The Laperche route to victory

In 6 days, 13 hours, 27 minutes and 40 secondes,, Tom Laperche sailed from Saint-Malo to Pointe-à-Pitre, to a notable, impressive win leaving his pursuers in his wake. Aboard a well optimised, reliable Ultim trimaran which he knows like the back of his hand, he proved fast in every condition, smart and agile during transitions, and both incisive and dominant from the very start of the race.

When confidence is combined with talent and hard work, the result is more often than not, victory.

A key, initial moment went almost unnoticed. Tom Laperche’s first display of strength happened about 40 minutes after the starting gun fired last Sunday in Saint-Malo. Sailing just behind Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire XI) with a large gennaker hoisted, the skipper of SVR Lazartigue had realized that the leg following Cap Fréhel—on the way to rounding Bréhat—would require a switch to a J2 headsail. This meant a sail change to the two planned gybes. Rather than waiting until he reached the Fréhel gate to furl the sail, he executed the maneuver during the first gybe, extending his initial tack. He emerged, cleared the gate, accelerated at the perfect angle, to slipped inside Banque Populaire XI and skipper Amel Le Cléac’h had opted to carry out their maneuvers later. For top ocean racers this was like saying: "I’m here, I’m handling my boat well, I’m fast—come and catch me if you can!"

Starting strong

For all 115 competitors who set off from Saint-Malo, the beginning of the race was a dream scenario for these large multihulls: flat seas and moderate, favorable winds and sunshine. This is not the VPLP-designed Ultim’s strongest point of sail, and the new foils installed this year were specifically designed to compensate for this inherent minor flaw—a weakness that cost the Laperche-Gabart duo the Transat Jacques Vabre in 2023. However, the starboard foil broke during a training session six weeks before the race and had to be replaced by the previous version. Fortunately, this initial leg toward Ireland—crucial for the remainder of the Route du Rhum—was sailed with the new foil in action, and the boat was clearly performing well.

Tom Laperche is pushing it to its full potential; his shore team recorded a top speed of 48.9 knots as he passed Ouessant—notable, given that the boat’s record speed with a full crew has never exceeded 51 knots. By the time he gybed south of Ireland, 15 hours into the race, he had already built a 28-mile lead. Throughout the exit from the English Channel, Tom Laperche maintained a position to leeward of the rest of the fleet, giving him the freedom to maneuver—indeed, SVR Lazartigue was the first boat to gybe.

His lead grew steadily over the next 24 hours.

The trough—a notorious windless corridor where the breeze shifts 180 degrees between entry to exit—did not really act as a "level crossing" (a point where the fleet might regroup), but Laperche managed to gain even more ground, extending his lead to 55 miles. In increasingly challenging seas and highly unstable wind conditions, the skipper spared no effort—frequently changing sails, fine-tuning his settings, and continuing to pull away.

His lead peaked at 82 miles exactly 48 hours into the race, at 1:00 PM on Tuesday. The boats are rounding the Azores; never before has the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe seen such high speeds—but the competitors have already enjoyed their easiest sailing.

Wearing down the competition

At this stage, the direct route to Pointe-à-Pitre is effectively a dead end. Trying to shadow one’s rivals across an entire transatlantic crossing is usually pointless; Laperche continues to lead the way, while further back, Thomas Coville (*Sodebo Ultim 3*) has struck out on his own, opting for a more direct path. The optimal route—according to weather routing software—involves crossing a ridge of the Bermuda High to reach a small front to the west.

On the evening of November 3, SVR Lazartigue was the first to lift toward the northwest, followed by Banque Populaire XI, which was positioned slightly to windward. Armel Le Cléac’h’s boat maintained better speed, and the gap between the two leaders shrank to 20 miles as they emerged from the ridge.

What followed sent a chill through the entire fleet: Banque Populaire XI* capsized, depriving SVR Lazartigue of its strongest rival—with no disrespect intended toward Thomas Coville (Sodebo Ultim 3) or Louis Burton (Armand Thiéry).

Burton was on the same course as Laperche, but 100 miles behind and sailing a less high-performance trimaran. As for Coville he took a gamble by bypassing the ridge to continue straight ahead—though, by this point, he was already without his large gennaker and faced a 45-minute time penalty for a broken engine-seal at the start.

Setting a pace that forces one’s competitors into making mistakes—whether through a lapse in judgment, a botched maneuver, or a poor tactical choice—sums up the race that Tom Laperche ran over the first three days.

Playing it safe

To suggest that what followed was a walk in the park would be a lie. There were nearly 2,000 miles left to cover to reach Pointe-à-Pitre, with several transitions and a tropical depression to navigate. The latter, in fact, is a new experience in Tom Laperche’s young career.

