Imoca triumph for "LinkedOut" in the Transat Jacques Vabre!: Thomas Ruyant's longed-for victory

The word "victory" was not allowed to be uttered on board Thomas Ruyant's Verdier-Imoca "LinkedOut" before the finish line. You never know, the tireless Ruyant, who had suffered a number of setbacks in recent years, must have thought to himself despite his huge lead over his pursuers. But once they had passed the famous diamond rock two kilometres off the south-west coast of Martinique, there was no stopping skipper Ruyant and his co-pilot Morgan Lagravière. Their cheers were rousingly beautiful and came from the bottom of their hearts. The sailing world is particularly proud of their victory in the 15th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre.

Thomas Ruyant, who had won the Tour de France à la Voile and the Mini-Transat in the prototype class within a year in 2009, followed this up a year later with victories in the Normandy Channel Race and in Class40 of the Route du Rhum and was regarded as the new shooting star in the solo sailing world, was never able to record another major victory, even after switching to the Imoca class.

Ruyant was often among the front runners, but had to retire in the 2016/17 Vendée Globe and be satisfied with sixth place in the Vendée Globe, which ended in January, after breaking his wing, although he wanted more and experts thought he was capable of it. Now it is finally the rather quiet star, the restless worker and sports-mad endurance racer who played ice hockey in his youth, who was able to leave all the prominent Imoca competitors behind in the chase across the Atlantic.

While he had already learnt about sailing at a young age with his family, Ruyant's passion for regatta racing did not ignite until the early 2000s. He started out in single-handed dinghies such as the Laser and worked his way up to the Mumm 30 via the First Class 8. When he finished his studies in sports science and sports management in 2005, the young Ruyant discovered a Mini 6.50 for sale in a car park in Dunkirk. Ruyant grabbed it, gave the boat a refit and took part in the Mini-Transat in 2007. It was exactly his thing. His success spurred him on to continue sailing on this course. In 2009, Ruyant won the big race with the small boats in the prototype division.

The now 40-year-old finished his first 60-foot race in 2015 with a more than respectable fourth place in the Transat Jacques Vabre, but the knockout blow in the 2016/17 Vendée Globe was hard to digest. He still earned admiration and a lot of respect at the time because, after colliding with a "UFO" (abbreviation for "Unknown Floating Object"), he bravely brought his boat to the New Zealand coast in an emergency situation with a broken hull, always with one finger on the emergency button.

On his next Vendée Globe summit attempt, the tireless, open-eyed man in the grey-blue colour of the Southern Ocean also suffered a setback when the port wing of his Persico build "LinkedOut" broke; Ruyant had to trim the foil of his promising latest-generation construction by two metres. "It is what it is. That's the Vendée," he announced resolutely from on board after the repair was complete. At the time of the breakage, he was in second position in the race, just behind leader Charlie Dalin. Anything seemed possible. In the end, Ruyant was left with sixth place on his first completed solo lap around the world and an unquenched hunger for a big win. He has now achieved this in a double with the experienced 34-year-old Morgan Lagravière, who was born on La Réunion and is one of the most sought-after co-pilots in the Imoca world.

Thomas Ruyant, father of two children aged four and nine, will be energised by his Transat success in his third Vendée Globe attempt. He should then once again be one of the most dangerous competitors for Germany's sailing star Boris Herrmann and the second designated German skipper Jörg Riechers. Herrmann and Ruyant already know each other well. In 2017, they sailed the Transat Jacques Vabre together and finished fourth. Boris Herrmann warmly congratulated Thomas Ruyant on his victory, saying: "I am very happy for him and am looking forward to analysing and debriefing the race."

The key data of Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagravière's dominant success in the Imoca class: the duo completed the Transat Jacques Vabre from Le Havre to Martinique in 18 days, 1 hour, 21 minutes and 10 seconds. When they reached the finish line after 6691.30 nautical miles sailed over ground at an average speed of 15.44 knots, the pre-start favourites Charlie Dalin and Paul Meilhat on "Apivia" still had around 170 nautical miles to go to the finish. They were followed by Jérémie Beyou and Christopher Pratt on "Charal" with around 230 nautical miles remaining. Click here for the intermediate results in all four Transat divisions (please click!).