Sailing: “It’s not very pretty…” Why François Gabart could be prevented from participating in the next Route du Rhum
The navigator finds himself at the heart of an unusual imbroglio and is, for the time being, stuck ashore. The famous solo transatlantic race is due to start from Saint-Malo on November 6th.
Is François Gabart staying at the quay for the next edition of the Route du Rhum which will set off from Saint-Malo on November 6? To date, he cannot participate in the legendary transatlantic solo, due to a disagreement on a compliance rule for the Ultim class, on which his boat depends.
“I’m sad for our sport to come to this kind of blockage and discussion, it’s a not very sporting imbroglio”, regrets Gabart, who finished second in the previous edition in 2018 just seven minutes behind the winner, Francis Joyon, after more than seven days at sea.
“Unfortunately, I’m in the middle of it all, feeling like I did everything right, never neglected safety. It’s not very pretty,” the navigator told AFP. Gabart, holder of the solo round the world record, is “blocked due to a safety rule”, which has caused him to be in dispute with the Ultim class, to which he must be a member to have the right to take part in the Route du Rhum.
The Ultim 32/23 class, created in 2018, is led by the owners of the boats it includes – currently three -, maxi-trimarans that cannot exceed 32 m in length and whose latest models are flying, thanks to their sheets. It is not the race management that opposes Gabart’s participation, but the Ultim 32/23 class, which refuses him membership, arguing that the skipper’s new boat (SVR Lazartigue) does not respect the approved gauge by the class.
“Not blocking”
Four years ago, during the previous edition, it was not compulsory to be affiliated to the Ultim class whereas the Route du Rhum offered an Ultime category (all multihulls over 65 feet). Gabart, with his previous boat (Macif), was a member of the Ultim class. “It was the Route du Rhum that created the Ultimate category.
This year, we set a limit, seeing an interest in everyone uniting in the class. It makes sense to strengthen the class for their Round the World in 2023, we never would have thought that François’ boat would not be in the gauge”, explains to AFP Hervé Favre, project manager of the Route. rum.
“Today, the point on which they are fighting is an RSO (Offshore Special Regulations) safety rule and the interpretation that is made of it”, continues Favre, believing that all this “is not good for anyone”. According to Gabart, discussions about this rule, named 3.11, began since the launch of the boat last summer “with Sodebo”, owner of the Ultim helmed by Thomas Coville.
“A priori, there was no problem, it was not blocking, but it required work for the interpretation of this rule. We had been quite transparent before the Transat Jacques Vabre (November 2021) on the questioning issued by Sodebo. And on the return from the Transat Jacques Vabre, things changed a bit,” said Gabart, who finished second in the Jacques Vabre for the very first race of the new boat.
Registration before March 31
“There was an expertise commissioned by the Ultim class which confirmed our interpretation. A measurer and a member of the French Sailing Federation also confirmed and yet the Ultim class refused”, continues Gabart.
The Ultim class sought the opinion of the International Federation (World Sailing) in February, which rules on non-compliance, but which “is not based on the actual plans of the boat” according to Gabart. As for rule 3.11, “it’s a matter of winch position in relation to the deck”: “The rule says that the user of the winches must not be inside the boat under the deck”, explains Gabart. Patricia Brochard, president of the Ultim class, asked by AFP, said she was not available on Friday.
Gabart can register for the Route du Rhum (deadline March 31), but he can only take the start if he presents a certificate of gauge conformity, issued by the Ultim class, one month before November 6. “We want to take part in the Route du Rhum, we are going to register”, assures the skipper. Beyond this race, there is also the challenge of the solo round the world race reserved for the Ultims and scheduled for 2023, of which Gabart is the instigator.