When the Rothschilds and Gitana team unveil a new boat, they do it properly – and last night the huge team base in Lorient, France, became the theatrical backdrop to the grand unveiling of Gitana 18, the highly anticipated new foiling Ultim.

In a dramatic ‘reveal’ a silk curtain dropped mid-press conference and the gathered guests – a couple of hundred media, technical partners, and the great and good of French ocean racing – realised they were underneath one of the most top secret boat building projects of recent years.

But perhaps even more dramatic was the boat itself – or certainly the appendages that will be fixed to it.

The radical new foils for the Ultim Gitana 18 – the flaps on the trailing edge can be trimmed independently, while the arms can also be lifted, and the rake adjusted.

The L-shaped foils of the current ocean-going trimarans have been replaced with what the team refer to as ‘Y’ foils – giant appendages with 5m span set on enormous swinging arms, that show a clear lineage from the America’s Cup.

The central ‘wing’ beneath the boat is a sculptural 3m of metal (they won’t disclose which one).

Radical rudder design

But the rudders are unlike anything seen before – an inverted ‘U’ or A-frame design. Unlike a conventional rudder, which itself turns, the double chords of the rudder are fixed, while flaps at the trailing edge control direction – all designed to overcome the deformation that the hugely loaded rudders would experience, and apparently with no drag penalty.

The rudders of the new Gitana 18 are a revolutionary A-frame or ‘U’ shape, with twin fixed stocks or chords, but adjustable flaps.

Meanwhile the rig is not only a canting wing mast, but is designed to bend to allow the crew to control the mainsail’s power – particularly in the shift between take-off and flight, and in squally conditions where the trimaran could become overpowered. It’s another element which is entirely new on this scale, and is the first Ultim mast made by Southern Spars in New Zealand.

“With this new boat, we hope to achieve as close to perfect flight as possible. Ideally, we’ll be able to fly very high without ever touching the waves. We hope to be able to fly in 3m waves and reach an average sailing speed bordering on 40 knots”, explains Charles Caudrelier, the skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild Gitana 18.

The team told me that top speed potential is over 55 knots.

Gitana 18: designed to fly

The project was designed by known out-of-the-box thinker Guillaume Verdier with the 30-man in-house team at Gitana. Its primary goal is to foil for 100% of its sailing time, achieved by both decreasing the wind strength at which it can foil, while also sustaining higher average speeds at flight.

It builds on much of the knowledge, data and experience the team have gained from their previous Gitana 17 (now Actual Ultim 4), which was launched eight years ago and became the most optimised and successful of all the 100ft trimarans, winning the Transat Jacques Vabre, Route du Rhum, and Arkea Ultim Challenge, while covering over 200,000 miles of ocean.

The new Gitana 18 in the team base in Lorient

Owner Ariane de Rothschild also spoke at the launch, which she attended with her daughters. They are represented on the boat’s spectacular livery, designed by French artistic duo Florian and Michaël Quistrebert, in collaboration with the Palais de Tokyo. Gitana 18 is the 28th boat in the Rothschild/Gitana stable, which next year celebrates 150 years in the sport.

“Within my family, we’ve always enjoyed a passion for competition, performance and also one of technological disruption. It’s about being disruptive, knowing how to take risks, gauging them and managing them. This is fully in line with our philosophy,” said Ariane de Rothschild.”

The Rothschild family and Gitana team hosted a spectacular unveiling of the newest Ultim, Gitana 18,  on Wednesday 3 December.

You can’t rush perfection, and the boat is definitely launching a little later than anticipated, but a project of this magnitude will take months to work up. Its first event will be the 2026 Route du Rhum, which skipper Caudrelier will be looking to defend his title in, before taking on solo around the world and crewed Jules Verne record bids.

We’ll take an in-depth look at this incredible creation in the February issue of Yachting World, out January 8th.

The post Have you ever seen rudders like that before? Radical top-secret Gitana 18 Ultim unveiled appeared first on Yachting World.

