In response to the limitation on the maximum size of boats following the 1976 Transat Anglaise, Michel Etevenon, a Parisian publicist, officially presented the route of the Route du Rhum in May 1978, the first French solo transatlantic race that would set off from Saint-Malo to reach Pointe-à-Pitre. The event was open to monohulls and multihulls and imposed no size limits for vessels. In total, 38 sailors, both professional and amateur, were registered for this first edition. Among them were big names in ocean racing and promising youngsters: Mike Birch, Alain Colas, Florence Arthaud, Michel Malinovsky, Olivier de Kersauson, Philippe Poupon, Marc Pajot, Bruno Peyron… The famous Éric Tabarly was the notable absentee that year, having failed to find the necessary funding for his participation in time.

November 5, 1978, marked the start of the race, and the public was there. The city of Saint-Malo was in turmoil, and Cap Fréhel, like the waters, were stormed. The rest of the race would arouse the curiosity of the general public, but what would make this first edition legendary was the finish between Mike Birch and Michel Malinovsky, with Birch winning by a tiny margin of 98 seconds after 23 days at sea and 3,500 miles of racing.

Florence Arthaud, 21, who had given up everything a year earlier, came eleventh after 27 days at sea. She was the first woman to be ranked, and was nicknamed “the little fiancée of the Atlantic,” a phrase she hated.
On a more tragic note, this edition also saw Alain Colas disappear at sea aboard his boat Manureva. Following a final call during which the sailor indicated he was caught in the center of a typhoon, neither the sailor nor the boat were found after more than 250 hours of searching.

The 1978 edition made a lasting impression and generated a certain enthusiasm among the sailors who rushed to participate in this second edition in 1982. There were 52 of them at the start, including a significant number of professional sailors, well known to the general public: Tabarly, Birch, Malinovsky, Peyron, Poupon, etc.

The new feature is the equipment of an Argos beacon on all boats, as well as the creation of a press PC at the foot of the Montparnasse Tower, which will allow the competition to be followed closely. This edition will be marked by particularly difficult conditions, forcing Éric Tabarly to abandon the race. Marc Pajot will arrive as the winner on the other side of the Atlantic, closely followed by Bruno Peyron, and finally Mike Birch. All three will complete the podium in multihulls. It is noteworthy that of the top 10 boats in Guadeloupe, 9 are multihulls.

There were 33 of them at the start of this 1986 edition. The best skippers were still there, even if the number of participants was down compared to 1982. The size of the boats was still more gigantic: 13 boats were over 23 meters long. Never before had offshore racing brought together such a field of giants. Among the entries, the trend was resolutely towards catamarans, with no fewer than 13 in the running, compared to 9 trimarans, some of which were equipped with new appendages: foils. The low pressure systems followed one another over the Atlantic and took a heavy toll on the Route du Rhum fleet. The weather conditions of the first few days put the competitors to the test; retirements and damage followed one after the other. Loïc Caradec, who was sailing aboard his imposing trimaran Royale II (22.60 meters), gave no sign of life. Florence Arthaud diverted to her position and discovered the wreck overturned with no sign of life. Loïc Caradec was never found. This would be the second tragedy in the history of the Route du Rhum, eight years after the disappearance of Alain Colas.

Despite this obvious upheaval, Philippe Poupon won ahead of Bruno Peyron and Lionel Péan.

1990 marked the year of change. Water had flowed under the hulls in four years and the fleet was undergoing a complete transformation. Trimarans seemed to have definitively established themselves for solo racing and the 60-foot limit was almost unanimously accepted. Backed into a corner, Bruno Peyron, Francis Joyon and Hervé Laurent were refused entry to the Route du Rhum with their 65-foot boats. Joyon reduced the size of his hull by cutting off a piece just a few days before the start, while Peyron and Laurent set off as "pirates," that is, without appearing in the official ranking.

31 competitors will still be present in Saint-Malo, including new boats like Pierre 1er (Florence Arthaud), Fujichrome (Mike Birch), RMO (Laurent Bourgnon) and Fleury Michon IX (Philippe Poupon). Laurent Bourgnon will round the Cape Fréhel buoy in the lead. The tone is set: they will have to keep up the pace imposed by these new Formula 1 of the seas. November obliges, the low pressure systems hit the fleet and the damages enter the scene: Jean Maurel (Elf Aquitaine III) dismasted and Laurent Bourgnon exploded his centerboard causing a leak. He said nothing, but pumped... In Pointe-à-Pitre, Florence Arthaud, exhausted and after having been deprived of electronics and communication since the Azores, will enter the legend of the Rhum by becoming the first woman to win a solo ocean race.

