Mike Birch, an “artist of the seas” who had “forged the legend of the Route du Rhum”

It is too often reduced to these 98 seconds. Mike Birch has always lived outside his time. The man who is systematically summed up by his mythical victory, during the very first Route du Rhum 1978 with a 98-second lead, died at the age of 90 on Wednesday 26 October. As a symbol, a few days before the start, in Saint-Malo, of the 2022 edition of the race.