44 Class 40s for the Route du Rhum

Young, old, Corinthians and professionals, the Class 40 represents half the fleet in next month's transatlantic race

Four years ago, the Class40 set out on their first major race - the 2006 Route du Rhum. Even then the Class40 was the largest fleet in the race with 25 boats, of one third of the boats competing. Among them, were newcomers to the world of offshore racing, international skippers, the young and the old.

And today? The Class40 will again have the largest fleet in the 2010 Route du Rhum but with 44 boats, this time it represents half of the fleet. The skippers range in age from 25 to 60 years old. They include a cabinetmaker, a surgeon, a journalist, a naval architect,

“Class40 has always been an open class bringing together extremely different people from all walks of life to compete offshore,” comments Jacques Fournier, President of the Class 40. Class founders and newbies, among the former competing this year are François Angoulvant (Fermiers de Loué – Sarthe), Damien Grimont (Monbana), Yvan Noblet (Appart City)... Among the newcomers are German Jorg Riechers (Mare.de), at 25 years old the race's youngest skipper in Louis Burton (BG Yachting/Bureau des mers) and the former Mini skipper, Kiwi Conrad Colman (40 Degrees).

Among the Corinthian competitors are Gilbert Cholet (Chimirec-EVTV) Dutch sailor Hubert Swets (AK9 Fuji), surgeon Bertrand Guillonneau (Ville ed Douarnenez) and Marc Behaghel (Tekka). But they will be up against some serious professionals such as double Velux 5 Oceans winner Bernard Stamm (Cheminees Poujoulat), double Solitaire du Figaro winner Nicolas Troussel (Crédit Mutuel de Bretagne), Thomas Ruyant (Destination Dunkirk)…

“The Class40 for me was the only possible class in which to take part in the Route du Rhum," says Gilbert Chollet, who aged 60 is the oldest in the class. "The class is very active and the boats are a good size. The Route du Rhum has been a dream but, with my professional life, I had never had the time to devote to it. I retired in July, so I rented a Pogo40… and here I am!”

Ville de Douarnanez skipper Bertrand Guillonneau adds: “The Route du Rhum - I have been thinking of it for a long time, but i got hooked in 2006, with the arrival of Class40. The boats are physical and powerful… If I can find some partners, I would like to continue on this circuit, even to be on the start line of the Global Ocean Race in 2014!”

The fleet is also truly international with German, English, Belgian, Spanish, Finnish, Italian, New Zealanders, Norwegian, Dutch, Swiss competitor.

In four years, the performance of the boats has improved but not run away thanks to the limitations of the class rule. Some skippers are racing the same boats as they were four years ago. They include Marc Lepesqueux (Marie Toit-Caen la mer) and François Angoulvant (Fermiers de Loué-Sarthe).

Three skippers competing actually come from Guadeloupe - Willy Bissainte (Tradition Guadeloupe), Jimmy Dreux (Voiles 44 Région Guadeloupe) and  Philippe Fiston (Territoires Attitude).

The line-up