The departure of the Route du Rhum will take place in exactly two months at Saint-Malo, November 6 next. An event that will be experienced on France Bleu Armorique, in particular thanks to our sailing consultant, Breton skipper Yann Eliès. The Costaarmorican now lives in Morbihan.
- France Bleu Armorique: The Route du Rhum takes place every four years. We are expecting a boat record with 138 registered from Saint-Malo, direction Pointe à Pitre. With, of course, once again this year, the Ultimatethese giants of the seas of 30 meters which will make the public dream
Yann Elies: Yes, for sure it promises to be an exceptional edition, because indeed, we have a record number of participants. And we have these famous Ultimes which promise us a crossing of the Atlantic in 5 to 6 days with their foils. This is what will make us dream this year.
- ABF: – Concerning the Imoca, these 18-meter monohulls from the Vendée Globe or now from the Ocean Race. What does the Route du Rhum represent for them? Is it to test, to break in their machines, rather?
Yann Elies: Yes quite. There are of course those who are there to win it. I must think of Charlie Dalin, who does not yet have his new boat for the Vendée Globe. So he will be on the machine he had during the Vendée. A proven machine that he knows inside out. Some racers have already launched their new boats for the Vendée Globe so it will be no more trial runs. Some have just put their boat in the water. They will not have had the time, neither to know it, nor to make it reliable. So for them, the objective will simply be to cross, to arrive on the other side.
- ABF: There’s has two other categories, a little less media, which all the same certainly attract your eye of specialist Yann Eliès. These are the Multi50, sixteen-meter multihulls, and the Class40, twelve-meter monohulls. It is for them that the Route du Rhum will be more complicated, they will not take a week to cross…
Yann Elies: Yes quite. The Multi50s are now called the Ocean Fifty. It will take some getting used to. Yes, frankly, these are mopeds that are super nice. I did the circuit this year with Erwan Le Roux on Koésio. It is the ideal value for money in sailing and offshore racing at the moment. I think that we will find future great sailors there next year. It’s going to be really fun to follow. We will necessarily have a little more time than the Ultimates. Ultimates are almost a little too fast. We are going to be left a little unsatisfied because six days to cross the Atlantic is short, really fast. While all the other classes will take around two weeks to cross the Atlantic, we will really have time to follow them. And then we have the Class 40s, which I find brilliant, we will have more than 40 participants, an incredible sporting density with 5 to 10 competitors who can win and win this Route du Rhum. The there will really be a street fight with several leaders who will follow one another throughout the race.
- ABF: This great departure of the Route du Rhum from Saint-Malo is in two months, on November 6. What are we doing right now when we’re preparing for a big race like this?
Yann Elies: I am a trainer in Port-la-Forêt. The Imoca and the Class 40, they had a course last week which was the number 2 course of the year. The idea is to to confront each other a little in the closed doors of the training centres. For some people, is to prepare for qualification. I think we had until the end of September to qualify. All competitors must complete between 1000 and 1500 miles alone to qualify. We have a fairly, fairly large panel, but here we are really entering the funnel because indeed at the end of September, the qualifications have to be made, the registration files have to be completed and we will then be there three weeks from trip to be able to go to Saint-Malo. So we enter the “money time”.
- FBA: Every four years we talk a lot about this Route du Rhum, also about the Vendée Globe, but a little less about the other races. Why do you think sailing gets less media coverage than other sports?
Yann Elies: I would say that the two events, the Route du Rhum and the Vendée Globe, are the star events in sailing. Well, for connoisseurs, we also have the Transat Jacques-Vabre, we have the Solitaire du Figaro, the Mini 55. There are a lot of events, a lot of class, but I would say that today sailing has reached maturity and I don’t know if there is a need to go much further and attract ever more media and ever more money. I find that the relationship between media coverage, the money put in by the sponsors and the happiness that the skippers have on the water isn’t that bad after all.