The Ocean Fifty fleet had nothing easy about this Route du Rhum. Departing into a clear Atlantic, the trimarans were put through a brutal run of weather systems and difficult seas on an unusually tough transat. One capsize, one retirement through injury, and still they emerged battered but proud, a class that lived up to its reputation as the enfants terribles of offshore racing.
The race will be remembered for the dominance of Basile Bourgnon on Edenred, who won with real panache, just 48 hours after his mate Tom Laperche's own standout performance elsewhere in the fleet. A new generation that fears nothing.
From the start between Saint-Malo and Cap Fréhel, the Ocean Fifty did what they do best: put on a show. Fast, agile, sailed flat out whenever the sea allowed it. The skippers mixed in with the tail of the Ultim fleet to blast out of the Channel.
Bourgnon, the favourite, was right on form, gybing first south of Ireland after a moonless first night at speeds that were, by any sensible measure, unreasonable. Alongside him, Matthieu Perraut on Elvest summed it up on Monday morning's radio check-in: "It's full on and you can't see a thing. You steer by feel, but it's all good!"
It was all good for Bourgnon, whose Nigel Irens-designed boat had him feeling like he was "driving over gravel, everything shaking so much." That sensation came with a number that went straight round social media: 43.1 knots, a new speed record for the red rocket Edenred.
By the time the fleet reached the first real tactical gate on 3 November, Bourgnon, just 24 and clearly unbothered by the weight of favourite status, had already opened a 40-mile lead on a trio of Pierre Quiroga (WeWise), Thibaut Vauchel-Camus (Solidaires en Peloton by Delanchy) and Baptiste Hulin (Viabilis Oceans). Six boats managed to "catch the train" through that gate, including Matthieu Perraut (Elvest) and Léonard Legrand (Sodebo Fifty).
The door shut on Anne-Claire Le Berre (Upwind by Mer Concept), the first woman to tackle a solo transat in the class, who had held the pace honestly all race before being left to chase down Luke Berry (Le Rire Médecin-Lamotte), Erwan Le Draoulec (Lazare x Helio) and Laurent Bourguès (La French Fab), all of whom had anticipated the split by heading south early.
It amounted to two races within one, converging again only near the tropical depression three days later.
Accidents struck both groups near the Azores from 4 November. Perraut capsized on Elvest. Le Draoulec dislocated his shoulder in a manoeuvre and was forced to retire. Thibaut Vauchel-Camus also tried a bolder westerly route through the same front that capsized the Maxi Banque Populaire XI, an option that cost him dearly 36 hours later.
"We're not getting clever here," Bourgnon said of the rough beam seas. "The aim isn't to go fast, it's to get through without breaking the boat."
Bourgnon kept extending his lead, sailing with the same calm authority that recalls his father Laurent. His margin peaked at 117 miles on 7 November. Then, that same night, he lost his J0, a crucial sail on these trimarans used both for pointing high in light air and for reaching hard downwind in a blow.
His cushion melted away as the tropical depression closed in, seas turning foul under vicious squalls. Sails were swapped constantly just to hold speed, with the J3 often unfurled and some boats even running storm jibs. "It's a rodeo that never ends," said Vauchel-Camus. "You don't get your health points back doing this," added Quiroga, who held the podium despite losing his J2 early in the race.
Only from 9 November did conditions finally ease. Blue sky, gentle trade winds, the sea calm at last. The finish came down to a gybing duel under big gennakers, a sail still intact in Bourgnon's locker. He found the new easterly breeze first, stretched his lead again after Solidaires en Peloton had closed to within a mile, and arrived at the butterfly-shaped island with a comfortable margin.
Thirty-two years after his father won it, this Route du Rhum belonged to Basile Bourgnon.
