The Route du Rhum has always punched above its weight internationally, and this year's fleet proves it again. Six Italians are on the start line, the biggest Italian contingent the race has ever seen, while British representation has slumped to one of its lowest points in decades.
The story goes back to the very first edition in 1978, when Canadian legend Mike Birch won by a mere 98 seconds. Swiss sailor Laurent Bourgnon then claimed back-to-back victories in 1994 and 1998, with American adventurer Steve Fossett finishing fifth that year, just ahead of Canadian Gerry Roufs.
British sailors have long left their mark too. Ellen MacArthur won the IMOCA class in 2002 after finishing 16th in her Rhum debut four years earlier, aged just 22. Mike Golding took second behind her, and Australian Nick Moloney, her Offshore Challenges teammate, won the 50-foot monohull class that same year.
Spain had its moment in 2014, when Alex Pella won the Class40 outright on Tales, a fully Spanish-built design by Marcelino Botín, built in Castellón. The win inspired a generation of young Spanish sailors to follow in his footsteps.
The 2018 race brought drama rather than triumph for Britain's Alex Thomson. He led by 200 nautical miles in IMOCA before running aground 75 miles from the finish during a nap, a 24-hour penalty under motor dropping him to third. Germany's Boris Herrmann finished fifth and Switzerland's Alan Roura seventh in a 15-boat IMOCA fleet. Phil Sharp took third in Class40 for his second Rhum podium, with Luke Berry sixth and Jack Trigger eighth.
Then came the Italians.
Ambrogio Beccaria, fresh off his 2019 Mini Transat win, finished second in Class40 in 2022 behind Yoann Richomme, sailing an all-Italian Musa 40. Alberto Bona finished eighth that year. The breakthrough fuelled real media interest in offshore racing back home. This year Beccaria lines up in IMOCA on Allagrande Mapei, winner of the Vendée Arctique this past spring and now among the favourites, alongside five fellow Italians including his friend and rival Francesca Clapcich, born in Italy and half-American. The others are Andrea Fornara, Marco Guerra, Luca Rosetti and Matteo Sericano, all with strong programmes behind them.
Britain's story is the opposite. Sam Goodchild, British-born but based in France for 15 years, is among the IMOCA favourites. But his Artemis Offshore Academy contemporaries from the Figaro circuit have struggled to find sponsorship in the current economic climate. Will Harris, who races for Boris Herrmann's Malizia team and for 11th Hour Racing, with whom he and Clapcich took second in last year's doublehanded race, put it plainly this week: "It comes back to the age-old question of funding and visibility for offshore racing in the UK right now. We need more British companies to see the value offshore racing can bring them. In France, races like this are on the national news all the time. In Britain interest has always followed big success, from early pioneers like Sir Robin Knox-Johnston through to, more recently, Ellen MacArthur and Alex Thomson. We need that to happen again, we need a figurehead back in the headlines. But I'm hopeful of making the start of the 2028 Vendée Globe."
Boris Herrmann was blunt in his praise of Harris this week: "He could take this boat (Malizia 4) and win this race next week. It would be great for him to have his own programme. He deserves it."
Other Artemis Offshore Academy alumni chasing funding include Alan Roberts, in Saint-Malo with Anthony Marchand's Actual Ultim 4, and Jackson Boutell, who now runs a grand prix super maxi. Pip Hare, a two-time Vendée Globe finisher who should have been on the start line this year, has also been battling financial headwinds, much like many of her French counterparts.
Dee Caffari, the record-holder, offered some hope speaking in Saint-Malo this week. "Sponsorship is very often about meeting the right person at the right time, and being able to bring them on board. I brought Aviva onto the Route du Rhum and they understood straight away. There are still opportunities."
Elsewhere the international spread keeps widening. Germany's Herrmann carries one of the strongest sponsor bases in the fleet thanks to his Malizia campaigns. Japan's Massa Suzuki has a good chance of becoming the first Japanese skipper to finish the race in IMOCA class.
Belgium is building momentum too, led by Jonas Gerckens' long-running Belgium Ocean Racing - Curium programme, with three entries in Class40 and one in Vintage Mono. Spain has two sailors on the line: Catalan skipper Pep Costa, among the Class40 front-runners, and young Majorcan sailor Aina Bauza, both on their first Route du Rhum.
The Czech Republic's Milan Kolacek is doing relatively well with a brand new Class40 fresh off the production line.
It hasn't been an easy road for Ireland's Pamela Lee, who scraped together her budget at the last minute through crowdfunding at home to complete her financing alongside DFDS and other sponsors. And arriving fresh from Australia for his second Route du Rhum is Rupert Henry, who is self-funded. "My goal is to be the first old man who pays his own bills," the Sydney skipper says with a smile.
