For ten skippers in this year's Route du Rhum, the race is more than a sporting contest. They grew up in Saint-Malo, or close enough to call it home, and on 2 November they will start the solo transatlantic classic from their own front doorstep.
The Saint-Malo contingent spans five of the seven classes. Louis Burton carries the local flag in Ultim, Luke Berry and Baptiste Hulin race Ocean Fifty, Gilles Lamiré and Florian Gueguen are in Vintage Multi, Christophe Bachmann lines up in Vintage Mono, and Class40 carries the biggest local weight with Quentin Le Nabour, Jules Bonnier, Emmanuel Hamez and Yohann Bertrand all on the start list.
They've felt the build-up more than most. "We can see the town has gradually taken on the colours of the race," Baptiste Hulin (Viabilis Oceans, Ocean Fifty) said recently. "You can feel people talking about it, waiting for it, already organising how they'll follow it." Luke Berry (Le Rire Médecin Lamotte) agrees: "It's always a huge moment, the town transforms and everyone in Saint-Malo looks forward to it." Louis Burton (Armand Thierry) puts it simply: "You feel the pride and support of the locals. Every Route du Rhum, you feel like a hometown kid again."
Jules Bonnier (Plastic Odyssey) compares the atmosphere to "the ferias of south-west France", unlike anything else on the sailing calendar. He remembers racing legend Franck-Yves Escoffier, winner in Ocean Fifty in 1998, 2002 and 2006, visiting his school as a local hero. Berry, who arrived in Saint-Malo aged nine, recalls walking the pontoons every four years to gawp at the multihulls and big IMOCA names.
For some, the memories go back even further.
Hulin remembers being taken to the race village as a child one evening by his parents. "There was almost a magical quality to it," he smiled. "It's extraordinary seeing a hundred boats in the basins below the ramparts, and kilometres of offshore racing on display. It creates an atmosphere like nothing else."
Now they're the ones being watched rather than watching. Requests pour in daily: school visits, media, sponsors wanting face time. "I get several requests a day to speak, often at schools," Bonnier said. "I want to give as much as I can, but sometimes I have to say no. My goal is still sporting first."
Sponsors benefit from the local connection too. "The Route du Rhum is an extraordinary platform to bring clients in," Bonnier noted, with several of his partners more engaged this season because of the race. Berry's team draws much of its backing from businesses around Ille-et-Vilaine, Saint-Malo and Rennes, a proximity that encourages staff to turn up in person.
There's one perk, though, that no visiting skipper gets.
"It's incredible," Bonnier laughed. "Every evening until the start, you sleep in your own bed. For logistics and peace of mind, that's priceless."
