"I'm sad for our sport to come to this kind of blockage and discussion, it's a not very sporting imbroglio," François Gabart, who finished second in the previous edition in 2018, told AFP.

The joy of the French skipper Francis Joyon, winner of the Route du Rhum, on November 12, 2018 in Pointe-à-Pitre, in front of his compatriot François Gabart LOIC VENANCE AFP / Archives

"Unfortunately I'm in the middle of it all, it feels like we did everything right, never neglected safety. It's not very pretty," he regretted.

The navigator, holder of the solo round the world record, is "blocked due to a safety rule", which has caused him to be in dispute with the Ultim class, to which he must be a member to have the right to take part in the Route du Rhum.

The Ultim 32/23 class, created in 2018, is led by the owners of the boats it includes - currently three -, maxi-trimarans that cannot exceed 32 m in length and whose latest models are flying, thanks to their foils.

It is not the race management that opposes Gabart's participation, but the Ultim 32/23 class, which refuses him membership, arguing that the skipper's new boat (SVR Lazartigue) does not respect the gauge determined by the class.

Four years ago, during the previous edition, it was not compulsory to be affiliated to the Ultim class whereas the Route du Rhum offered an Ultime category (all multihulls over 65 feet).

Gabart, with his previous boat (Macif), was a member of the Ultim class.

The Ultim class multihull "SVR Lazertigue", helmed by French sailors François Gabart and Tom Laperche, finishes 2nd in the Transat Jacques Vabre, on November 23, 2021 in Fort-de-France LOIC VENANCE AFP / Archives

"It was the Route du Rhum that created the Ultimate category. This year, we set a limit, seeing the need for everyone to unite in the class. It makes sense to strengthen the class to their world tour in 2023, we would never have thought that François' boat would not be in the gauge", explains to AFP Hervé Favre, project manager of the Route du Rhum.

French navigator François Gabart poses in front of his Ultim class multihull "SVR Lazartigue", July 22, 2021 in Concarneau Fred TANNEAU AFP

"Today, the point on which they are fighting is an RSO (Offshore Special Regulations) safety rule and the interpretation that is made of it", continues Favre, believing that all this "is not good for anyone".

© 2022 AFP