There are only 24 of them taking the start of this fifth edition, but a big novelty is that there will be two races within the race: one for multihulls and one for monohulls. Coincidentally, there are the same number of entries in each category. And while many have images of Florence Arthaud anchored in their minds, she will not be there to defend her title. Only her boat will be present, bought by billionaire Steve Fossett under the name Lakota.

But the battle of the field is no less superb, while in the multihulls, Loïck Peron will dismast, Paul Vatine will become the main competitor of Laurent Bourgnon who will win his first Route du Rhum; in the monohulls, Yves Parlier, Alain Gautier and Halvard Mabire are the big favorites. Mabire will lose his keel, capsize and trigger his distress beacon. He will be rescued after remaining in the icy water for more than ten hours. Yves Parlier and Alain Gautier will finish just behind the two leading trimarans, which will nonetheless remain a remarkable performance.

19 multihulls for 18 monohulls: a fine anniversary line-up for the twentieth anniversary of the Route du Rhum. In six editions, this transatlantic race has become a great classic, a must for all professional sailors. Laurent Bourgnon is putting his title back into play aboard an extremely reliable trimaran, with perfectly mastered physiological mechanics, 24/7 French and American weather analyses via Richard Silvani and Bob Rice, and a fiercely competitive spirit. His main competitor, who is still aiming for a first victory in the Route du Rhum, is none other than Loïck Peyron. The Atlantic is becoming a veritable chessboard on which the greatest solo sailors are putting forward their options: Francis Joyon, Paul Vatine, Alain Gautier, Marc Guillemot, and Franck Cammas will keep everyone in suspense.

Upon arriving in Guadeloupe, Laurent Bourgnon became the first sailor in the history of the race to achieve the double and set a new crossing time record: 12 days, 8 hours, and 41 minutes. Alain Gautier took second place, then Franck Cammas completed the podium rankings by crossing the finish line only eight minutes ahead of Marc Guillemot. In the monohulls, Thomas Coville, called in to replace Yves Parlier at the last minute following the latter's paragliding accident, won against Jean-Luc Van Den Heede. Ellen MacArthur, 22 years old at the time, won the monohull event on her 50-foot vessel, heralding a magnificent career.

With 58 competitors at the start, 2002 was a record year. Firstly in terms of participation, but unfortunately also in terms of withdrawals, because although 28 boats finished the event, only 3 out of 18 reached the Antilles in the ORMA class, the queen of the 60-foot multihulls.
It was Franck Cammas who was the first to bear the brunt of the depression that swept through the fleet from the start of the race, and only three of them would reach the other side of the Atlantic: Michel Desjoyeaux, the winner, ahead of Marc Guillemot and Lalou Roucayrol (the only skipper to finish without stopping).

Also a historic first, the arrival in real time of two IMOCA monohulls ahead of the multihulls, including that of Ellen MacArthur and Mike Golding, a consequence of the delayed start of the monohulls which left a day before the multihulls, and of the capsizes and damages due to the terrible weather conditions encountered off the coast of La Coruña.

This eighth episode of the famous solo transatlantic race will be remembered for the breathtaking sprint of Lionel Lemonchois, winner of the premier 60-foot multihull category aboard Gitana 11. Crossing Saint-Malo to Pointe-à-Pitre in 7 days, 17 hours, and 19 minutes, the Normandy sailor smashed Laurent Bourgnon's previous record by more than 4 days, at a dizzying average speed of 19.11 knots solo! The other highlight of this edition was the epic duel between Roland Jourdain (Sill and Véolia) and Jean Le Cam (VM Matériaux) in IMOCA, resulting in a suspenseful finale. After 3,543 miles, only 28 minutes separated them, allowing Jourdain to enter the legend of the Rhum. Also, for the first time in the history of the Route du Rhum, the Class40s took part in the race, 25 in number, and allowed for a mix of professionals and amateurs. Phil Sharp will come first in this category.

The boat size limit imposed since 1990 to 60 feet (18.28 meters) has been abandoned in favor of the “no limit” concept that guided the creation of the race in 1978.

With 85 solo sailors at the start and nearly 2 million visitors, the 2010 Rhum vintage has established itself as one of record-breaking events. Nine of them are in the Ultim category, to support a long-awaited return. There are also nine IMOCAs, twelve Multi 50s, forty-four Class 40s, and eleven "Rhum" category yachts. On the water, the spectacle did not disappoint. Winner in Pointe-à-Pitre aboard his 31.50-meter trimaran, Franck Cammas, skipper of Groupama 3, enters the legend, but does not beat the reference time, taking 9 days 3 hours 14 minutes 47 seconds to cross the Atlantic. Francis Joyon (Idec) and Thomas Coville (Sodebo) complete the podium. Two sailors particularly distinguished themselves by achieving the double, Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement), winner in IMOCA for the second consecutive edition, and Lionel Lemonchois (Prince de Bretagne), who repeated the feat of 2006 by winning this time on a 50-foot multihull. In Class40, Thomas Ruyant was the first in his category, while the Italian Andrea Mura won in the Rhum category.

