The 13th Route du Rhum is away, and away fast, though the opening course direction has raised eyebrows among anyone with a basic grasp of geography. The fleet is heading north-west, not south, with the first 36 to 48 hours set to play out on a fast charge towards Ireland in a building downwind breeze that should give an early read on ambitions across all six classes.
The Ultim class stole the show at the start, foiling cleanly from the first gusts in conditions that felt more midsummer than early winter, almost too settled for the occasion. The anticipated duel between Banque Populaire XI and SVR Lazartigue delivered as promised. Tom Laperche, with sharper manoeuvre sequencing, got the jump on rival Armel Le Cléac'h just after the Cap Fréhel gate, an early statement from the youngest boat in the Ultim fleet.
Behind that pair, Anthony Marchand on Actual Ultim 4 is no surprise in the mix. Thomas Coville on Sodebo Ultim3 isn't far off the pace either, and it's pleasing to see Louis Burton, an Ultim rookie, mixing it up on Armand Thierry.
The favourites are asserting themselves elsewhere too. Basile Bourgnon (Edenred) leads Ocean Fifty, Guillaume Pirouelle (Sogestran Seafrigo) has taken control in Class40, Sam Goodchild (Macif Santé Prévoyance) is setting the pace in IMOCA, Eric Péron (French Touch Oceans Club) in Vintage Multi, and Kieran Leborgne (Armor-Lux - Le Finistère Assurance) in Vintage Mono have all moved to the front early.
What of the fleet's great unknown, Gitana 18? The new Maxi Edmond de Rothschild struggled early, dragging her huge foils through the water at the start, but settled her supporters' nerves once the wind filled in, foiling nicely alongside her rivals with some real bursts of speed. Transitions and manoeuvres, though, clearly aren't going to be Charles Caudrelier's strong suit this campaign, which few would have doubted. Every change of direction left Gitana 18 visibly struggling to find her target speed again.
On a course shaping up to be full of transitions, Caudrelier will need raw pace to make up the difference if he wants a look-in at the front of the fleet. Worth watching closely over the next 12 hours, which should be the most straightforward sailing of the race.
Past Fréhel, the course angles 30 degrees towards Les Héaux de Bréhat. The leaders hugged the coast as the wind shifted, saying their farewells to Brittany before the fleet turns towards the Celtic Sea later this evening. The breeze is expected to build through the night as it veers further, lifting the pace and likely stretching the gaps between boats, since the leaders get first dibs on the fresh pressure. At these speeds everyone will need to keep a sharp lookout, especially approaching the Cornish coast, where exclusion zones and heavy shipping traffic cluster.
The first big call of the race looms somewhere south-west of the Fastnet Rock. As the wind backs round to the east, boats will need to gybe to tighten back towards the direct route. Ultim sailors should gybe around the middle of the night, IMOCAs, Ocean Fiftys and the quicker Vintage Multis tomorrow morning, and the leading Class40s on Monday evening.
Exactly where remains the question, since the wind shift is gradual rather than sudden, and each skipper can choose to push north for longer pressure or tighten the angle straight away. That call matters because it shapes the approach to the narrow gap between the two Atlantic highs currently governing the weather, expected Monday night for the leaders. It's close to a mandatory passage point and the first real judge of who has played it right.
For now, this first night at sea is about finding sea legs again after two weeks of festivities at the Route du Rhum village. The relatively easy seas of the opening hours will give way to a messy, disordered swell in the Celtic Sea, with a north-westerly groundswell running beneath it. For each of the 115 skippers, it will take another 24 to 48 hours before that familiar sense of total detachment returns, the feeling that lets them push their boat to its absolute best.
