The Race Village of La Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe

At 1600hrs local time this afternoon the race village for La Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe was opened, ready for an estimated influx of up to two million visitors expected over the next week leading up to the start of the four yearly race from the historic walled town of Saint Malo to Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe. The mayor of Saint-Malo, Claude Renoult and Alix Nabajoth, President of Guadeloupe's Sports Commission shared the honours in declaring the sizeable village area open whilst the 91 competing craft line the docksides of the basins, in place before today's 1830hrs deadline for the boats to assemble. And so the festivities which are set to be enjoyed up until the start gun, next Sunday November 2nd at 1400hrs local time.

The 1830hrs time limit for the race fleet to muster in Saint Malo ensured that the atmosphere today has been electric. The public turned out in big numbers to see the five different classes assemble, the Ultimes, Multi50, IMOCA Open 60s, Class 40 and the Rhum divisions. Tonight all are safely moored up from the biggest – the 40 metres Spindrift 2 of Yann Guichard to the smallest the 12 metres Acapella of Charlie Capelle and Jean Paul Froc's Bilfo-Group Berto. 
 Claude Renoult the Mayor of Saint-Malo said: 
"It will be a fabulous week in Saint-Malo. We feel the buzz already. This is always a week which starts off strongly and gets more and more exciting. It has been building up here for ten days. And this has been a 36 year love affair with this race. And we must not forget Guadeloupe and Michel Etevenon, the creator of this race. Guadeloupe were the first to support the Route du Rhum, to creat the link with Saint-Malo. And the town is so involved with the 300 volunteers and the sailing club, the SNBSM. We are expecting maybe 1.8 to 2 million visitors. It will feel like the centre of the world!"

www.routedurhum.com

Update from Marc Guillemot & Safran

After a 24-hour delivery from La Trinité-sur-Mer, Marc Guillemot and his crew arrived Friday in Saint-Malo. The Safran monohull is now moored in the Duguay-Trouin basin alongside the other eight competitors in the IMOCA class. It is the beginning of ten days of festivities before the start of the 10th edition of the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe on Sunday, November 2 at 1400hrs (French time).

This afternoon in Saint-Malo, while the race village of the Route du Rhum was inaugurated, Safran made ​​her entrance into the old walled city of what was once a pirate's port, in front of the already large crowd. "What a pleasure to be back in Saint-Malo," Guillemot said. "This is my fifth time and yet it's always special to pass through the locks."

To help him do the 245-mile delivery ferry between La Trinité-sur-Mer and Saint-Malo, Guillemot had Morgan Lagravière, Ludovic Aglaor and Alex Marmorat on board. "It's important to be here with my crew, it's a tradition for me. It allows us to have a serious look over the boat and prepare properly for the week in Saint-Malo," the skipper of Safran said. "We might be ready but we always find a way to optimise little things right up until the last minute." Alex Marmorat, the composite specialist on the Safran Sailing Team, said laughing.

In a dozen knots of wind, the delivery was just a formality for the crew, who took full advantage of having a few hours sailing around the coast of Brittany. "The conditions were perfect for a smooth delivery without any risk," Guillemot said. "We saw dolphins at Penmarc'h Point at the start of the night. Then, between Le Conquet and the Chenal du Four, we stayed focused because there are lots of unreported buoys. I also used the time to rest."

With nine days to the start, Guillemot seems completely calm but he also knows he will have to look after himself, keep some time to himself and focus on the race during a week that promises to be busy. "The demands are part of the event," he says. "For a few days, all the spotlights are turned on our beautiful sport. So, we have to enjoy it, find the right balance and not use up too much energy." Between the briefings, talking to the press and meeting the project sponsors and partners, the skipper of Safran will spend a few days in La Trinité-sur-Mer ​​at the start of the week. "Before the start of a race I find it really hard to stop," he says. "I'll do a bit of weather and of course I'll go to Lorient, to the boatyard of the new Safran monohull. I find it reassuring not to change my habits. I have to keep active."

Update from Yann Guichard & Spindrift 2

Never in the race's 36-year history have there been so many competitors and so many huge trimarans. The 10th edition of the most famous single-handed transatlantic yacht race is already rewriting the record books. A record 91 sailors were in Saint-Malo this Friday for the opening of the official village, in the shadow of the city walls. As happens every year, large crowds will line the docks of the Breton city for the race start on Sunday, November 2nd. Perhaps the record 2 million visitors in 2010 will also be broken. What we can say for certain is that, at 40 metres long, Spindrift 2 will be the largest boat ever to compete in the race. You might think the skipper, Yann Guichard, was crazy, but the 40-year-old has every confidence in the preparations made by his team to make the maxi-trimaran competitive when raced by a single yachstman. Yann is driven by his competitive spirit, and is all set to do battle.

"We have just sailed Spindrift 2 from La Trinité-sur-Mer to Saint-Malo with some members of the technical and sailing team," explains Yann, who leads a 30-strong team of people with Dona Bertarelli. "Not everybody could be aboard, but it was still lovely to share this moment with them and enjoy the boat together before the race. Our arrival in Saint-Malo is a symbolic moment. It feels like we have already achieved our first success. Before a race, I like to spend time with my family and to study the weather with my routers. I like to be surrounded by people, even though I gradually start moving into my bubble. The Route du Rhum is such a magical event that everybody wants to talk to the skippers. It is all part of the fun, but you must not overdo things. You have to save all your energy for the start of the race."

Yann Guichard has been sailing since he was 10 years old. He has started hundreds of races in different types of boats, including the Optimist class, the 420, the Tornado in which he finished at a 4th place at the Sydney Games in 2000 and the AC45 on the America's Cup World Series. He has also completed several transatlantic crossings in multihulls, both in races – notably the Transat Jacques Vabre with Marc Guillemot, Fred Le Peutrec and Lionel Lemonchois – and in record attempts, breaking the North Atlantic Record twice, first with Bruno Peyron, then with Franck Cammas, and breaking the Discovery Route record last year as skipper of Spindrift 2 alongside Dona and the crew. Yann is no rookie in the Route du Rhum's Ultimate Class. In 2010, he took 4th place at the helm of the trimaran Gitana 11 in its 70 ft modified version.

This wealth of experience in a career spent aboard sundry multihulls, floating between the expanses of water and air, has given Yann the confidence he needs to compete single-handed in the Route du Rhum at the helm of the world's largest racing trimaran, which can carry as much as 800 square metres of sail! "Before a race I feel calm but ready, and that is how I feel today," he explains. "The stakes are high, which puts you under pressure. Of course I cannot be sure whether I will make it. You never can when you attempt something for the first time. As a team we have prepared exactly as planned, and with a week to go before the race I know I have made the right choice by competing in the Route du Rhum with Spindrift 2."

Experts and spectators are trying to predict what will happen in the Ultimate Class, which has eight contenders this year, including three boats that are more than 30 m long. "Physically, I am in great shape. I have been working on my fitness, and I realise how important it is every time I set sail," explains Yann. "I continue to train to work on skills, but I feel strong, which is vital for my confidence. Once the weather forecast becomes clearer and we draw up our strategy for the first few days of racing, I will be ready to go. I know my opponents and I know the limits of solo racing on a boat as powerful as Spindrift 2, but if I have a good race with no technical or strategic errors I know I have a chance. That is why I am so excited about this race!"