The Transat Café L’Or – formerly known as the Transat Jacques Vabre – has got off to a dramatic start with three Ocean Fifty trimarans capsizing in the first night of racing.

Four classes compete in the double-handed transatlantic race from Le Havre to Martinique: Ocean Fifty trimarans, Ultim trimarans, Class 40 monohulls and IMOCA monohulls.

A series of fronts in the Channel and North Atlantic have made conditions difficult, with the race village closed on Thursday 23 October. The scheduled start for the Ultims, Class 40s and IMOCAs was delayed from Saturday 25 to today, Sunday 26 October.

However, the 10 trimarans in the Ocean Fifty fleet started on Saturday afternoon at 1630hrs, aiming to get out of the Channel before the biggest winds hit on Sunday night.

The Ocean Fifty fleet at the start of the Transat Café l’Or on October 25, 2025 in Le Havre, France. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot / Alea

Three trimarans capsize

The first capsize was reported on the first evening at 2027 UTC (1027 pm local time) when the Ocean Fifty Lazare X Hellio flipped off La Hague, the first peninsular after the start at Le Havre. The trimaran had set off just four hours previously. Both skippers, Erwan Le Draoulec and Tanguy Le Turquais, were safely airlifted to shore.

French coastguard services (SNSM) marked the boat’s position, which was later recovered.

Weather conditions in the area were reported as rough, with steady winds of 22 to 25 knots, gusts up to 30 knots, and 3m waves.

The Ocean Fifty Lazare x Hellio being towed by the French SNSM rescue service after capsizing off Cherbourg, during the Transat Café l’Or race on October 26, 2025. Photo: Lazare Sailing Team

Skipper Tanguy Le Turquais posted on social media today: “Emotionally I can say that it was a bit shocking to see Erwan get in the helicopter from the central hull, then my turn [to get into the] chopper and see Lazarus x Hellio, with its white crossbeams and hulls half underwater… These are quite shocking images.”

The capsized Ocean Fifty Koesio washed up off a beach on Guernsey. Photo: Guernsey Coastguard

Around four hours later at 0025 UTC (0225 local time), the race management team was informed that a second Ocean Fifty, Koesio, had capsized north of Guernsey. At the time, the boat was in 8th position and sailing in a 25-knot northerly wind with 2.5m waves.

Co-skippers Erwan Leroux and Audrey Ogereau were both safe and unhurt, and rescued by helicopter. On Sunday morning the wreck of the trimaran had washed up on a shingle beach at Perelle on Guernsey.

Next to capsize was Inter Invest, skippered by Matthieu Perraut and Jean-Baptiste Gellée, which was reported as having capsized off the coast of the Abers, the north-west the tip of Brittany at 0405 UTC. Co-skippers Perraut and Gellée were also both safe and in good health, and airlifted from the trimaran around 0600. The boat was later salvaged by the 35m/115ft trimaran Merida.

Ocean Fifty Inter Invest, skippers Matthieu Perraut and Jean Baptiste Gellée at the start of the Transat Café l’Or on October 25, 2025. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot / Alea

Ocean Fifty: on the red line

The Ocean Fifty fleet is notorious for racing ‘on the edge’. In 2018 six of the 50ft trimarans started the TJV, with only three finishing.

“The vigilance level is a little higher than for the other [classes],” commented Elodie-Jane Mettraux before the race. Mettraux is racing ​​with Anne-Claire Le Berre on Upwind by MerConcept.

“We know there’s a red line that we mustn’t cross, otherwise we’ll capsize,” added her co-skipper Anne-Claire Le Berre. “It adds extra nervous tension and forces us to be even more focused.”

Co-skipper of the capsized Koesio Erwan Le Roux had told race media before the start: “It’s easy to put the foot right down hard on the accelerator, but capsizing is the problem if you push too hard.”

Ocean Fifty Koesio, skippers Erwan Le Roux and Audrey Ogereau at the start of the Transat Café l’Or 2025 on October 25, in Le Havre, France. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot / Alea

Tanguy Le Turquais, a recent convert from the IMOCA and co-skipper of the capsized Lazare X Hellio had also spoken of the risks before the start, saying: “On board, you realize that you are slowly getting used to it, to increasing the threshold of fear.”

