The Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe moves in to its second phase today. Damien Seguin, France's three-time Paralympic medallist who grew up in Gaudeloupe, was given a passionate and appreciative welcome early this morning has he took sixth place in the IMOCA class on Groupe APICIL.

But, if anything, his achievement is deserving of an even bigger, better arrival. Finishing in the small hours of the morning, in between torrential tropical downpours, is not, perhaps, the welcome that this inspirational French sailor deserves, a man who has set his sights on being the first sailor with a disability to complete the Vendée Globe.

The highlight of the weekend was Saturday night's prize giving which drew huge crowds to the Memorial ACTe. The cheers for winners Francis Joyon (IDEC Sport) in the ULTIMEs, Armel Tripon (Réauté Chocolat) in the Multi50s and Paul Meilhat (SMA) in IMOCAs, were long and loud, but the crowds saluted all of the eight solo skippers who, by that stage had arrived.

The parties went on long into the night. The ACTe is a huge, touching museum and memorial built to honour and remember those who were victims of Caribbean slavery. Opened in 2015 it is the first time that the main race village has been here. 

While it is a great site to host the finish, it is more of a journey for local supporters to get to - unlike the historic La Darse pontoon in the heart of the city waterfront.

Nonetheless the crowds muster each evening, walking from every direction, to enjoy the free concerts. And during the weekend, when it was quieter, the race pontoon was opened to visitors who got the chance to see the IMOCAs of Vincent Riou (PRB) and Boris Herrmann (Malizia II – Yacht Club de Monaco).

The German skipper was particularly happy to meet everyone, spending time patiently obeying their requests for selfies and autographs. He was surprisingly bright-eyed given that he had just completed one of the most challenging IMOCA races of recent years, one which had reduced Vincent Riou to tears on his arrival only hours earlier.

First to finish, Francis Joyon and his ULTIME IDEC Sport were first off the dock for the return passage home to Brittany. Joyon was accompanied by his son Corentin, Bertrand Delesne - a friend who is a Class40 sailor who was forced to abandon his race - and three of his regular technical team. Joyon was expecting the return trip to take around nine to 10 days.

Of the 123 starters there are still 60 solo skippers at sea. Seguin this morning led in the trio of Finot-Conq designs which were built for the 2008-09 Vendée Globe and which are all expected to start in the solo round-the-world race in 2020. Stephane Le Diraison (Time for Ocean) was three miles ahead of Alan Roura (La Fabrique) this afternoon.

A huge French media contingent follows the Route du Rhum-Destination, from the prestigious L'Equipe sports newspaper which devoted nine pages to the remarkable Joyon v Gabart match race, to Le Monde and Le Figaro, to the regional daily newspapers and websites of Brittany which, is after all, the global epicentre of solo ocean racing.

Exhausted but delighted with the richness and colour of the last few days of finishes, most of the media pool flew back to France yesterday, leaving only a few to cover the Class40 and Rhum Multi and Mono divisions.

They will cover the rest of the race remotely. Those intent on remaining here for French hero Loïck Peyron on the diminutive yellow trimaran Happy will have a long wait yet.

He still has 1,240 miles to go, is making 11 knots and seems content to enjoy life in his bubble. The great man has very rarely picked up the phone to take part in the daily radio calls made from Race HQ.

routedurhum.com

Cover photo by Alexis Courcoux #RDR2018