Route du Rhum 2026 leaders and withdrawals, Digi Mart USA News: The night on the Route du Rhum was marked by the injury of Ambrogio Beccaria and the withdrawal of Vincent Riou. The skippers leading the various categories have not changed, and Tom Laperche is well placed to win the Ultim class as early as Saturday.
Tom Laperche is now only 614 miles from the finish in Guadeloupe. The 29-year-old skipper of the Ultim SVR-Lazartigue holds a comfortable lead of 487 miles over Thomas Coville (Sodebo) and 494 miles over Louis Burton (Armand Thiery).
A win would be a record for earliness for an Ultim skipper in the Route du Rhum.
Before he can celebrate, however, he must pass a tropical depression north of Santo Domingo. Routing expert Jean-Yves Bernot, speaking on the race website, said these systems are mostly stormy, with large cumulonimbus clouds that can shift the wind from 15 to 40 knots at once.
Because the depressions are fairly stationary, they are expected to raise significant seas.
In the Ocean Fifty class, there has also been no change at the top. Basile Bourgnon remains firmly in control aboard Edenred 5, holding an 88-mile lead over Pierre Quiroga (Wewise) and 114 miles over Thibaut Vauchel-Camus (Solidaires En Peloton by Delanchy).
In the Imoca class, Corentin Horeau is heading for victory aboard MACSF, with a 275-mile lead over Boris Herrmann (Malizia 4) and 294 miles over Sam Goodchild (Macif Santé Prévoyance).
While the leaders continue to add miles, the race has ended for other competitors. Ambrogio Beccaria, skipper of the Imoca Allagrande Mapei, had been in fifth place when he fell heavily in his cockpit and suffered severe back pain.
After consulting with doctors, he decided to withdraw and is now heading for the Azores. Erwan Le Droulec, skipper of Lazare x Hellio in the Ocean Fifty class, also retired after dislocating his shoulder.
He managed to put it back in place, but on medical advice he had to give up and is also heading for the Portuguese archipelago.
Vincent Riou, who is racing in the Class40 aboard Pierreval – Fondation GoodPlanet, also had to retire due to a technical problem. The former Vendée Globe winner had returned to La Coruña to repair his boat after damage, but chose not to restart.
“To finish four or five days after the first boats, taking so many risks to cross the Atlantic alone, I judged that the risk was not worth it,” he said, noting that weather conditions would not be favorable in the coming days.
