Pointe-à-Pitre is gearing up for three class winners who should all arrive sometime tomorrow as the 2018 Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe reaches its climax in the Class40 division and in the amateur Rhum classes – the Monos and Multis.

The first to finish tomorrow is expected to be the French sailor Pierre Antoine at the helm of Olmix who is set to win the Rhum Multi class by a big margin, despite having to stop to pick up Lalou Roucayrol from his capsized trimaran, Arkema.

Next into the finish is likely to be Yoann Richomme on Veedol-AIC who has put on a masterclass in his new boat at the front of the Class40 fleet. Richomme will be followed by Sidney Gavignet, who has been just as dominant as Antoine, but in the Rhum Mono class on board Café Joyeux.

Meanwhile today, we saw the closest match of this 11th edition of the race as the battle for seventh and eighth in the IMOCA division went right to the wire. 

Stéphane le Diraison (Time for Ocean) and Alain Roura (La Fabrique) were side-by-side at the Tête à l'Anglais mark, before Le Diraison emerged with a small lead. He then extended on the west side of Basse Terre but stalled in light airs where the high ground blankets the wind. 

At the Basse Terre bouy, 17 miles from the line, the Swiss skipper Roura had closed up to be just over half a mile behind. But it was only when Le Diraison faltered in the home stretch, eight miles from the finish, that the Roura managed to pass. 

Just 26-years-old, Roura was the youngest skipper in the last Vendée Globe race and he managed to hold on to secure seventh place here by only four minutes and 43 seconds, the smallest margin between any two of the skippers who have finished so far. 

routedurhum.com

Cover photo Sealaunay