Route du Rhum - Third place

by Soazig Guého on 16 Nov 2010 Route du Rhum - Marc Guillemot took third place in this ninth edition of the Route du Rhum-La Banque Postale thanks to a daring option in the final stretch around the island of Guadeloupe. The skipper of Safran was very pleased about the outcome after two weeks of particularly demanding sailing.

Marc Guillemot has taken third place on the podium of IMOCA monohulls. This was a result that was far from being a done deal 24 hours ago, as there were three contenders for this place. But thanks to his option off to the west taken a couple of days ago, Safran was able to finish with the wind on the beam, while her rivals had the wind from astern in very light conditions.

Well done, Bilou!
'None of the boays are slower than the other. Bilou had a magnificent race from the start. It’s not really a question of who designed the boat, as a solo race is first of all a race between men. And looking at this aspect, Roland Jourdain has shown his full talent: well done! His race went without a single hitch. Looking at it from the outside, we can say he made wise choices. All of us made some mistakes, me too under spinnaker: Bilou managed to set the pace and was a deserving winner. As for Armel, he has always been incisive, as we saw in the Solitaire du Figaro in the summer. I’m pleased to be on the podium with two sailors of that calibre. So I’d just like to congratulate them as they were the best,' declared Marc Guillemot before he crossed the finishing line.

The will to win
I had some technical problems, nothing that important, but it does take time and effort. I imagine I wasn’t the only one in that situation, but let’s not forget that we’re all on our own out there… I attacked too much under spinnaker and that caused me problems. After that, you have to keep your cool. As everything starts to fall apart, when you lose it. I managed to keep pushing hard to the final stretch and I’m pleased to have made it back to the front and end up on the podium... I know I wasn’t the best, but I never give up in such situations and this result is down to that determination. I’m proud and happy for all those, who have supported me. The energy I found to keep pushing comes from all those, who have been with me in the preparation of Safran and those who have encouraged me. I’m pleased with third place, even if I was aiming higher. We still have a lot of things to do together.'

Ending up on the podium
Marc Guillemot completes this ninth Route du Rhum-La Banque Postale in third place after 14 days 12 hours 28 minutes and 2 seconds of racing at an average speed of 10.15 knots, and finished 19 hours behind the winner.

'I really enjoyed this race. I could never have imagined when sailing solo that I would be able to keep up the spinnaker in winds between 28 and 36 knots! Really enjoyable. Even if it did lead to me getting knocked down twice. It was stressful, but incredible fun. I am extremely satisfied to have been able to compete in this race and to have fought hard to the finish for this place on the podium.'

http://www.routedurhum-labanquepostale.com/en/