The 48-year-old sailor crossed the line in Pointe-à-Pitre at 5:02 a.m. local time (10:02 a.m. Paris time), smashing by almost a day the crossing record set by Francis Joyon (Idec Sport) in 2018 (7 days 14 hours and 21 minutes).
“I’m not even tired surprisingly. The race was exhausting, but I managed to find my rhythm well. I wanted to win this race so badly (…) I had never been able to do it. C It was a huge frustration,” Caudrelier said after crossing the finish line.
Charles Caudrelier, an experienced sailor laden with crewed trophies (3 Transat Jacques Vabre, 2 Volvo Ocean Race, 2 Fastnet Race), had never taken the start of the legendary transatlantic solo. It was the childhood dream of this Finisterian, father of two children, whose idol is the Swiss navigator Laurent Bourgnon, double winner of the event (1994, 1998).
He was the favorite at the helm of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, the first boat entirely designed to fly above water using foils, launched in 2017 and considered the Ultim (32 m maxi-trimaran long and 23 m wide) the most successful of the fleet.
“I found this boat crazy. It’s a complicated sailboat, which has always had to be upgraded in the face of new boats. We had to stay ahead. Our team is a Formula 1 team and I I’m the pilot, all the rest of the year, lots of people working on it,” explained Caudrelier.
Charles Caudrelier rode the perfect race from the gunshot in Saint-Malo on Wednesday at 2:15 p.m., taking the lead from the first miles and leading the fleet to the finish.
François Gabart (SVR Lazartigue), his first pursuer, is expected in the next few hours in Pointe-à-Pitre. For the Gitana team (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild), this is the second victory on the Route du Rhum, after the success of Lionel Lemonchois in 2006.