As essential as Saint-Malo can be, the departure port of La Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe, Brittany has been, for 44 years, the region which gives the race its impetus and offers it, through its shores and its waters , a unique setting. Beyond providing an exceptional setting for the preparations and the start of the most famous solo transatlantic race, Brittany is also and above all a territory economically oriented towards the open sea. A territory which today hosts a nautical sector with 2,000 companies (7,440 jobs), including 210 in the heart of “Bretagne Sailing Valley®” alone. This ecosystem is also made up of some 200 stables supporting active sporting projects, research laboratories and training courses. That is, in the end, in competitive sailing alone, activities which generate 85 million euros in turnover for 1,300 jobs.
1,300 jobs in the maritime sector.
In 1978, when Michel Etevenon created La Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe, he found the enthusiasm and determination in Brittany to give life to what would become the most legendary of solo transatlantic races. The main partner of the race, the Region, today chaired by Loïg Chesnais-Girard, has, for 44 years, never failed in its loyalty to the event. It is also the territory, maritime par excellence, from which most of the sailors lined up on the starting line come, but also the organizers, partners and service providers, who allow the event to take place every four years.
The Brittany Region encourages and cultivates this status as an essential and essential nautical player. It is in fact the desire of the community to support exceptional skippers and companies in the sector, in particular by initiating interactions between them. This meeting between athletes, on the one hand, and the maritime economic fabric, on the other, has notably enabled the emergence of a sector of excellence, unique in the world, known as “Bretagne Sailing Valley ® ". With human and sporting adventures, this sector, supported by the Region, has always combined technological challenges, ranging from the design of boats to the running of races. It is an entire ecosystem made up of industrialists, companies, sports teams and projects, research and training centers, which brings diversified know-how (materials, structural calculation, architecture and construction, equipment, electronics, digital) to many other Breton sectors, starting with boating, but also renewable marine energies, aeronautics, naval, space and, very recently, wind-powered maritime transport.
Offshore racing: Brittany at the forefront!
The richness of this economic fabric and the dynamism of the nautical sector in the broad sense, place Brittany at the forefront of talent providers on the starting line of La Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe. If it is not enough to be Breton to win in Guadeloupean waters, there are few sailors who, in recent years, have not chosen to put their bags down in the West to lead a winning project. In Lorient, Concarneau or Port-La-Forêt, talents abound and emulation leads to great things. When it comes time to turn to an architectural firm to design a new mount and a shipyard to bring it to life, Breton excellence in this area is widely acclaimed. Sailmaking, fittings, rigging, on-board electronics, survival equipment... Brittany is at the forefront in all areas. So many arguments which associate it in a natural and historical way with the most demanding of solo transatlantic races.
They said :
Loïg Chesnais-Girard, President of the Brittany Region: “The Brittany Region is delighted to once again welcome the entire human ecosystem of the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe for the start of its 12th edition. Organizers, partner companies and communities, shipowners: everyone participates, on land and at sea, in the influence of this formidable race, well beyond their horizon. Sharing the taste for effort and excellence dear to athletes, the Brittany Region actively supports the organization of this legendary competition. Owner of the port of Saint-Malo which it makes available on this occasion, the Region, in coordination with its partners, mobilizes its teams so that the event takes place in the best conditions and in complete safety. This year, for its 44th anniversary, the village is expanding and the boats, most of which are equipped with technologies developed in Brittany Sailing Valley®, will all be lined up along the intramural quays. This will be an opportunity to come together in a shared excitement and to encourage the sailors. They will set off on November 6, on a route unchanged since 1978 but which sees their exploits renewed each time. »
Joseph Bizard, General Director of OC Sport Pen Duick: “Since its first edition, La Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe can count on the support of the Brittany Region. The most legendary single-handed transatlantic race is a regional event with national and international scope and our wish is to preserve this character of the race. An essential institutional and economic partner, owner of the port of Saint-Malo which it makes available to us, the local authority also brings to the event an economic dynamic which allows us, every four years, to welcome new partners, carried by this Breton momentum . The Brittany Region, through the competence and commitment of its teams, gives us as organizers, the possibility of moving forward with confidence and working over time. These exchanges take place throughout the year, thanks to the historical link which unites us within the framework of an agreement which covers our different events. Finally, if the fleet of La Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe obviously opens to all the sailors of the world, what would it be without the Bretons and without local know-how in terms of preparation, training, construction, innovation and maritime excellence? The Brittany Region is the cradle of the race and more than ever its future! ".