Route du rhum: Yoann Richomme retains his crown in Class40 after a magnificent comeback

First in Guadeloupe, Yoann Richomme is used to it.

But first in the sun after having finished in 51st place when passing Cap Fréhel, this is surprising.

And the double winner of the Solitaire du Figaro had to make an impressive comeback to win a second Route du rhum on Wednesday in the Class40 category, the most numerous at the start with 55 boats lined up in the basins of Saint-Malo.

To discover

• Route du Rhum: live, the positions and rankings of the boats on the cartography of the 12th edition

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he confided to Le Figaro before taking off from Saint-Malo.

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A run-in which had therefore taken on water on the starting line cut prematurely, Yoann Richomme being forced to perform a four-hour penalty (returning to the same point 4 hours later) which had plunged him into the depths of the classification in Frehel.

But with one of the fastest boats in the fleet, then a talent discovered in the Solitaire and confirmed four years ago in the Rhum, the Breton wasted no time in regaining his handicap.

With his skills in weather analysis, he overtook the latecomers and reinstalled himself at the head of a race which he will master until the end, despite a slow lap of Guadeloupe in recent hours between squalls and a windless zone.

Heading for the Vendée Globe

In the end, the skipper of the Class40 Paprec-Arkéa and soon of an 18-meter Imoca monohull wearing the same colors, won in Guadeloupe after 14 days, 3 hours, 8 minutes and 40 seconds.

Congratulations boss… And now heading for the Vendée Globe, his next big goal.

Michel Desjoyeaux, author of a great comeback before triumphing, can be an example to follow...