Route du Rhum: departure postponed at least 48 hours

The news had been in the air for 24 hours now, as we anticipated in our preview, and now it is official: the start of the Route du Rhum 2022, originally scheduled for November 6, has been postponed by at least 48 hours. This is the first postponement in the transatlantic’s ultra-decade history.

The Race Direction announced this at the last skipper briefing also open to the media, rapidly deteriorating conditions between the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay made the decision mandatory. Coming over northern France are three depression fronts in quick succession, with westerly winds estimated up to 60 knots always upwind and against the sea.

Route du Rhum postponement – A wise decision.

A wise decision in our opinion, which preserves the technical content of the race and does not turn this Route du Rhum into a race for survival with the certainty of seeing dozens of retirements and a decimated fleet in the first 48 hours. It would have been radically different if the depression had come with 4-5 days to go, at which point each skipper would have dealt with it in his or her own way and with many opportunities to escape. Instead, with the arrival of the fronts close to the start, it appeared illogical for the Race Direction to send the 138 skippers to the slaughter in a situation with no escape routes except to the harbor, where many would likely have taken refuge, putting the race on standby.

Bona’s pre-departure commentary

This is the comment of the skipper of the Class 40 IBSA, Italian Alberto Bona, whom we heard on the docks in Saint Malo before the news of the postponement arrived. Instead, below you will find the reactions of other Italians.

Route du Rhum – Skippers’ reaction to postponement

At this morning’s skipper briefing, the news of the postponement was greeted with a standing ovation from the 138 skippers in the race. Giancarlo Pedote before the news had commented thus to our microphones, “It will not only be 24-48 complex hours, but it could even be a week. Ours is a mechanical sport and this weather certainly needs to be approached with caution. The decision to postpone the start seems absolutely wise to me, something I did not expect given the logistical complexity of this event. For once, common sense on the part of the race management prevailed over the needs of the media, TV link rights, sponsors and all the rest. I think it is a right choice for the safety of the fleet.”

Decidedly serene Ambrogio Beccaria after the news of the postponement: “We in the Class 40s had voted almost unanimously to ask for a postponement of the race, we very much welcome the decision. Sailing has changed, events have changed and so have the skippers and sailors, it is right in respect of the race that this decision was made.”

Of the same opinion Andrea Fornaro: “We were very focused to face the start even though we knew it was going to be very hard, we learn positively about the decision, but having said that to my shore team I asked them not to lower their tension and pretend that nothing happened, we need to stay focused.”

Mauro Giuffrè