Transat Café L’Or start

The remaining three classes got underway at lunchtime today. They include four giant Ultim trimarans, 18 IMOCAs and 42 Class 40s. The course lengths of the Transat Café L’Or vary to try and have the four classes arrive in Martinique at approximately the same time between 5-7 November.

The Ultims have been set a 6200-mile course that takes the fastest ocean racing boats in the world into the Southern Hemisphere to a waypoint south of Ascension Island and sees them cross the Doldrums twice.

The Ocean Fifty fleet was set a 4600-mile course, rounding the island of Sal in the Cape Verdes before turning right for Martinique.

The 18 IMOCAs are racing on a 4350-mile track that leaves the Canaries to starboard.

Because of an incoming frontal system with an expected deterioration in weather conditions at theentrance to the Bay of Biscay, the race management team has decided to alter the Class 40 course. The 42 boats will stop in La Coruña (Spain) to seek shelter, and a second start will then be given as soon as conditions permit.

The overall ranking of the Transat Café L’Or Le Havre Normandie in the Class 40 fleet will be calculated based on the combined times of the two legs.

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Banque Populaire XI isn’t just any boat; it’s a floating testament to the bleeding edge of sailing technology, designed for record-breaking speeds and gruelling ocean races. Sam Goodchild, fresh from the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race with the Banque Populaire team, offers a unique perspective on what it’s truly like to sail one of these magnificent foiling multihulls.

From the central cockpit, Goodchild highlights the surprising simplicity of the control station, dominated by handles that manage an extensive hydraulic system. Unlike traditional yachts and in keeping with the developments we’te seeing in top level foilers like the Ultimes there are remarkably few ropes here, as much of the power is routed through hydraulics.

This setup allows for a highly efficient crew operation: one person at the helm, a pit manager overseeing the intricate hydraulic maneuvers, someone dedicated to navigation, and four crew members tirelessly working the handles. Goodchild explains the sheer physical effort involved, noting that a single tack—which includes deploying and retracting foils and rudders—can require 10 to 15 minutes of continuous handle winding, pushing vast amounts of hydraulic oil.

We also get to see the fascinating details of the foiling system, including the crucial daggerboard flap control in the middle of the boat. This mechanism, akin to a traveller on a conventional yacht, allows the crew to precisely adjust the boat’s heel and so righting moment, a critical factor when rocketing across the water at 40 knots.

Article continues below…

Rolex Fastnet Race: SVR-Lazartigue first to finish after 35-knot run home

The first boat to finish the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race is the Ultime SVR-Lazartigue, which won multihull line honours this morning,…

Fastnet 2025: first Ultimes round the Rock… and light the afterburners

The leaders in the 2025 Rolex Fastnet Race have rounded the Fastnet Rock after 1 day and 4 hours of…

Sailors on Banque Populaire XI often steer to leeward, allowing them to directly observe how the foils are performing and make immediate adjustments. For single-handed or short-handed sailing, a sophisticated autopilot is on hand.

There are foot releases for the mainsheet and controls for canting the rig (tilting the mast 6 degrees to leeward before a tack), emphasising how these innovations allow for speedier depowering and enhance safety. Despite their immense power, these foiling machines sail remarkably flat, making capsizing less likely.

A crucial component of the Ultimes are the aerodynamics that dominate the boat’s design, from the cockpit’s fairings to the minimal on-deck activity when the boat is flying at speed. Goodchild showcases the challenging exit from below deck through narrow aero fairings, highlighting the extreme measures taken to reduce drag.

He also touches on the practicalities of sail changes and general checks that still require venturing onto the trampoline and foredeck.

Reflecting on their recent Rolex Fastnet Race, Goodchild notes that Banque Populaire XI achieved an average speed of around 35 knots on the return leg from the Fastnet Rock.

