It has been another intense 24 hours in the Route du Rhum 2022, with two dramatic mid-ocean rescues, as well as multiple other abandonments as the 138-boat fleet continues to…
IMOCA 60: Everything you need to know about the Vendée Globe boats
Dismastings, a capsize and damage toll rises in Route du Rhum
The Route du Rhum’s reputation as one of the toughest offshore races in the solo sailing calendar is proving to be true once again. Last night the IMOCA 60s went…
UPDATE: Route du Rhum 2022 start postponed. Is this the greatest ever offshore race?
The Route du Rhum 2022 single-handed transatlantic race start has been postponed until Wednesday 9 November. The decision was announced at this morning’s skippers’ weather briefing. While the forecast for…
How to follow the Route du Rhum 2022
NOTE: Since this article was published the start date for the Route Du Rhum 2022 has been pushed back to Wednesday 9th November at 1415hrs local time. A major storm…
Route du Rhum skipper: Pip Hare
Pip Hare is a British professional sailor and solo skipper, and the 8th woman ever to finish the Vendée Globe. She needs little introduction to regular readers of Yachting World,…
Route du Rhum skipper: Boris Herrmann
Non-French sailors who have made a name for themselves in the IMOCA 60 fleet are rare, but German-born Boris Herrmann is just one such international skipper who has impressed. Many singlehanded…
Route du Rhum skipper: Yannick Bestaven
Yannick Bestaven was declared the 2020/21 Vendée Globe winner, having finishing 3rd on the water but earned the win thanks to a time compensation of 10 hours and 15 minutes…
Route du Rhum skipper: Paul Meilhat
Paul Meilhat was the winner of the IMOCA 60 class in the last Route du Rhum back in 2018, adding that victory to a CV full of podium places and…
Route du Rhum skipper: Damien Seguin
Whilst there are some routes that are well-trodden to becoming an IMOCA skipper (Mini Transat, Figaro, Class 40…), there are a variety of routes into the world of offshore shorthanded…
Route du Rhum skipper: Romain Attanasio
Nothing about Romain Attanasio’s early life indicated that he might end up a solo offshore yacht racer. He was born to a skiing family in the Hautes-Alpes region of France…
Route du Rhum skipper: Alan Roura
Swiss-born sailor Alan Roura already has two Vendée Globe races to his name. He participated in his first, the 2016-17 edition of the event, when he was just 23 years…
Route du Rhum skipper: Conrad Colman
Conrad Colman, or the ‘crazy Kiwi’ as he became known, was the first New Zealander to compete in the Vendée Globe in 2016. Colman studied economics in the US, founded…
Route du Rhum skipper: Louis Burton
Louis Burton shot to Vendée Globe fame when he sailed across the line of the 2020-21 Vendée Globe in 2nd place in his 2012 IMOCA 60 Bureau Vallée. He finished…
Route du Rhum skipper: Thomas Ruyant
Thomas Ruyant truly made his mark on the IMOCA 60 fleet in the lead up to and during the 2020-21 Vendée Globe Race. The Frenchman took 4th place on the…
Route du Rhum skipper: Sam Davies
English-born Samantha Davies has the rare status of being loved by both French and British sailing fans. She is now among the most experienced IMOCA 60 skippers in the fleet,…
Route du Rhum skipper: Charlie Dalin
Charlie Dalin has risen to become one of the stand-out stars of the current generation of IMOCA 60 sailors. His biggest moment in the spotlight so far was crossing the…
Route du Rhum skipper: Jérémie Beyou
Jérémie Beyou is one of the most experienced offshore racers in the world and has a daunting record of wins and podium places across a wide variety of classes, in…
Route du Rhum skipper: Kevin Escoffier
Kevin Escoffier is a hugely experienced ocean racer, a Volvo Ocean Race winner and a member of Loick Peyron’s Banque Populaire V crew that smashed the fully crewed round the…
Kevin Escoffier: Tough guy of the sea
We all know how French solo skippers get so darn good. They move from youth sailing to Mini Transat and Figaro classes, where they drill for years. Then the lucky…
Extraordinary boats: the new radical PRB IMOCA 60
As if the new PRB IMOCA 60 were not eye-catching enough, the story behind it is truly remarkable. The reason Kevin Escoffier needed a new IMOCA in a hurry is…