Every four years since 1978, the iconic race has become a laboratory for innovations in offshore racing, especially in multihulls. From Olympus, the small trimaran that won the first edition in 1978, to the latest Edmond de Rothschild which will set sail this year, sailors and their teams have competed with audacity and inventiveness to be the fastest around the Atlantic, for better and sometimes for worse.
Olympus, forever the first
The story is almost like the creation of a tech giant. Like Apple, the beginnings of the boat that won the first Route du Rhum in 1978 took place… in a garage. The scene unfolds in Massachusetts, at the home of Walter Green, a friend of sailor Mike Birch. A multihull enthusiast, he built A Capella, the original name of Olympus. Constructed of plywood and epoxy, the boat was 11.48 meters long and 8.26 meters wide. It was rigid, with a long cockpit offering excellent visibility of the waves. “It’s a simple, economical boat that’s faster than boats three times its size,” Mike Birch remarked at the time. On board, the Canadian sailor achieved an incredible feat: winning the inaugural Route du Rhum in a nail-biting finish, 98 seconds ahead of Michel Malinovsky's Kriter V, after 23 days at sea. The small multihull thus triumphed over a large monohull (21 meters) to write the first chapter of the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe legend.
Manureva, the vanished giant
"Where are you, Manureva? / Missing, Manureva / Ghost ship, you who dreamed / Of islands and never arrived ." In 1979, Alain Chamfort paid tribute in song to Alain Colas, putting words to the sorrow of an entire generation. Alain Colas disappeared a year earlier, on the 12th day of the Route du Rhum, while facing a violent storm near the Azores. Since then, nothing has ever been found, no debris or remnants of the wreck.
His boat was the former Pen Duick IV, a 20.50-meter aluminum trimaran. Designed by Éric Tabarly, it was revolutionary for its time, notably with its two wing masts. While Tabarly didn't manage to win the 1968 Transatlantic Race, he did break the record for the Los Angeles-Honolulu race, completing it in over 24 hours. Alain Colas bought it a year later and, in 1972, won the Transatlantic Race, thus confirming Tabarly's architectural choices. The Route du Rhum took place six years later. The mystery surrounding its disappearance has only added to the legend of this unique boat in the history of offshore racing.
Les Rosières, a few miles and then it's gone
He didn't even make it to the starting line… In 1982, skipper Guy Delage set off aboard a strange boat, Les Rosières. It was a proa, a multihull with a main hull and a single float, inspired by the canoes of some Pacific peoples. Guy's was a Pacific proa: the float was positioned on the windward side to act as a counterweight. A boat that was "disturbing, unconventional, revolutionary, or completely crazy," as one could hear in a report broadcast before the start.
This boat, "it was cursed from the start," Guy Delage* later confided. On the eve of the race, the proa set off alone with its mooring buoy from Paimbœuf and nearly crashed against the rocks. On race day, it suffered autopilot problems and capsized in the excitement of the departure. "The boat buckled very slowly," Guy recounted. "The accident was due to risk-taking, pilot error, and a tight budget… Everything stopped too soon."
Peter I, forever the pioneer
Finally, Florence Arthaud has "her" boat. The sailor has found financial backing and, for the first time, she can design her own trimaran. She has commissioned the VPLP design firm, which draws inspiration from Formula 40s (multihulls born in the 1980s), designing a larger (18.28 m long, 15 m wide) and more powerful trimaran with a wing mast. Arthaud has already experienced everything in the Route du Rhum: 11th in 1978, retirement in 1982, and diverting to assist Loïc Caradec in 1986…
Aboard Pierre 1er, therefore, in 1990, she faced technical problems (electrical issues, autopilot problems) and physical difficulties (she suffered a miscarriage during the race). Yet, "Flo" persevered to the end and won the ultimate prize: she is the only woman to have won the Route du Rhum.
Royal II, a tragic fate
Its story had a rocky start. In its first race (La Baule-Dakar in 1983), Royal II collided with Biotherm II, Florence Arthaud's boat, right at the beginning. But Loïc Caradec, its skipper, was far from giving up. He was the one who conceived this 22.60-meter catamaran, which he wanted to be simple and streamlined, with a classic mast, very low hulls, and a living space reduced to the essentials.
Before the 1986 Route du Rhum, it was improved, enlarged, fitted with a wing mast and an enlarged nacelle. These improvements paid off, as Caradec notably set the record for crossing the North Atlantic. The boat was fast, powerful, and perhaps too powerful. In a severe storm off the Azores, it was dismasted. Florence Arthaud diverted course, discovered the wrecked boat, but was unable to find Loïc Caradec. He was the second skipper to lose his life in the Route du Rhum.
Groupama 3, the legend of the Route du Rhum
This is undoubtedly one of the most high-performing boats in history. Originally, Franck Cammas, who had already spearheaded the creation of two ORMA trimarans, wanted a boat to chase records. With the VPLP design firm and his sponsor, Groupama, they developed a trimaran smaller than the then-giant (Orange II, at 37.80 m, holder of the Jules Verne Trophy in 2005) and wider than the ORMA class. "It's of medium power, light, and long enough to be safe in the Southern Ocean," explained Franck Cammas at its launch.
On board, he won the Jules Verne Trophy, then competed in the 2010 Route du Rhum and achieved an incredible victory. The boat continued its golden history with the most famous of transatlantic races: Loïck Peyron (Banque Populaire VII) in 2014 and Francis Joyon (IDEC Sport) in 2018 also won on board. The boat can still be admired at the docks in Saint-Malo, as it is IDEC Sport, with which Alexis Barrier will try his luck. The former Groupama 3 has become legendary in the race, and for good reason: it remained undefeated for twelve years in the Route du Rhum. Unprecedented!
Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, the leap into the future
It will undoubtedly be one of the most photographed and observed boats on the docks in Saint-Malo. The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Gitana 18) is a showcase of innovation and technology. Its T-shaped foils retract between the float and the central hull, similar to those seen on the AC75s of the America's Cup. Its U-shaped rudders are composed of two vertical arms for increased rigidity.
To manage the boat's flight and performance, 44 hydraulic cylinders have been installed, illustrating the technological complexity of this new Ultim. The maxi-trimaran was launched last February. Extensive work on reliability and fine-tuning has since begun for Charles Caudrelier, the defending champion, and his team before Gitana 18's first transatlantic race, the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe.
Excerpt from "The Transatlantic Epic: Multihulls Under the Influence of the Rum"