Rouen 24 Hours race

Following the success of a simple friendly race for a few hours around Île Lacroix island in Rouen, in 1963, a handful of enthusiasts set out the ambitious idea to organize a 24-hour marathon on the Seine the following year. The pilots will once again encounter all the hazards of a river-based circuit that is always choppy between the stone wharfs, as with the Six Heures de Paris event, first held in 1955. Here, there is the added challenge of racing at night, which makes the floating pieces of wood and other pitfalls for the hulls and propellers impossible to see, not to mention the tidal currents and all the rules required by the imposing barges that pass nearby on the busy Seine-Maritime commercial route. For the first time in the world, heroic battles, alone in the back of the cockpit, faced with the ever-hostile liquid track, constantly shimmering and moving in the thin beams of the headlights, and the infernal choppy waters both day and night, will build the legend of the 24 Heures de Rouen, naturally assimilated with its track-based equivalent in Le Mans. 

In just a few years, this new race in Normandy stands out as one of the most formidable testing grounds for hulls and engines, with the winners achieving major international recognition. Over a decade, the V-shaped hulls cope best with all these obstacles, while 1967 sees the first victory of an outboard engine. The next year, the winners already pass the milestone of racing 2,000km in 24 hours. From the late 1960s, the development of catamarans with a wind tunnel between their two hulls enables the pilots to go ever quicker, close to the surface of the water, as if they were precariously balanced on the tip of their propellers, at risk of losing control with the slightest moment of inattention. 

The 1970s to 1990s are marked by constant progress with the materials used for the hulls and the power achieved with the engines, the vast majority of which are now outboards. The great French endurance classic is running almost like a Formula One Grand Prix event, with its major commercial impact for the manufacturers, engine builders and sponsors. More and more of the world’s best pilots come back each year. In 1972, the growing crowds see the first victory by a foreign team, with Italy’s Baggioli, Riva and Redaelli. In 1977, an American triumphs for the first time (Caldwell), then the following year, Rouen celebrates the victory of the Italian Renato Molinari, the “Maestro” with 14 world championships to his name. He wins again in 1979, marking the final success of an inboard engine, with his catamaran powered by a Fiat-Abarth. Molinari will win a total of four races in Normandy. In 1987, French powerboating experiences glory again, after Jeanneau hulls with Mercury engines take all three places on the podium. 

We can measure the progress accomplished by comparing the distance of 1,468km covered by the first winners Bouillant and Delettrez in 1964, with an average speed of 61 km/h, and the record set in 1993 by France’s Larue with the Americans Castelli and Kabatski, racing 3,182km at an average of 132.5 km/h. The winners of the first event took turns at the wheel of a small V-shaped polyester hull powered by a modest 60hp inboard engine. The winning crews from the 1990s to 2010s flew through the race at the controls of Kevlar catamarans with carbon parts and 300hp outboard engines. 

From 2000, the staging of this competition is increasingly disputed for ecological and economic reasons, despite its considerable popular success. It attracts more than 400,000 spectators each year, in the good-natured yet intense motorsports atmosphere, against a backdrop of the traditional May Day celebrations. 

In 2010, two police officers escorting a barge on board their Zodiac are hit by one of the competitors. One is killed and the other is injured, and this tragedy marks the end of the event in its initial format. From 1964 to 2010, the 24 Heures de Rouen non-stop 24-hour event was the only challenge of its kind worldwide. Following various attempts to relaunch it based on different timeframes and team races, the last ever race was held in Rouen in 2019.