Time penalty decides Route du Rhum

(November 25, 2022; Day 17) – After French skipper Roland Jourdain (We Explore) was deemed the winner of the Rhum Multihull class in the 12th Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe, he dropped to second after being been given a statutory time penalty of 90 minutes as he had a broken lead seal on his boat.

Jourdain had finished today at 19:06:00hrs UTC with an elapsed time for the 3542 nautical miles solo course from Saint-Malo to Guadelope of 16 days 5 hours and 51 minutes in his 61-foot Outremer.

Loïc Escoffier (Lodigroup) had crossed the finish line second today in his 50-foot Barreau design but has now been declared winner of the Rhum Multi division. He crossed the line at Pointe-à-Pitre line at 19:52:23hrs UTC, some 43 mins 23 seconds after Jourdain. 

Details – Skippers – Tracking

In the 44 year history of the Route du Rhum, there has never been so many solo skippers planning to start November 6 (postponed to Nov. 9) as in 2022. On this 12th edition, 138 solo racers will compete on the classic race which leaves Saint-Malo, France and heads across the Atlantic to Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe.

Six divisions will compete, beginning with the eight entries in the Ultims and eight in the Ocean Fifty division. Thirty-seven IMOCAs will be there, 55 Class40s as well as 16 in the Rhum Multi (64-feet and less) category and 14 in Rhum Mono (39+ feet) fleets.

Among the competitors, 5% (7) are women across the IMOCA, Class40, and Rhum Mono. Fourteen nationalities will be represented, including Japanese and Chinese skippers. In total, 20% of the participants are from outside France. Half of the French skippers are either residents or natives of Brittany where the race starts from, while there are also 6% Guadeloupeans among the competitors.

Source: OC Sport Pen Duick