Mobile version

Route du Rhum 1998

While the ocean is observed by Topex/Poseidon, sailboat race competitors are watched over by he Argos system. Combined data sets - altimetry and Argos/GPS - can be used to compare the results of different navigation strategies.

On November 13, 1998, L. Bourgnon is going around a depression, whereas L. Peyron is going to cross it. At the same time, F. Joyon is much further, having chosen an unusal course, straight South.

Animations :

The 1998 Route du Rhum transatlantic sailboat race was won by Laurent Bourgnon, who broke his own previous record for the event of 14 days, completing the crossing from St. Malo on the north coast of France to Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe in 12 days. Bourgnon's decision to take the northern route proved the right one, as Loïc Peyron was only able to finish fifth despite taking the shortest route, while Francis Joyon finished seventh after heading south and then west in search of the tradewinds.

The weather during the Atlantic crossing was fairly calm after a stormy start. The winds were right for the competitors throughout the race, with no delays for dead calm seas at any stage. Wave heights reached 10 meters in the northern Atlantic zone, but after initial storms in the Mer d'Iroise west of Brest on the first day of the race had died down, the competitors faced nothing worse than five-meter waves.

EnglishFrançais
Rss feedsContactPartnersFAQLexiconLegal noticePersonal Data Protection PolicyMobile
You must enable cookies in your browser preferences to save the modifications
You are using an older version of Internet Explorer, please update to take full advantage of Aviso+ features

Customize the home page

View all widgets
Reduce display
Public profile
User profile

Select/Deselect widgets

Discover AVISO+

Customizable home, reading tools, products search guide, etc.. Discover step by step the features of the new site AVISO+.

Customizable homepage

This home page is composed of blocks called "widgets".

Rearrange the blocks with a "Click & Drop".

Hide a widget with the cross at the top right. Reset or add a widget with the "wrench" icon. The "User" and "Public" profiles offer a predefined organization.

All the modifications are automatically saved as cookies on your machine so as to enable you to have your own specific AVISO+.

Reading tools

Ease your reading by choosing the page background colour (black/white) and/or by modifying the font size.

Browsing menu and breadcrum trail

To ease your browsing through AVISO+, you can use at any time the main banner items with the interactive submenus or use the browsing menu on the left side of the screen (it is open by default). For more readiness of the page contents, you can fold and unfold the browsing menu by clicking on the tab. At any time you can know where you are thanks to the browsing menu or the breadcrum at the top of the page.

Products search guide

The first submenu of the "Data" banner item leads you to a new search form enabling you to find quickier the product that suits your needs. The list of results is updated according to your selection criteria.

AVISO+ Multimedia

The first submenu of the "Multimedia" banner item leads you to AVISO+ collections of images and videos linked to altimetry and its applications. Have a nice visit!