Youth is making its mark on the Route du Rhum, and the numbers back it up.
Tom Laperche, 29, lines up on SVR Lazartigue in Ultim. Basile Bourgnon, 24, sails Edenred in Ocean Fifty. Violette Dorange, 25, has Initiatives Cœur in IMOCA. Guillaume Pirouelle, 31, is aboard Sogestran Seafrigo in Class40, and Titouan Pilliard, just 20, will race Use It Again for Youth in Vintage Mono. Sailors under thirty, and those barely into their thirties, make up a huge chunk of this year's fleet, and plenty of them aren't just making up the numbers.
Thibault Vauchel-Camus, 47, skipper of Solidaires en peloton by Delanchy, has a typically sharp way of putting it: "It's clear we're going to have to work hard against all these fearless young guns who are afraid of nothing!" The young guard in Ocean Fifty has serious form. Bourgnon has already made his name in Mini and Figaro, finishing second in La Solitaire in 2023. Erwan Le Draoulec, 29, won the Mini-Transat in 2017. Baptiste Hulin, 29, took second in the Route des Terres Neuvas, and Pierre Quiroga, 32, won La Solitaire du Figaro in 2021.
The newest arrival, Léonard Legrand, 32, joined the class this year, fresh off being part of the world record-breaking Jules Verne Trophy crew aboard Sodebo. "It's great to feel the hunger of young sailors who've toughened up in other classes before arriving in Ocean Fifty," says Bourgnon. "Because of that, the level has risen, and the competition has never been this fierce."
Experience still has its say, though. Francis Joyon, 70, and Charlie Capelle, 71, aren't settling for also-ran status in Vintage Multi, nor are Jean Le Cam, 67, and Gilles Colubi, 66, in Vintage Mono. Joyon laughs off questions about his age: "We've got nothing left to prove, all we've got left is passion, and we've never run out of that."
In the Ultim class, the headline category, it's easy to forget Tom Laperche is only 29 and tackling his first Route du Rhum. His composure, his time aboard the boat since 2023, and a results sheet including Fastnet Race and Transat Café L'Or wins in 2025 make him a genuine threat against rivals twenty years his senior, among them Armel Le Cléac'h, 49, Charles Caudrelier, 52, and Thomas Coville, 58.
Class40 tells a similar story. Guillaume Pirouelle, only 31, is one of the clear favourites, backed by a Rolex Fastnet Race win in 2021 and a runner-up finish in the Solitaire du Figaro in 2022. He has dominated the class for two seasons running, winning the 40 Malouine, the Transat Café L'Or, the Trin'40 and the CIC Normandy Channel Race. Five more sailors under thirty will start in the 49-strong Class40 fleet, the largest in the race: Timothé Polet, 26, Matéo Le Calvic, 26, Pep Costa, 27, Théa Khelif, 27, and Matteo Sericano, 28.
IMOCA is seeing its own generational shift. Violette Dorange, 25, has stepped up aboard Initiatives-Cœur after podiums in both of this season's opening races, finishing third in the 1000 Race and the Vendée Arctique. Four years ago she turned up to the Route du Rhum hunting for sponsors. Now she's running a reliable foiler capable of frontrunning. "A lot has happened since then," she says, smiling.
Others her age are chasing the same goal. Élodie Bonafous, 30, who sails a sistership of Macif, launched her IMOCA campaign only in February 2025 and has already shown real pace. "Racing in IMOCA was my dream," she says. Ambrogio Beccaria, 34, recent winner of the Vendée Arctique, Sébastien Simon, 36, runner-up in the last Vendée Globe, Corentin Horeau, 37, and Francesca Clapcich, 38, round out a strong cohort of thirty-somethings pushing for the front.
Not everyone is racing for the podium.
For Kieran Le Borgne, 28, and Titouan Pilliard, 20, finishing is the achievement. Le Borgne sails the former PRB, the only IMOCA to win the Vendée Globe twice, in 2001 and 2005. Pilliard has the Finot-Conq design that won Rhum Mono in 2018 under Sidney Gavignet. At 20, he's the youngest skipper in this year's fleet, and simply making the start line counts as a win.
