The IMOCA, is a 60ft development class monohull sailing yacht administered by the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA). The class pinnacle event are single or two person ocean races, such as the Route du Rhum and the Vendée Globe and this has been intimately linked to design development within the class.
The Route du Rhum is a transatlantic single-handed yacht race, which takes place every four years in November. The course is between Saint Malo, Brittany, Metropolitan France and Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, overseas France. The first competition, won by Canadian Michael Birch in his boat Olympus Photo by a margin of 98 seconds over second-placed Michel Malinovsky in Kriter V, was held in 1978, and was marked in tragedy by the disappearance of Alain Colas during the crossing.
Alex Thomson is a British yachtsman.
ORMA 60 is a class of sailing trimarans administered by the Ocean Racing Multihull Association (ORMA) that created in 1996 by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) within the sport of sailing. The boats were built to a box rule that permitted 60 feet length and beam and a 100-foot mast.
Loïck Peyron is a French yachtsman, younger brother of the yachtsman Bruno Peyron.
VPLP design is a French-based naval architectural firm founded by Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prévost, responsible for designing some of the world's most innovative racing boats. Their designs presently hold many of the World Speed Sailing records.
Manureva was a custom-built racing trimaran famous for being the first oceangoing multihull racing sailboat, opening the path to the supremacy in speed of this kind of boat over monohulls. She won the 1972 Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race, skippered by Alain Colas, and was lost at sea with Colas during the first “Route du Rhum” transatlantic solo race in 1978.
The Route du Rhum is a single person transatlantic race the 2010 race was the 10th edition and had six classes with 91 boats taking part.
The Route du Rhum is a single person transatlantic race the 2010 race was the 9th edition and had six classes with 91 boats taking part.
Alex Pella is a Spanish yachtsman. In 2014 he became the first and only Spanish to win a transoceanic single-handed race, the Route du Rhum. Alex Pella made history once again, on the 26th of January 2017, when he broke, with the rest of the team, the absolute round-the-world speed sailing record, known as the Jules Verne Trophy., aboard the sophisticated maxi-multihull IDEC 3. They circumnavigated the planet in 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds.
Paul Meilhat is a French sailor and navigator. He was a high level 49er dinghy sailor with Olympic aspirations before moving into offshore sailing. From 2015 to the end of 2018 he was skipper of the IMOCA 60 - SMA and he competed in the Vendee Globe.
The Route du Rhum is a single person transatlantic race the 2022 race was the 12th edition and had six classes with 138 boats taking part. The events status as a qualification for event for the Vendee Globe lead to the largest most competitive fleet of IMOCA 60 class yachts gathered todate. In his first attempt at the race Charles Caudrelier took line honours in a new race record time on the Maxi Multihull Edmond de Rothschild in six days, 19 hours and 47 minutes.
The Route du Rhum is a single person transatlantic race the 2018 race was the 11th edition and had six classes with 123 boats taking part.
The Route du Rhum is a single person transatlantic race. The 2006 race was the eighth edition and had eight classes, with 74 boats taking part.
The Route du Rhum is a single person transatlantic race the 2002 race was the 7th edition and had seven classes with 58 boats taking part.
The Route du Rhum is a single person transatlantic race the 1982 race was the 2nd edition and had six classes with 50 boats taking part.
The Route du Rhum is a single person transatlantic race the 1990 race was the 4th edition and had six classes with 50 boats taking part.
The Route du Rhum is a single person transatlantic yacht race. The 1994 race was the 5th edition and had eight classes with 35 boats taking part.
The Route du Rhum is a single person transatlantic yacht race. The 1986 race was the 3rd edition and had seven classes with 32 boats taking part.
The Route du Rhum is a single person transatlantic race first run in 1978.
Laurent Bourgnon (SUI)
