The scheduled Sunday start of the 3,542 mile 2022 Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe solo race has been postponed.
LATEST NEWS UPDATE:
The Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe will now start on Wednesday 9 November at 1415hrs
The decision was announced at 10.30 am Saturday 5 November at the skippers’ weather briefing. The 138 skippers learned of the decision to postpone the start of the race because of the forecast weather situation in the Channel during the first 36 hours of the race caused by tropical storm Martin.
This decision is made in particular because of the the passage of a very violent depression, accompanied by a very big sea blocking the course during the first night and leaving no escape for the sailors to get out of the English Channel.
After consultation with Météo Consult forecasters, OC Sport Pen Duick, the organizer and Race Director Francis Le Goff, have decided to postpone the start while waiting to find a next more favorable window for a new start on Tuesday 8 November 8 or Wednesday 9 November 2022.
Giving a start on Sunday in 20 to 25 knots of westerly wind was possible. But the latest 48-hour accurate weather reports showed conditions were much tougher during the first hours of the race.
While the forecast showed gusts over 45kts and huge seas in the Channel Sunday into Monday, the outlook for the middle of the week are more favourable for the start of this 12th edition.
It is the first time since the race was first contested in 1978 that the start has been postponed.
In particular it is the timing of the phenomenon which is making the the situation critical leaving no alternative course for an escape south to safety.
Until the new start time the entertainment the festivities in Saint-Malo will continue with the village open until 10 p.m., and tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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