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When it was announced that three-times Kiwi America’s Cup helmsman Peter Burling had not re-signed with Emirates Team New Zealand, a lot of people wondered what he was going to do instead.

News last month that he was joining Italian Challengers Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli certainly made sense. Between that and his Black Foils New Zealand SailGP team – and a young family – he seemed to have enough on his plate.

But Burling is evidently enjoying the freedom that not being locked into an ETNZ contract or Olympic cycle brings, with the news that he is going to join the Ultim SVR-Lazartigue for this month’s Rolex Fastnet Race.

The Ultim SVR-Lazartigue being relaunched for its 2025 programme

SVR-Lazartigue will race with skipper Tom Laperche (who took over from Francois Gabart last year – Gabart is taking some time out for a cruising circumnavigation with his family) and a crew of six, including new co-skipper Frank Cammas. Cammas has moved from the Gitana stable, where he was long-time skipper and co-skipper of the Ultim Maxi Edmond de Rothschild with Charles Caudrelier.

Recruiting Burling

Tom Laperche explains: “François (Gabart) encouraged me to reach out to the Anglo-Saxon sailing scene, where some of the best in the business are pushing the limits of these flying boats.

“We had a shortlist of sailors we were keen to sail with. The New Zealanders have long been leaders in this area. Peter is an exceptional sailor — Olympic medals, America’s Cups… and from our first conversations, he was totally on board. His flight expertise is top-level, he’s an outstanding inshore racer, and I know he’ll bring a lot to the team.”

SVR-Lazartigue skipper Tom Laperche

“When they contacted me, it was an easy decision to say yes to the Rolex Fastnet Race,” adds Burling.

“I’ve always loved offshore racing — that’s what led me to The Ocean Race. The Ultim class is the pinnacle of high-performance offshore sailing. These boats are incredibly innovative and versatile. I’m really excited to get back offshore and to learn more about how this class is evolving.

“Joining a team with such deep experience on these boats is a fantastic opportunity. I’ve followed François Gabart’s journey and everything the team has achieved, and seeing Tom take over the project is great. He’s an exceptional sailor. For me, this is a chance to push myself, learn, and work with an outstanding crew. I can’t wait to get started.”

Leg 9 of the 2018 Volvo Ocean Race from Newport, US to Cardiff, UK – on board Brunel. Peter Burling thinks Vestas 11th Hour has tacked and fever sets in

Burling is no stranger to offshore racing: he raced with Brunel in the 2017/18 Volvo Ocean Race. He was helmsman and watch leader on the Dutch boat, and widely rumoured to be something of a secret weapon when it came to Brunel’s impressive boat speed improvements over the race.

Bouwe Bekking’s Team Brunel finished third overall, in the closest finish in the race’s history. Burling sandwiched the ocean marathon in between winning Gold at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and Silver at the 2020/21 Games in Tokyo, and winning back the America’s Cup for New Zealand in Bermuda in 2017 and defending it in Auckland in 2021.

Cammas switches teams

For Laperche and the SVR-Lazartigue team, having Franck Cammas join after six years with Gitana is a significant appointment. The Gitana stable is currently building a top-secret – and rumoured to be radical – new Ultim, designed by Guillaume Verdier and due to be launched this autumn.

Cammas will be Laperche’s co-skipper for this autumn’s Transat Cafe L’or (formerly the Transat Jacques Vabre), but also performance director.

“When I called Franck, I wasn’t just looking for a co-skipper,” explains Laperche. “I wanted someone who could also contribute to the sporting and technical vision — someone to challenge and build on the work from our design team.”

“My goal is to bring a fresh perspective to a team that already knows the boat inside out,” says Cammas. “We’ll need to keep the dialogue open, challenge ourselves, and remain receptive to new ideas.

“It’s all about working the details, staying rigorous, curious and open-minded. That mindset is something Tom and I share. We’re always looking for new ways to push technology further — but we know that innovation comes with risk.

