Pointe-à-Pitre (AFP) – Alone in the lead since the capsize of Armel Le Cléac'h, navigator Tom Laperche (SVR Lazartigue) should win his first Route du Rhum on the night of Saturday to Sunday in Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe), after a race controlled from start to finish.

Published on: 07/11/2026 - 08:32

The youngest of the Ultim class took the lead of the fleet just after the gun went off in Saint-Malo and, with a little less than 500 kilometers to go, on Saturday morning showed a more than comfortable lead of around 430 miles (around 800 km) over his first pursuer, Thomas Coville (Sodebo).

According to the latest estimates from race management, the winner of the Solitaire du Figaro 2022 must reach Pointe-à-Pitre around 10 p.m. local time on Saturday, or 3 a.m. Sunday in Paris time.

"We've had a few very intense days and it's leaving its mark. I try to take naps whenever I can, to stay lucid at all times," explained the 29-year-old skipper at the session on Friday.

Former protégé of François Gabart, who entrusted him with the helm of his giant trimaran three years ago, Laperche must arrive before Sunday morning at 8:49 a.m. (Paris time) if he wants to beat the record established in 2022 by Charles Caudrelier (6 days and 19 hours).

“Apply yourself to the end”

But "after a week of accumulated fatigue, managing the end of the race will be delicate. Finding the right slider between attacking and preserving the equipment in the face of the traps of the sea, that's the whole challenge", estimated Francis Le Goff, race director.

Rounding Guadeloupe and its wind zones is the last major difficulty to negotiate for Laperche. In 2018, the exercise was very costly for his mentor who was overtaken by Francis Joyon just two miles from the finish.

"We are getting closer. We will still have to change sails often because it will strengthen, soften, we will have to tack. It is not won, we have to go to the finish line", warned Laperche, determined to "applie to the end".

Thomas Coville is expected at the famous Basse Terre buoy around 4:00 a.m. local Sunday, or 9:00 a.m. Paris time, and therefore two to three hours later at the finish line.

Despite his experience and tenacity, he was never able to really worry Laperche, who had the best prepared boat in the Ultim fleet for a transatlantic crossing, with Le Cléac'h's Banque Populaire.

Like father like son

But launched on the heels of the SVR Lazartigue during the first third of the crossing, the Jackal capsized, as in 2018, before being rescued "in good health" by a Panamanian cargo ship.

Louis Burton (Armand Thiery) should complete the podium of the Route du Rhum at the end of the weekend, a great reward for his first major race at the helm of an Ultim, made possible by the retirements of Actual and the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild due to damage.

After the maxi-trimarans, the other classes of boats will arrive in clusters from Tuesday in Pointe-à-Pitre. Leader in Ocean Fifty, Basile Bourgnon (Edenred) could imitate his father Laurent, winner of the Route du Rhum in 1994 and 1998.

In Imoca (the 18 meter monohulls which take part in the Vendée Globe), Corentin Horeau (MACSF) had a magnificent race since the start in Saint-Malo, narrowly extricating himself from a weather trap to the north-east of the Azores, where all the favorites got stuck.

“He was really good! He had to take the risk and he did it, it really looked good,” enthused his competitor Davy Beaudart (Bureau Vallée). With more than 305 miles (560 km) ahead of his first pursuer, he also seems to have won the race.

© 2026 AFP

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