Simon Koster crossed the finish line of the twelfth edition of La Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe this Thursday, November 24 at 04:00 minutes and 00’ local time (08:00:00 Paris time). He finished 4th Class40 with a race time of 14 days 18 hours 45 minutes. The skipper of Banque du Léman completed the 3,542 mile course between Saint-Malo and Pointe-à-Pitre at a speed of 9.98 knots on the great circle (the direct route). He actually traveled 4,015.19 miles at an average speed of 11.32 knots. Simon Koster arrived in Pointe-à-Pitre 15 hours 36 minutes 20 seconds after the winner of the winner in Class40, Yoann Richomme.
Swiss-German Simon Koster, 34, is from Zurich and an electronics graduate who trained in England as a professional skipper where he sailed on the RORC circuit events before getting into the Mini 650 He raced three Mini Transats, in 2013, 2015 and 2017 twice finishing on the podium. He was one of the real innovators in the class before moving to Class40 where he campaigns the Sam Manuard designed Mach 40.4 with Valentin Gautier. Together they form the Roesti Sailing Team and finished fourth on the 2021 Transat Jacque Vabre. Along with Justine Mettraux they set a new Round Britain & Ireland record for boats up to 40 feet
Koster’s reaction on the pontoon, in Pointe-à-Pitre:
“This race is really not like the others. You started in the North, then the Azores and not at all going fast downwind all the time. To start with it was almost only upwind and not the same pace. First, we had to try to preserve the equipment and ourselves and then focus on performance. But it was full on all the time, there was no time to slow down to fix stuff. And finishing 4th is really cool. There is just the little regret not having stuck with Ambrogio (Beccaria) and Corentin (Douguet) that would have been great, as their battle looked exciting. This transatlantic race was tough, everyone knows how to sail very well. Even upwind, in the front, it was sorted more by material than by those who made the wrong choices. Of course I'm proud of my Route du Rhum. The rest, I don't really know what it will look like but there are several tracks. But here it's going to be mostly Rum, fruit and enjoying the West Indies! »