French sailor Yoann Richomme has won the 15th edition of The Transat CIC, a historic solo transatlantic race across the North Atlantic from Lorient in Brittany to New York. Richomme, sailing his Finot Conq-Antoine Koch designed PAPREC ARKÉA, crossed the finish line at 18:23:32 UTC to conclude a very close battle with German skipper Boris Herrmann (Malizia Seaexplorer) who was less than 30 miles behind. The elapsed time for the 2,950 nautical miles course since leaving Lorient on Sunday 28th April was 8d 6h 53mn 32sec.

This is the second back-to-back solo Transatlantic win for Richomme, who won his first ever solo IMOCA Transat, the Retour à La Base, a race from the Caribbean to Lorient in December. Richomme, 40, highlights his outstanding potential for the solo non-stop round-the-world race, the Vendée Globe, which starts early November.

Richomme was sailing his Finot Conq-Antoine Koch-designed PAPREC ARKÉA Photo: Julien Champolion - PolaRYSE

Richomme was second for a big part of the race, chasing his long-time rival Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé et Prévoyance) who looked to be odds on to win on his return to solo racing after missing last Autumn’s two Transats with a medical issue. However, Richomme out-manoeuvred him as they negotiated the north side of a nasty Atlantic depression whilst Dalin was reported to have suffered a technical problem which required him to stop for a few hours the following day.

The Frenchman, born in Fréjus but who spent three and a half years at a tough public school near Philadelphia while his father was working there, is a renowned data-driven perfectionist. He has won the solo Route du Rhum twice in Class 40 and won La Solitaire du Figaro twice. He said in the past that staying on top of his target numbers all the time and living in his own bubble, sailing his own race, has been the passport to his key successes to date.

This is the second back-to-back solo Transatlantic win for Richomme Photo: Julien Champolion - PolaRYSE

The historic Transatlantic race originated in England in 1960 as the Observer Transatlantic Race. This is the first time since 2016 that the race has been contested. Richomme follows up the success on that edition of Armel Le Cléac’h, who then went on to win the 2016-17 Vendée Globe the following winter. Richomme’s elapsed time bears some comparison with Le Cléach’s 12 days, at least in proving how much faster the latest generation of foiling IMOCAs are compared with Le Cléach’s Banque Populaire VIII which was one of the first ever IMOCAs with hydrofoils.

While the IMOCA race leader Yoann Richomme (PAPREC ARKÉA) was still making more than 20 kts this evening, a nerve-racking slow down is still expected for the final miles to the finish of the Transat CIC solo race from Lorient to New York.

The winner of last Autumn’s solo race in the opposite direction, from Martinique to Lorient, Richomme may be on course to do the double on his first time ever sailing into New York, but in the light conditions forecast when a high-pressure ridge imposes itself across the route into the finish line, anything could happen.

The 40-year-old French ace has many times proven a level about his rivals – most recently on that Retour à la Base when he leveraged a small tactical hitch into a significant lead. But this time, at 330 miles to the finish, he can feel the hot breath of Germany’s Boris Herrmann (Malizia Seaexplorer), who is just 16 miles behind (or just over an hour at current speeds), and Britain’s Sam Davies (Initiatives Coeur) who is a further 40 miles behind her German rival.

With it being likely that if the shutdown does occur overnight it will happen from the front, and the weather modelling is far from clear on this and the foiling IMOCAs will keep moving well in just 10 or 11 knots of breeze, then the international skippers Herrmann and Davies still have a fighting chance of victory, and one might add their names the last non-French winners on this race which was started in England in 1960, Ellen MacArthur who won at the age of 23 into Newport in 2000 and Mike Golding who won into Boston in 2004.

When it was last sailed in 2016, Armel Le Cléac'h won in 12 days and 2 hours. This evening, the timer is at 7 days and 3 hours, with the winner expected within 24 hours at the line, which is 110 miles offshore of New York.

“There is an anticyclone gradually filling in and is set to and taking up position between the finish line and the head of the fleet, with winds easing gradually," said Francis Le Goff, Race Director. This will prevent the skippers from sailing directly towards New York and will see them needing to gybe to find the best, making angles to the wind, which is weakening until the finish line."

French skipper Yoann Richomme joined the very elite group of solo ocean racers to have twice won their class on the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe today, when he brought the new build Lombard Lift 40 V2 Paprec-Arkea through the finish line of the 12th edition this Wednesday afternoon at 16:23:40 UTC to win in the Class40 from a record entry of 55 boats.

