As he pulls up to the victory pontoon and savors his first ‘ti’punch, Achille Nebout just can’t quite believe it. Beaming across his salt and sweat encrusted face with his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter in his arms, he snacks voraciously on fresh fruit, sitting cross-legged on the deck of Amarris.
The sailor from the Mediterranean has just won the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe—the greatest victory of his sailing career so far. “It was hard, so hard” he keeps repeating, almost as if to remind himself. It was a battle against the elements, against the tenacious, talented Guillaume Pirouelle – a long time rival who had beated him to second on the 2022 La Solitaire du Figaro - and, above all, against himself. He had to dig deep—pushing himself to his absolute limits—before finally crossing the finish line and being taken over by a wave of emotions the likes of which he had hardly even dared to dream of.
“I never once thought I would win the Route du Rhum"
The victory is hard to comprehend. “I never once thought I would win the Route du Rhum; it wasn’t part of the plan! It wasn’t until I was five miles from the finish line that I realized: ‘This is it—I’ve finally set the gennaker, I’m heading straight for the line; nothing much can go wrong now!’ But before that, I just couldn’t process it—and I think it’s going to take me a little while to do so. I wasn’t exactly among the favorites, and I think I sailed the race of my life, at just the right moment. But, man, was it tough!”
That final lap around Guadeloupe. “Mentally and physically, I was at my limit. Guillaume is probably the fastest sailor in the fleet; having him right behind you is a nightmare. He’s been wearing me out for 15 years—ever since our 420 dinghy class days! For my part, I’d been studying this lap around the island for four days. I analyzed the paths taken by all the boats that had passed before me, and I even re-examined the charts from 2022. I identified some key waypoints—specifically, heading a bit further offshore to catch the southeasterly breeze—and it looked like a promising strategy. So, that’s what I tried. But when I saw Guillaume hugging the coast, I thought, ‘If he catches the same wind I’ve got, it’s all over.’ As it turned out, he didn’t, and I managed to cross back in front of him.”
“In the middle of a ridge of high pressure, I took the lead—it felt like a dream.”
A champion’s boat. “Winning the Route du Rhum twice in the same boat—I don’t think that’s ever been done before (Yoann Richomme won aboard this Class40 four years ago—Editor’s note). I’m not sure it will ever happen again. This boat is incredible when you look at its track record in transatlantic races. It has now has three major victories to its name: two Route du Rhum wins (2022, 2026) and one Québec-Saint-Malo transatlantic race (2024). We made a fantastic team. It might not be the best boat in the fleet right now—after all, 35 others have been built since —but I know it so well, and I’m able to push it to its absolute limit. That’s what allowed me to go toe-to-toe with everyone else.”
The miraculous ridge. “After the first depression, there was a small high-pressure ridge to cross. I had plenty of repair work to do on the boat, so I hoisted the spinnaker, engaged the autopilot, and spent the whole night tinkering. There wasn’t much wind, but the spinnaker kept me moving at 4 knots. Once I finished my repairs, I checked the standings and realized that Guillaume—and everyone else—had come to a complete standstill. I, on the other hand, sailed through as if in a dream. Sometimes, there’s just no explaining it. That was the moment I took the lead.”
Difficult conditions. “It’s the first time I’ve truly been scared at sea. The conditions hit with such intensity that you no longer know what to do; you just run with the wind and wait for it to pass. With that level of violence, it’s hard to imagine anything holding together. I was pushed to the absolute limit of my capabilities, and I kept thinking the mast was going to come down. But it held. This boat is solid.”
“You have to be a bit crazy to sail solo.”
The (false) imposter syndrome: “When you’re sailing as a duo, you tell yourself it’s thanks to your teammate. I was sailing with Gildas Mahé—an extraordinary sailor who taught me so much. But when I’m on my own, without Gildas, how will I manage? At the start of the year, I was really struggling. I didn’t think I could do it, so I focused exclusively on solo sailing—working entirely on my own, telling myself, ‘Come on, now you have to do this by yourself.’ In February, we went to Portugal with Pep Costa and Luca Rosetti; we put in the work there, and I took part in solo races and solo training sessions, which really built my confidence. Still, solo sailing is a unique discipline—you have to be a bit crazy to do it.”
And what’s next? “The Class40 project is a great fit for Amarris—and for me, too, I think. Why not go back, perhaps with a new boat, and continue to develop? Right now, though, I mostly just want to catch my breath and get some rest. But once you’ve had a taste of solo sailing—and managed to come through it—I don’t think you can ever really stop.”