Roucayrol.
"If I had to remember one edition, it would be 2002, the flagship year of the Orma, with 18 boats at the start, which had been very tense from the start, with Groupama capsizing, Jean Le Cam going over, then everyone turning around in the Bay of Biscay, and Steve Ravussin almost winning the race, and getting upside down in the trade winds. It had been? an edition rich in twists and turns." adds Yannick Bestaven.
