An adopted son of Les Sables-d'Olonne, skipper Arnaud Boissières is set to start his fifth Route du Rhum, sailing an Imoca and balancing sporting ambitions against tight financial resources.
The Route du Rhum enters its new edition with the return of a familiar face from offshore racing. Arnaud Boissières will line up for the fifth time in this legendary transatlantic race, with the start set for Sunday, 1 November 2026, from Saint-Malo in Ille-et-Vilaine. Long settled in the Pays de la Loire, the navigator, often described as a Sablais by adoption, will take the helm of the Imoca April Marine.
The skipper does not hide that preparing for such an event rests on a delicate balance. Between budgetary demands, always heavy in the world of high-tech monohull offshore racing, and the sporting ambitions he holds for this crossing to Guadeloupe, the sailor must work within very real constraints. For a project of this kind, every technical choice, every training hour at sea and every partnership commits considerable resources.
The tone of his remarks, which evokes Antillean sunshine as a reward that must be earned, sums up the spirit driving him. The Route du Rhum is not a cruise: the Atlantic imposes its rhythm, its depressions, its weather options and decisions that are sometimes hard to make alone on board. The competitors know that the arrival in Guadeloupe is earned at the end of a demanding course, where managing energy and the reliability of the boat weighs as much as pure speed.
This fifth participation carries a particular significance. Each edition brings its share of lessons, and the accumulated experience allows him to approach the race with greater clarity about both strengths and areas for improvement. The navigator knows that a race of this scale is often decided by details, whether a sail setting, a choice of course or the ability to recover after a difficult night.
Before the starting gun, attention therefore turns as much to the preparation of the boat as to the human dimension of the project. The departure from Saint-Malo, always closely followed, will mark the beginning of an adventure that, for Arnaud Boissières, extends a career built over many seasons. The question now is how these choices will translate on the water once the fleet heads toward the trade winds.
The skipper does not hide that preparing for such an event rests on a delicate balance. Between budgetary demands, always heavy in the world of high-tech monohull offshore racing, and the sporting ambitions he holds for this crossing to Guadeloupe, the sailor must work within very real constraints. For a project of this kind, every technical choice, every training hour at sea and every partnership commits considerable resources.
The tone of his remarks, which evokes Antillean sunshine as a reward that must be earned, sums up the spirit driving him. The Route du Rhum is not a cruise: the Atlantic imposes its rhythm, its depressions, its weather options and decisions that are sometimes hard to make alone on board. The competitors know that the arrival in Guadeloupe is earned at the end of a demanding course, where managing energy and the reliability of the boat weighs as much as pure speed.
This fifth participation carries a particular significance. Each edition brings its share of lessons, and the accumulated experience allows him to approach the race with greater clarity about both strengths and areas for improvement. The navigator knows that a race of this scale is often decided by details, whether a sail setting, a choice of course or the ability to recover after a difficult night.
Before the starting gun, attention therefore turns as much to the preparation of the boat as to the human dimension of the project. The departure from Saint-Malo, always closely followed, will mark the beginning of an adventure that, for Arnaud Boissières, extends a career built over many seasons. The question now is how these choices will translate on the water once the fleet heads toward the trade winds.
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Source: Ouest-France