Rupert Henry has spent the past four years nursing a grudge, in the nicest possible way.
The CYCA member will line up on Sunday night New Zealand time in the Route du Rhum, the legendary solo transatlantic race from Saint-Malo to Guadeloupe, aboard the same Class40 that broke down on him in the same race four years ago.
He's not shy about how that ended. "When I got home, I think I cried in the kitchen every night for a month," Henry said, reflecting on the structural failure that forced him out of the 2022 edition, when interviewed in Saint-Malo this week.
This time the boat, EORA, has had serious work done to it. Henry has kept it in France ever since that retirement, racing it year-round against the French fleet with plenty of success along the way.
"We've optimised it quite a bit actually," he said. "We put a new Lombard-designed keel, so the keel's swept aft, just basically moved the longitudinal centre of gravity aft. We cut out the cockpit and put a new cockpit in. Rearranged the ballast configurations."
The Route du Rhum is a genuine institution in French sport. First run in 1978 and held every four years, this edition has drawn 115 solo entries across six classes: Class40, IMOCA, Ocean Fifty trimarans, the giant Ultims, and Vintage Monohulls and Multihulls.
Henry is the only non-European skipper in his class, up against a field stacked with proven talent. His rivals include Corentin Douguet, who partnered Henry to victory in the Double-Handed IRC division of the 2024 Rolex Sydney Hobart, Alexis Loison, overall winner of last year's Hobart aboard Min River with Jiang Lin, and Vincent Riou, who won the Vendée Globe outright back in 2004-05.
All 115 boats start together, which is a spectacle in itself. A French warship anchors mid-line, with the start broken into segments so each class gets its own designated line and laid marks. The gun goes at 1302 hours French time on Sunday 1 November, 11.02pm NZT.
The race record stands at 6 days, 19 hours and 47 minutes, set by Charles Caudrelier aboard the trimaran Gitana 17 in 2022. Caudrelier returns this year with the new Maxi trimaran Edmond de Rothschild Gitana 18 and goes in as favourite for line honours outright.
For Henry, though, the 3,542 nautical mile crossing to Guadeloupe is really just the warm-up.
Once he's back from the Caribbean, his attention shifts to the Rolex Sydney Hobart, where he'll race doublehanded aboard his own yacht Mistral, a three-time winner of the Double-Handed IRC division. A fourth title in that division is the real target, with the fleet starting from Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day.
Those wanting to follow his Atlantic crossing can track Henry's progress on the official race tracker at routedurhum.com.