6 hours ago

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In 6 days, 13 hours, 27 minutes and 40 secondes,, Tom Laperche sailed from Saint-Malo to Pointe-à-Pitre, to a notable, impressive win leaving his pursuers in his wake. Aboard a well optimised, reliable Ultim trimaran which he knows like the back of his hand, he proved fast in every condition, smart and agile during transitions, and both incisive and dominant from the very start of the race.

When confidence is combined with talent and hard work, the result is more often than not, victory.

A key, initial moment went almost unnoticed. Tom Laperche’s first display of strength happened about 40 minutes after the starting gun fired last Sunday in Saint-Malo. Sailing just behind Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire XI) with a large gennaker hoisted, the skipper of SVR Lazartigue had realized that the leg following Cap Fréhel—on the way to rounding Bréhat—would require a switch to a J2 headsail. This meant a sail change to the two planned gybes. Rather than waiting until he reached the Fréhel gate to furl the sail, he executed the maneuver during the first gybe, extending his initial tack. He emerged, cleared the gate, accelerated at the perfect angle, to slipped inside Banque Populaire XI and skipper Amel Le Cléac’h had opted to carry out their maneuvers later. For top ocean racers this was like saying: "I’m here, I’m handling my boat well, I’m fast—come and catch me if you can!"

Starting strong

For all 115 competitors who set off from Saint-Malo, the beginning of the race was a dream scenario for these large multihulls: flat seas and moderate, favorable winds and sunshine. This is not the VPLP-designed Ultim’s strongest point of sail, and the new foils installed this year were specifically designed to compensate for this inherent minor flaw—a weakness that cost the Laperche-Gabart duo the Transat Jacques Vabre in 2023. However, the starboard foil broke during a training session six weeks before the race and had to be replaced by the previous version. Fortunately, this initial leg toward Ireland—crucial for the remainder of the Route du Rhum—was sailed with the new foil in action, and the boat was clearly performing well.

Tom Laperche is pushing it to its full potential; his shore team recorded a top speed of 48.9 knots as he passed Ouessant—notable, given that the boat’s record speed with a full crew has never exceeded 51 knots. By the time he gybed south of Ireland, 15 hours into the race, he had already built a 28-mile lead. Throughout the exit from the English Channel, Tom Laperche maintained a position to leeward of the rest of the fleet, giving him the freedom to maneuver—indeed, SVR Lazartigue was the first boat to gybe.

His lead grew steadily over the next 24 hours.

The trough—a notorious windless corridor where the breeze shifts 180 degrees between entry to exit—did not really act as a "level crossing" (a point where the fleet might regroup), but Laperche managed to gain even more ground, extending his lead to 55 miles. In increasingly challenging seas and highly unstable wind conditions, the skipper spared no effort—frequently changing sails, fine-tuning his settings, and continuing to pull away.

His lead peaked at 82 miles exactly 48 hours into the race, at 1:00 PM on Tuesday. The boats are rounding the Azores; never before has the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe seen such high speeds—but the competitors have already enjoyed their easiest sailing.

Wearing down the competition

At this stage, the direct route to Pointe-à-Pitre is effectively a dead end. Trying to shadow one’s rivals across an entire transatlantic crossing is usually pointless; Laperche continues to lead the way, while further back, Thomas Coville (*Sodebo Ultim 3*) has struck out on his own, opting for a more direct path. The optimal route—according to weather routing software—involves crossing a ridge of the Bermuda High to reach a small front to the west.

On the evening of November 3, SVR Lazartigue was the first to lift toward the northwest, followed by Banque Populaire XI, which was positioned slightly to windward. Armel Le Cléac’h’s boat maintained better speed, and the gap between the two leaders shrank to 20 miles as they emerged from the ridge.

What followed sent a chill through the entire fleet: Banque Populaire XI* capsized, depriving SVR Lazartigue of its strongest rival—with no disrespect intended toward Thomas Coville (Sodebo Ultim 3) or Louis Burton (Armand Thiéry).

Burton was on the same course as Laperche, but 100 miles behind and sailing a less high-performance trimaran. As for Coville he took a gamble by bypassing the ridge to continue straight ahead—though, by this point, he was already without his large gennaker and faced a 45-minute time penalty for a broken engine-seal at the start.

Setting a pace that forces one’s competitors into making mistakes—whether through a lapse in judgment, a botched maneuver, or a poor tactical choice—sums up the race that Tom Laperche ran over the first three days.

Playing it safe

To suggest that what followed was a walk in the park would be a lie. There were nearly 2,000 miles left to cover to reach Pointe-à-Pitre, with several transitions and a tropical depression to navigate. The latter, in fact, is a new experience in Tom Laperche’s young career.