The start of the 12th edition of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe solo Transatlantic race from Saint Malo to Guadeloupe has been postponed from Sunday’s scheduled 1302hrs local time gun until either Tuesday or Wednesday because of forecasted extreme weather and sea conditions in the English Channel.
Race management's decision was taken in collaboration with Météo Consult forecasters, OC Sport Pen Duick, the organizer of La Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe, and Race Director Francis Le Goff. When it was announced to the 138 skippers at the scheduled weather briefing this morning in Saint Malo’s Palais du Grand Large auditorium, the decision was greeted by a loud, spontaneous cheer and unanimous applause. A considerable build-up of tension among the skippers of all classes, from the Ultim 32/23 to the Rhum Multi and Mono divisions alike, was released in a moment.
The rescheduled start is expected to be Tuesday November 8 or Wednesday November 9.
Speaking to the fleet from the stage Race Director Francis Le Goff, said,
“We have received and listened to all your comments and worked together with MétéoConsult. Clearly the conditions after the start in the Channel" create a "blocking situation. Sunday’s start is therefore postponed probably to Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning,”
“The safety of the sailors and their boats takes precedence,” emphasized Le Goff.
Hervé Favre, the president of OC Sport Pen Duick, the race organisers, said, “This decision was imposed upon us just like so many adventures that occur in ocean racing. Nonetheless this race will be great”
"We are going to try to reorganize everything to maintain a high level of activity on site and preserve the mood of the race on start day, " enthused Joseph Bizard, manging director of OC Sport Pen Duick.
While the forecast showed over 45kts in gusts and huge seas in the Channel Sunday into Monday, the forecasts for the middle of the week are more favourable for the start of this 12th edition. It is the first time since the race was first contested in 1978 that the race start has been postponed.
British skipper Sam Goodchild (Leyton) who is among the favourites to win the Ocean Fifty multihull division commented, “ Right or wrong the good thing is the decision is made for us all and that is good. Some of us were already asking the question whether it would have been wiser to have stayed and waited for the weather to be better and for me, going out trying to win, that was an option. But now it is good that decision is taken for us. And we have a great team around us, we are always ready for anything and this is the Route du Rhum in November and we had discussed this possibility.”
And Germany’s Boris Herrmann who is due to set out with his brand new, relatively untested IMOCA Malizia-Seaexplorer, said, "There is a certain relief. We would have accepted any decision that race direction made including leaving tomorrow if that was what was to happen. But this gives us a just a little more time to tweak and finesse the little details. The weather situation was very challenging. For me I was more worried about the first two hours of the race than the big cold front. Tacking upwind in a narrow corridor with 138 boats between the wind farm and the exclusion zone, that is what made me not sleep last night. Any direction other than what is forecast is batter. 260deg TWA is like straight upwind. Any wind direction is better.”
France’s Charlie Dalin, the outstanding top seed in the 38 boat IMOCA fleet, commented on the news, “When I came to this briefing this morning I was not expecting this, I was fully expecting to go, I was ready to go and follow the organisation’s will. But I respect the decision. I will be ready to go whenever the start is. I am neither happy nor unhappy about it, I just get on and deal with it. It is not about being happy or unhappy.”
Read more skippers views here https://www.routedurhum.com/en/actualite/279