Route du Rhum 2026: Ruyant and Le Roux pull out over budget
Three weeks before the start in Saint-Malo, the Route du Rhum 2026 has lost two of its defending champions. Neither Thomas Ruyant, the 2022 IMOCA winner, nor Erwan Le Roux, the Ocean Fifty winner, will be on the line on 1 November. In both cases the reason is the same: money.
Thomas Ruyant: a brand-new boat left in the shed
On 21 September, Thomas Ruyant announced on social media that he was pulling out. "Today I have to give up this Route du Rhum," wrote the skipper from northern France, who had not found a partner that would get him to Saint-Malo "in good conditions". His team, TR Racing, had launched a brand-new foiling IMOCA this summer, a boat that had "amazed" them. It is now waiting in a shed in Lorient (France 3 Bretagne, with AFP).
According to AFP, he needed about €2.5 million for this Route du Rhum, then €4 to 5 million a year until the 2028 Vendée Globe, his next big goal. Ruyant knows the race well: he won it in Class40 in 2010, then in IMOCA in 2022 in 11 days 17 hours 36 minutes 25 seconds. "The story is far from over," he says.
Erwan Le Roux: his last Ocean Fifty Rhum will not happen
On 8 October it was Erwan Le Roux's turn. A two-time Ocean Fifty winner of the race (2014 and 2022), he could not raise "the means needed to start with peace of mind". "We believed in it until the end… Unfortunately, I won't be on the start line," he wrote. This Route du Rhum was meant to be his last in an Ocean Fifty (ICI Bretagne).
His season had started with a rebuild. On the night of 25 to 26 October 2025, a few hours after the start of the Transat Café L'Or, his trimaran Koesio, sailed double-handed with Audrey Ogereau, capsized north of Guernsey; three Ocean Fifties went over that night. Relaunched in La Rochelle on 16 April 2026 as Plastic Odyssey Fifty, the boat will not race the Route du Rhum (Bateaux.com). Le Roux now wants to set up an offshore racing team in La Rochelle and find partners for the 2028 Vendée Globe.
Only one defending champion on the line
In 2022, six skippers won their class. In 2026, only one of them will start:
| 2022 class | 2022 winner | In 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Ultim | Charles Caudrelier | starting, on the new Gitana 18 |
| IMOCA | Thomas Ruyant | withdrawn, no budget |
| Ocean Fifty | Erwan Le Roux | withdrawn, no budget |
| Class40 | Yoann Richomme | moved to IMOCA, not racing this edition |
| Rhum Multi | Loïc Escoffier | not on the official list |
| Rhum Mono | Jean-Pierre Dick | not on the official list |
Sources: Wikipedia, 2022 Route du Rhum, Route du Rhum and the official skipper list checked on 12 October 2026. The Rhum Multi and Rhum Mono categories have become Vintage Multi and Vintage Mono.
So there will be new winners in at least five of the six categories. After these withdrawals, 115 skippers are on the official list as of 12 October, down from the 118 announced in April.
Sponsorship under strain
AFP notes that the sponsorship market is tight: contracts are ending and Vendée Globe projects are failing to get off the ground. At the end of September, Armel Tripon and Maxime Sorel were still looking for funding in IMOCA; both are on the official list in mid-October.
The remaining entrants are presented class by class in our articles on the IMOCAs and the Ocean Fifties. The course and records are in Route du Rhum 2026: course, classes, skippers and records, and the route is on the globe's Route du Rhum page.