Saint-Malo's first week of Route du Rhum festivities is giving way to something quieter. After days of dockside crowds, autograph sessions and the official skipper presentation, most sailors in the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe fleet are now stepping back from the spotlight ahead of Sunday's start.
It has been a week of near-constant public life for the fleet. Skippers were applauded through the locks, cheered on through the passage of storm Austen, and chased down in the alleyways of the old town for a photo or a signature. Some even slipped out for late nights, swept along by the festival mood that has taken over the city.
"Enjoy" is the word skippers keep reaching for.
It carries something close to relief. After months of boat preparation, late nights in the yard and no shortage of self-doubt, this week in Saint-Malo is a reward, not just for the sailors but for the shore teams who built and readied all 115 boats now lined up in the basins. They have earned their place in the party.
But time is tight. In seven days, every skipper will be on the start line. Attention is already turning to shipping traffic, weather windows, and strategy as far as Cap Fréhel and beyond. Festival mood is giving way to race mode, and talk will shift fast from celebration to tactics as forecasts sharpen in the coming days.
For now, though, it is the small, ordinary things that matter. Sailors speak of "getting into race mode" and "finding their bubble." Some visit the village only in the early morning, avoiding the crowds, before resting through the day. Others have rented houses further out for a bit of isolation. Many have simply gone home, trading the crowds for family time and a bit of exercise.
Wing foiling and surfing feature heavily, along with running and cycling. Jérémie Beyou (Charal, IMOCA) is planning "one or two gravel bike rides." For originality, though, Basile Bourgnon (Edenred, Ocean Fifty) may take the prize, heading to Ouistreham to try his hand at offshore fishing.
For those heading home, it is the everyday details that matter most.
"It lets you tidy up the last details, and sleep in your own bed too," said Corentin Horeau (MACSF, IMOCA).
Away from the noise of the village, the fleet is quietly resetting, taking a few days of calm before the dive into the Atlantic and the one obsession that will define the weeks ahead.