Richomme repeats his 2018 Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe title success in the class with a facsimile programme, launching his latest new boat in the same season as the race, optimising and making the boat reliable over a compressed period before going on to win comfortably.

Key differences this year are that the 39-year-old Southampton (UK) trained naval architect was called over the start line early off Saint-Malo on Sunday, November 9th and had to take a four-hour mandatory penalty. Although he cleverly took it while the fleet were negotiating a spell of light airs and strong tides at Cape Fréhel – he later estimates his net loss was more like two and a half hours – he immediately dropped to 50th with a deficit of 19 miles on the leaders. But with his characteristic drive and smart, immaculate strategies, he pulled through the fleet and took the lead just before the Azores.

Yoann Richomme, the Route du Rhum Class 40 winner, is a 39-year-old Southampton (UK) trained naval architect

Richomme’s lead was up to 120 miles in the fast trade winds sailing which allowed him the luxury of a relatively serene passage around the west of the island of Basse Terre today.

With an elapsed time of 14d 03hrs 08mins 40s, Richomme breaks his own course record for the class by two days. His winning time in 2018 was 16 days, 03 hours, 22 minutes and 44 seconds. He also becomes the first skipper to win Class40 in successive years. 

Richomme’s celebrations on the dock were also a repeat of last time, savouring the simultaneous moments of pleasure and relief with his arms aloft and his eyes lifted to the heavens. A true perfectionist in every sense and a master meteo strategist, even his arrival at the dock was - by chance - perfectly timed for the media deadlines at home in France.

Yoann Richomme Route du Rhum Class 40 winner - "I was afraid all the time that I would suffer a breakage"

“I’m really proud,” Richomme enthused, “There are so many ingredients necessary to win this race. I spent my time analysing the weather and we had some violent systems. I was afraid all the time that I would suffer a breakage. Even rounding Guadeloupe, I was afraid of that. It was a real challenge.”

“Of course I could have stayed home preparing my Imoca, but this was a challenge for me and the team. So I’m really pleased. It was hard to manage the race. I had to slow down the boat for the first time. It’s really hard and you have to give it all. Corentin with his electrical problems and Ambrogio at his age… Congratulations. I’m proud of this result.”

His approach, as is usually the case, is self contained, “I did my thing and at each front, I gained. I never studied what was happening. I was in my race and didn’t study the rest. The start was fantastic under gennaker for two days like in the manuals. It was wild after that with huge waves. Baghdad! I was forced to slow the boat down when she reached 25 knots. For the last two days, I went into my world to do my race.”

He recalls he was up close behind the IMOCAs at times, “The fourth front, I said I would change my strategy and head south, rather than go with the others. The others made mistakes. That’s when I was enjoying myself. I hadn’t raced like that for a while so I was pleased that it worked out. The IMOCAs? I followed Justine and Isabelle. It was fantastic to be able to follow them.”

Richomme reflected, “I am nevertheless exhausted. I was at the end of my tether a few times but aboard all went well. I managed my sleep differently from in the past. It was hard to try to get any sleep. We have managed to deal with two projects at the same time. My sponsors followed me. Initially, it wasn’t planned like that, but now I’m ready to tackle the Imoca project. You can’t compare this with the Vendée Globe.”

Class 40 Route du Rhum winner Yoann Richomme will skipper a new IMOCA which is in build for the 2024 Vendée Globe and will be launched early next year

The Route du Rhum club of double winners includes Laurent Bourgnon (1994 and 1998 line honours Multi); Erwan Le Roux (winner in the Multi50/OCEAN 50 in 2014 and 2022); Roland Jourdain (IMOCA winner 2006 and 2010); Thomas Ruyant (Class40 2010 and IMOCA 2022) and the only three-times winner, Franck-Yves Escoffier (1998, 2002 and 2006 Muti 50).

Backed by French recycling group Paprec and banking group Credit Mutuel Arkea -who have united to form a sustainable, top-level long-term project – the team management hand-picked the outstanding Richomme to skipper their new IMOCA which is in build for the 2024 Vendée Globe and which will be launched early next year.

Richomme is one of the outstanding sailors and technicians of his generation. He is a double winner of La Solitaire du Figaro, winning in 2016 and again in 2019, the first year the Beneteau Figaro 3 was introduced to the race - when he left all of the French legends – like Jérémie Beyou, Michel Desjoyeaux, Yann Eliès, Armel Le Cléach and Loick Peyron - in his wake.