For its tenth edition in 2014, La Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe continues to break records. Firstly, on the sporting front, with 91 yachts gathered on the same starting line off the coast of Saint-Malo on 2 November at 2:00 p.m., and at the finish in Guadeloupe, a magnificent winner, Loïck Peyron, who set a new reference time, completing the 3,542-mile course in 7 days 15 hours 08 minutes and 32 seconds.

Then, on the media front, with unprecedented coverage with more than 67 hours of television coverage, more than 44 hours of radio reports, more than 5,500 press articles, more than 900 accredited journalists and more than 12,000 web articles. Finally, between the departure from the corsair city and the Place de la Victoire in Pointe-à-Pitre, more than 2,200,000 people came to explore the departure and arrival villages and taste the magic of Rum!

An anniversary to celebrate its fortieth anniversary, a large crowd turned out in Saint-Malo. A spectacular start between the Pointe du Grouin and Cape Fréhel. Exceptional enthusiasm from internet users and social networks. A finale between Ultims with twists and turns and an incredible turnaround among the IMOCA monohulls. Crossing records shattered in four out of six categories, a new ranking with the Rhum Mono, a strong foreign presence and a 3,542-mile course that has become legendary...
A record number of participants with 123 boats and an increase in attendance compared to 2014: 1.35 million people! Twelve days of entertainment which concluded with the legendary passage of the locks, to reach a body of water swept on Sunday November 4, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. by a nice breeze of around fifteen knots from the South-East, ideal conditions for setting off towards the Guadeloupe Region.
The eleventh edition of the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe will remain etched in our memories. The finish of the Ultims was thrilling, with the Francis Joyon vs. François Gabart duel, which ultimately saw Francis Joyon win by a few hundred meters against François Gabart with a time difference of 428 seconds. Alex Thomson, in IMOCA, leading the fleet, fell asleep a few meters from the tip of Guadeloupe and, exhausted, crashed onto the rocks 60 miles from the finish. Arriving first on the finish line, but forced to extricate himself using the power of his engine, he received a 24-hour penalty. Victory ultimately went to Paul Meilhat ahead of Yann Éliès and Alex Thomson.

The 12th edition of the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe promised to be sensational. It was much more. And for good reason: with 138 competitors at the start—the largest and finest field ever assembled for an oceanic event—it is undoubtedly one of the finest chapters in the history of the most legendary solo transatlantic race that has just been written. " This 2022 edition proved to be one of record-breaking events, and it lived up to all its promises. The naval battle was confirmed at the forefront, and at every level. The race lived up to its reputation, with tough and challenging conditions that opened up the regatta game to the highest level ,” said Joseph Bizard, Managing Director of OC Sport Pen Duick, who can only be delighted with the spectacle offered on the water and also with the vitality of the different classes and categories of boats which confirms the unique character of the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe.

An exceptional event
The event is a major event in ocean racing, and this 12th edition stood out even more than the previous ones in each of its attributes. In everyone's opinion, sailors, shipowners, partners, and the public, it was special and, in a way, marked a kind of change, like a ratchet effect, becoming a race of excellence in all classes and categories. " Crossing the North Atlantic in November is certainly not a trivial exercise (as a reminder: of the 138 solo sailors at the start, 103 managed to reach Pointe-à-Pitre). It is a difficult exercise that justifies the exceptional nature of the race, and makes it so exciting ," added OC Sport General Manager Pen Duick. In fact, the magic worked in a big way. A satisfaction for the organizers whose desire was to make the event a gathering place for sailors and the general public.

An event to bring people together
In Saint-Malo, the 70,000 m² village was designed to showcase the entire fleet. A lot of work was also done on ergonomics to make it easy and comfortable to access. This made it possible to welcome a very large audience and offer key events, such as parades and passages through the locks. At the same time, integrating sustainable development issues into the event gave even more meaning to the various actions carried out, and fully played the role of an impact platform and sounding board to inform, raise awareness, and promote the major environmental issues related to the ocean. " The building blocks we have laid open up great prospects for us in building future editions ."

A successful “opera”
Although it is still a little too early to draw a real quantitative assessment, an initial trend is emerging, and the good news is that it confirms the interest in ocean racing as such. " It is a discipline that pleases, captivates, and fascinates. We were able to see its remarkable power of attraction through the various channels we had set up to follow the race. This 12th edition of the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe was, without a doubt, a great celebration of the sea and boats ," assured OC Sport representative Pen Duick. In fact, this 2022 edition was in line with the initial promise made by Michel Etevenon who, for the record, stated that his " intention was not to run a race but to stage an opera ."