© Lara Balais
Crossing the finish line of the 12th edition of La Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe, this Saturday December 03 at 05h38 45s local time (10h38 45s Paris time), Gilles Colubi (Kornog) finished 5th in the Rhum Mono category. His race time was 23 days 20 hours 23 minutes and 45 seconds, 7 days 6 hours 25 minutes and 54 seconds behind the category winner, Jean-Pierre Dick (Notre Méditerranée - Ville de Nice). The FinistÚre skipper covered the 3,542-mile course between Saint-Malo and Pointe-à -Pitre at a speed of 6.19 knots on the great circle route. He actually covered 4,530.31 miles at an average speed of 7.91 knots.
His reaction at the pontoon:
"It was a great adventure and I'm ready to come back in four years!
The tour of Guadeloupe was really tough, because there was no wind and it was long. At basse-terre, I stopped and stayed there for two hours, treading water, and I was beginning to think that it was never going to come back...but that's part of the game! The end was difficult, but it only lasted a day.
Other than that, the trade winds were great. She's a boat that likes downwind conditions, she's a downwind boat, she's an easy boat.
What I take away from this race is that I'll be able to do it again next time, and it's also the first time I've been alone in very heavy weather. We had over 40/45 knots in the peaks, and it lasted a long time. What I also remember is that anyone can do it, in fact. With the right preparation and a bit of training, anyone can do it in single-handed rum! I'm ready to do it again in four years, but only on a Pogo, not on anything else -laughs-!"