At 29, Tom Laperche has claimed the most prestigious victory of his career, steering SVR-Lazartigue to triumph in the Route du Rhum, Destination Guadeloupe. He becomes only the third skipper under 30 to win the race, following Laurent Bourgnon (28 in 1994) and Marc Pajot (29 in 1982).
It was a win built on control rather than flash. Laperche took command at Cap Fréhel early in the week and simply never relinquished it, despite a race that bore little resemblance to past editions. There was no southern route, no trade winds, just constant manoeuvring and relentless physical effort. Even in the closing stages, the final miles around Guadeloupe proved notoriously tricky, with weak and squally winds threatening to undo his advantage right up to the line.
What stood out wasn't only his speed. It was his composure. When his closest rival, Armel Le Cléac'h on Maxi Banque Populaire XI, capsized last Wednesday, Laperche appeared on video, head poking from the cockpit of SVR-Lazartigue, hair blown flat, eyes hollow with fatigue, yet strikingly lucid. "Live from I don't really know where," he said, almost bemused at his own situation. Moments later he was describing violent windshifts like a seasoned old hand, before his voice caught describing his rival's capsize.
His father, Philippe Laperche, a dental surgeon and keen sailor himself, isn't surprised. "Tom has always been very conscientious in everything he does. He was an easy, passionate child," he said. Trained as an engineer, Tom skipped a year of school as a boy. "It's never easy to say this about your own children, but Tom has always succeeded at whatever he's taken on. He has real ability." His mother is a pharmacist, and together his parents deliberately gave him independence early. "We let him do simple things, like ride his bike to school. I never feared for him," Philippe added.
There's fragility beneath the composure too. Some saw him in tears passing through the lock gates before the start. Others remember his distress after retiring from the 2024 Arkéa Ultim Challenge Brest, where he alone matched Charles Caudrelier stride for stride before a daggerboard failure and a leak forced him out. "In one second, everything collapsed. I screamed like I rarely have. I don't think I've ever experienced anything that hard," he said at the time.
That setback clearly hardened him. With Franck Cammas's backing, he won the Rolex Fastnet Race with crew, then the Transat Café L'Or two-handed last year. Before that came victory in the 2022 Solitaire du Figaro, finishing an hour clear of his rivals.
The Rhum was always personal. His father raced it in 2010, and young Tom helped prepare the boat. "We prepped it, did the antifouling, sorted provisioning. It was a proper family project," he said.
By the time he stepped ashore in Guadeloupe, remarkably composed after six days at sea, Laperche had already cemented his place among the sport's greats.
Ahead now lie the Jules Verne Trophy, currently held by his longtime friend Thomas Coville, and the next Arkéa Ultim Challenge Brest, due to start in January 2028.
