Route du Rhum 2026: the Class40s and their skippers
Class40s are 40-foot (12.19 m) monohulls. Their class rule keeps costs in check, which makes it the largest class in the race: as of 12 October 2026, 49 Class40s are on the official skipper list, with sailors from Spain, Italy, Belgium, Australia, Czechia and Ireland.
The skippers
| Skipper | Boat | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Aina Bauza Roig | Aina B. Ocean Racing - Alice Milliat Foundation | Spain |
| Yohan Bertrand | Yoda | France |
| Stéphane Bodin | Wasabiii | France |
| Jules Bonnier | Plastic Odyssey | France |
| Mathieu Claveau | Inherent - Phare40 | France |
| Pep Costa | VSF Sports | Spain |
| Yves Courbon | OceanConnect | France |
| Fabien Delahaye | Legallais | France |
| Corentin Douguet | SNSM, Faites un don ! | France |
| Sophie Faguet | Défi solidaire avec Ellye et L'Arche | France |
| Loïc Fequet | Funae | France |
| Robin Follin | Solano | France |
| Andrea Fornaro | Influence 2 | Italy |
| Jonas Gerckens | Belgium Ocean Racing - Curium | Belgium |
| Marco Guerra | Imagin'Act - Socomec | Italy |
| Emmanuel Hamez | Viranga | France |
| Rupert Henry | Eora | Australia |
| Théa Khelif | Women of Course | France |
| Milan Kolacek | — | Czechia |
| Guillaume L'Hostis | Alternative Sailing - Constructions du Belon | France |
| Sasha Laniece | Alderan | France |
| Matéo Le Calvic | Fondation ARC | France |
| Quentin Le Nabour | Bleu Blanc Planète Location | France |
| Pierre Leboucher | Institut Imagine | France |
| Pamela Lee | #EmpowHer | Ireland |
| Ian Lipinski | Crédit Mutuel | France |
| Alexis Loison | Groupe Réel | France |
| Thomas Lurton | Sireco | France |
| Goulven Marie | Qwanza | France |
| William Mathelin-Moreaux | Patapain Les Invincibles | France |
| Mikael Mergui | Hirsch - Centrakor | France |
| Achille Nebout | Amarris | France |
| Kéni Piperol | — | France |
| Guillaume Pirouelle | Sogestran Seafrigo | France |
| Thimoté Polet | Team Zeiss | France |
| Ulysse Pozzoli | Renovatec Sailing Team | France |
| Christophe Rateau | Gustave Roussy | France |
| Yannick Rebuffat | Mussulo40 | France |
| Vincent Riou | Pierreval - Fondation GoodPlanet | France |
| Luca Rosetti | Maccaferri Futura | Italy |
| Rodolphe Sepho | CANBT-OTI - Rêve de Large 5 | France |
| Matteo Sericano | Lucente | Italy |
| Benoit Sineau | Ekinox | France |
| Lomano Takasi | Réauté Chocolat | France |
| Djemila Tassin | Djemila Sailing - Belgium Ocean Racing | Belgium |
| Jean-Baptiste Ternon | MIC Odyssey | France |
| Alexis Thomas | AfterData - Elcia | France |
| Gaëtan Thomas | Barco Brasil | Belgium |
| Axel Tréhin | Exalt | France |
List taken from the official website on 12 October 2026; it may still change before the start. A dash marks a boat whose name has not been announced yet.
The class record
In 2022, Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) won in 14 days 3 hours 8 minutes and 40 seconds, ahead of Ambrogio Beccaria (Allagrande Pirelli) and Corentin Douguet, who is back in 2026 (Wikipedia, 2022 Route du Rhum). Richomme broke his own 2018 record of 16d 3h 22m 44s (Figaro Nautisme).
Among the familiar names in 2026, Vincent Riou, winner of the 2004-2005 Vendée Globe, races a Class40, Pierreval - Fondation GoodPlanet. Several boats are not yet named on the official list.
The other classes
The Ultims · The IMOCAs · The Ocean Fiftys · Vintage Multi · Vintage Mono
The course, the other class records and the best spots for the start are in Route du Rhum 2026: course, classes, skippers and records, where to watch the start in Saint-Malo and how to follow the race. The track is on the Route du Rhum page of the globe. The other transatlantic races open to Class40s are on the Class40 offshore races page.