Behind the speed and brutality of the Route du Rhum lies something far less visible: forty boats in this edition are racing under the banner of a cause rather than just a sponsor, carrying real-world battles across the Atlantic with them.
Lined up in the basins at Saint-Malo, the fleet draws every eye for its sleek lines and cutting-edge technology. Increasingly, though, it's the sails that tell the deeper story.
On Maxime Sorel's IMOCA, a dragon with glowing eyes cuts across the hull and sail. It represents "breath", the very thing cystic fibrosis patients struggle for. Sorel has carried the fight against the disease close to his chest since he began ocean racing, inspired by a childhood neighbour who suffered from it. "It helps me give meaning to what I do," he says. He became patron of the Vaincre la Mucoviscidose association in 2019, and the name now carries his boat.
During his 2020 Vendée Globe, Sorel tore a critical sail in the Southern Ocean and had to climb the mast alone to bring it down and repair it. "Where it would normally take three people, I was on my own. It seemed impossible. Then I thought about the patients fighting a disease they never chose. I chose to put myself through this struggle. Thinking of them gave me real energy," he recalls. He is now actively seeking partners to continue the project towards the next Vendée Globe.
Thibaut Vauchel-Camus has carried the name Solidaires en Peloton for close to 15 years. Each year the Cancale sailor takes 400 people living with multiple sclerosis out on his Ocean Fifty. "A few seconds of emotion with them wipes out two races you might have messed up earlier in the season," he says.
Francis Joyon, winner of the 2018 Route du Rhum, named his Vintage Multi Océans to spotlight the École de la mer, a Guadeloupe organisation that teaches young people respect for the marine world. "It's rewarding to race for a good cause, it's a wonderful source of motivation," he says.
Children remain one of the most powerful motivators on the docks. Élodie Bonafous, sailing the IMOCA Association Petits Princes Queguiner, hosts youngsters aged seven to twelve aboard her boat. "Their enthusiasm is contagious," she says. Robin Marais, aboard Respire - Ma Chance Moi Aussi, shares the sentiment, introducing children who rarely get near the sea to ocean racing and, in his words, seeing "a little spark" in their eyes.
Newer causes are emerging too. Lazare x Hellio, sailed by Erwan Le Draoulec, promotes shared housing between homeless people and young workers. Laurent Etheimer's Vintage Multi, Fifty Fifty, is named for the association that supports women rebuilding their lives after violence, through sport.
Two boats back the same cause this year: sea rescue. Corentin Douguet's Class40 SNSM, Faites un don! and Gilles Colubi's Vintage Mono SNSM Guilvinec both fly the colours of France's volunteer lifeboat service. Volunteers Alain and Philippe, manning the SNSM stand, say the recognition means more than people realise, given their work extends well beyond rescue into schools and first-aid training.
Café Joyeux, a social enterprise employing people with disabilities, has deep roots in the race too. It launched its very first campaign in Saint-Malo back in 2018, aboard Sidney Gavignet's winning Rhum Mono. This year it's splashed across Nicolas D'Estais's IMOCA, and the brand has become the race's official coffee supplier on the village site.
Forty causes, forty stories, one departure line. When the fleet finally clears Saint-Malo for Guadeloupe, each boat will be carrying more than sails and ballast. It will be carrying the people back on the dock who gave it a reason to race.
