Rupert Henry takes on Route du Rhum as Hobart warm-up

CYCA member Rupert Henry lines up on Sunday night (Australian time) in the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe, the legendary solo transatlantic race that forms the centrepiece of his preparation for the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

Henry will sail his Class40 EORA alone for 3,542 nautical miles from Saint-Malo in north-west France to Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. He will then return home to contest the Rolex Sydney Hobart doublehanded aboard his yacht Mistral, a three-time winner of the race's Double-Handed IRC division.

One of France's great sporting events

First held in 1978 and staged every four years, the Route du Rhum is one of the legendary transatlantic races and one of France's most popular sporting events.

This year's edition has attracted 115 entries, all single-handed, across six classes: Class40, IMOCA, Ocean Fifty trimarans, the giant Ultims, Vintage Monohulls and Vintage Multihulls.

Unfinished business

Henry returns aboard the same yacht he raced four years ago, when structural damage forced him to retire early in the race.

Reflecting on that retirement when interviewed in Saint-Malo this week, Henry said: "When I got home, I think I cried in the kitchen every night for a month."

EORA has remained in France since, with Henry returning each year to race in a range of single and doublehanded events against the powerful French sailors, with great success.

Asked how he had developed the boat over the past four years, Henry said: "We've optimised it quite a bit actually. We put a new Lombard-designed keel, so the keel's swept aft, just basically moved the longitudinal centre of gravity aft. We cut out the cockpit and put a new cockpit in. Rearranged the ballast configurations."

The crème de la crème

The Class40 is by far the biggest class in the race, with 49 entries attracting the crème de la crème of Europe's single-handed sailors.

Henry is the only non-European skipper in the class. Among his rivals are the highly fancied Corentin Douguet, who sailed with Henry to win the Double-Handed IRC division of the 2024 Sydney Hobart; Alexis Loison, Overall winner of last year's Sydney Hobart with Jiang Lin aboard Min River; and Vincent Riou, winner of the 2004–05 Vendée Globe around-the-world race.

A start like no other

Incredibly, all 115 yachts start together. A French warship sits in the middle of the line, which is broken into segments so that each class has its own designated start line, with laid marks providing the separation.

The start is at 1302 hours French time on Sunday 1 November (11.02pm AEDT).

The course record is an incredible 6 days, 19 hours and 47 minutes, set by Charles Caudrelier aboard the giant trimaran Gitana 17 in 2022. Caudrelier is back this year with the new Maxi trimaran Edmond de Rothschild Gitana 18 and is favourite to be first to finish.

Next stop: Hobart

Once across the Atlantic, Henry's focus turns to the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, starting from Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day, where he will chase a fourth Double-Handed IRC division title for Mistral.

Follow Henry's progress on the official race tracker at routedurhum.com.

Source: Rolex Sydney Hobart