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In the Route du Rhum, some skippers have seen victory slip away just when it seemed they had overcome the toughest part of the race. A few seconds, a capsize, a grounding, or a difficult final leg around Guadeloupe have sometimes been enough to shake up the standings. From Michel Malinovsky to Gilles Buekenhout, here?s a look back at five races whose outcomes defied all predictions.
1978: Michel Malinovsky lost the first Route du Rhum by 98 seconds
On November 28, 1978, Michel Malinovsky approached Pointe-à-Pitre aboard Kriter V , a 21-meter monohull. After more than 23 days of racing, he appears to be on track to win this first Route du Rhum. But behind him, Mike Birch is closing in fast on his trimaran Olympus Photo , just 11 meters long. As they approached Guadeloupe, Malinovsky's lead melted away, and the two sailors found themselves neck and neck.
Birch finally managed to pull ahead and crossed the finish line after 23 days, 6 hours, 59 minutes, and 35 seconds of sailing. Malinovsky finished just 1 minute and 38 seconds later. After crossing the Atlantic, it all came down to 98 seconds.
This finish immediately goes down in history. Beyond the duel between two sailors, it demonstrates the potential of multihulls against large ocean-going monohulls. Mike Birch?s small trimaran has just won a race that many thought was destined for a larger boat.
2002: Stève Ravussin capsized while leading by more than 700 miles
In 2002, Stève Ravussin won the Route du Rhum aboard TechnoMarine-Match TV , an ORMA trimaran. This edition has been particularly grueling for the multihulls, with numerous incidents of damage and several retirements.
The Swiss sailor, however, managed to keep his boat in good condition and build up a considerable lead. On November 19, he had only 734 miles left to sail to Pointe-à-Pitre. Michel Desjoyeaux, his closest competitor, was more than 700 miles behind him. Victory seemed within his grasp. But during the night, while he was taking advantage of a lull to sleep, a squall struck his trimaran.
The boat is sailing under a reduced mainsail and a gennaker. Caught off guard by a violent gust, it picks up speed and capsizes. Ravussin wakes up and tries to ease off the gennaker, but is unable to prevent the capsizing.
In a matter of seconds, his trimaran capsized. The skipper was unharmed, but his Route du Rhum was over.
Michel Desjoyeaux will ultimately win this edition aboard Giant . The incident remains one of the cruelest in the history of the race. Ravussin had crossed much of the Atlantic under difficult conditions and seemed to have made it through the hardest part. A single squall was enough to dash his hopes.
2018: François Gabart Loses His Lead in the Guadeloupe Round
Forty years after the Malinovsky-Birch showdown, the Route du Rhum is delivering another spectacular twist.
In 2018, François Gabart led the race aboard his maxi-trimaran Macif . He has a lead of up to 165 miles over Francis Joyon, who is sailing on IDEC Sport . But Gabart has to make do with a damaged boat. During the crossing, he lost his starboard foil and his port rudder. These damages make it harder to steer the trimaran and limit its performance.
Joyon is gradually catching up. As they approach Guadeloupe, the gap narrows until it becomes negligible.
Sailing around the island will change everything. Downwind from Basse-Terre, both boats are encountering very unstable conditions, with areas of calm and gusts that are difficult to take advantage of. At the last mark of the course, Gabart still holds a 17-minute lead. But Joyon continues to close the gap.
The two maxi-trimarans ended up sailing side by side. In the final few miles, tack changes and course choices became decisive. Francis Joyon ultimately gained the upper hand and crossed the finish line on November 11, 2018, after 7 days, 14 hours, 21 minutes, and 47 seconds of racing.
François Gabart arrived just 7 minutes and 8 seconds later. After leading for most of the crossing, the skipper of Macif lets victory slip away in the final moments.
2018: Alex Thomson crossed the finish line in first place, but lost due to a penalty
A few days after the showdown between Joyon and Gabart, the Route du Rhum saw another twist, this time in the IMOCA class. Alex Thomson is leading the race aboard Hugo Boss . The British sailor has a comfortable lead over his competitors and appears to be on track for his first victory in the transatlantic race.
But on the night of November 15?16, about 70 miles from the finish line, Thomson fell asleep and his monohull ran aground on the northern coast of Guadeloupe, near Grande Vigie. The skipper managed to free his boat, in part by using his engine. He then resumed his course toward Pointe-à-Pitre and crossed the finish line in first place.
However, using the engine to pull away from the shore violates the race rules. The jury imposed a 24-hour penalty on him.
This penalty has shaken up the standings. Paul Meilhat, who finished behind Thomson aboard SMA , is officially declared the winner of the IMOCA class. The British sailor, who had dominated the race, thus lost a victory that seemed all but certain after running aground just a few hours before the finish.
2022: Gilles Buekenhout capsizes 225 miles from Guadeloupe
Twenty years after Stève Ravussin, Gilles Buekenhout suffered a similar mishap during the 2022 Route du Rhum. At age 60, the Belgian sailor was comfortably leading the Rhum Multi category aboard Jess , a 40-foot trimaran designed by Martin Fischer and Benoît Cabaret. Since leaving the Bay of Biscay, Buekenhout has been leading his class. On November 23, he was just 225 miles from Tête à l'Anglais, north of Guadeloupe, with about a day?s lead over his pursuers. Victory seems within reach.
But as he was sailing under gennaker, a wave stronger than the others lifted the stern of the trimaran. Jess The boat accelerates, lurches sharply, and capsizes bow-first. The skipper is thrown into the water before managing to climb back onto the overturned hull. Buekenhout activated his distress beacon and notified race officials. He was eventually rescued by a commercial vessel. His boat, found a few days later, was righted, towed to Guadeloupe, and then repaired.
However, the story doesn't end with the capsizing. Gilles Buekenhout managed to save Jess and to bring it back to Europe after a major recovery and restoration operation.