Franck Cammas has joined the SVR-Lazartigue team for 2025 as co-skipper and performance director

“Humility is essential because the competition is fierce. Everyone is stepping up. Each time we go to sea, we aim to perform better than the time before. With this team — both on land and at sea — and one of the most advanced boats in the fleet, we have everything in place. Now we just need to deliver. Sometimes you have to be patient for results, but that’s the nature of the game.”

The Rolex Fastnet Race starts from Cowes on Saturday, 26 July. The Transat Café L’Or from Le Havre on 26 October.

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Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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The two Ultim foiling trimarans which had set off on a Jules Verne Trophy around the world non-stop record attempt have both aborted their current circumnavigation.

Francois Gabart‘s SVR-Lazartigue was first to end its record bid. At 0110 (UTC) this morning, Tuesday, December 3 the crew reported that they felt an impact while sailing in 25-30 knots of wind, around 500 miles from the Azores. The impact was described as a shock from an ‘OANI’, or an unidentified animal or object – the marine equivalent of a UFO.

The crew discovered that the trimaran’s starboard foil was damaged and made the decision to turn around, heading back to the team’s home port of Concarneau, Brittany, as soon as possible. The Ultim is expected to reach port between Friday 8 and Sunday 8 December.

After three days of racing, the SVR-Lazartigue crew were at best 145 minutes behind Francis Joyon on IDEC Sport‘s record time from 2017. On day three the crew also hit a sustained speed of 49.9 knots.

SVR-Lazartigue was one of two foiling Ultims bidding for a Jules Verne Trophy record in 2024.

Sodebo abandons Jules Verne attempt

Second to abandon their attempt was Thomas Coville’s Sodebo Ultim 3 The team reported that this afternoon, while making progress in the trade winds towards the Equator, the Sodebo Ultim 3 sustained damage to the central rudder.

The team statement explained: “Following an initial inspection, the crew noted the total loss of the central rudder flush with the bottom of the hull. Investigations are underway to determine whether the breakage of the central rudder stock was due to a mechanical problem or an impact.”

Hanging on for the ride: the crew of Sodebo during the Trophee Jules Verne attempt. Photo:
Vincent Curutchet/Team Sodebo

The crew has also turned back to its team base in Lorient to make repairs. The Sodebo team confirmed that the boat has no water ingress or collateral damage and the sailors can return by their own means.

While both Ultims had initially set off within 12 hours of each other in what initially looked set to be a compelling head-to-head battle around the world, the notoriously vulnerable trimarans also both succumbed to foil damage within the same day.

The question for both teams will be whether they can return to port, then get the complex trimarans back up to optimum record-breaking condition, in time to take advantage of any future weather scenarios that could offer a fast Atlantic southbound passage.

Tom Laperche steering, jet fighter-style, on SVR-Lazartigue. Photo: Guillaume Gatefait

SVR-Lazartigue reported that: ‘The team was hard at work exploring the different options including using their spare foil to go back to the Jules Verne Trophy as soon as a favorable weather window presents itself.

Heading for home

The Sodebo tracker dashboard includes a fascinating live chat function showing communication between the race crew, and the technical and routing teams ashore.

At 1513 today the boat reported: ‘Problem with the CC rudder.’

The technical crew can remotely monitor onboard telemetry, load cells etc, and observed that the boat had ‘probably lost all the saffron (foil)’.

Half an hour later, the routing cell posted: ‘Ok guys, we’re coming back home, damn it. Phil, can you work on a safe route home? Thanks, sorry.’

The router added: ‘It’s hard for everyone, it [the challenge] was good.’

Sodebo skipper Thomas Coville. Photo: Vincent Curutchet/Team Sodebo

The technical team then added some advice to the team: ‘You can open the whale hatch, check that there is no water first before a wave rises on the deck. Depending on what we see, we will probably have to open the inspection hatch to visually inspect the rest of the stock to be sure that it has not come loose from the lower bearing (risk of reaching the aft bulkhead).

“Carefully inspect the torque tube and the entire chain connecting the rudders and the steering system.

“We can see on the telemetry that the clutch release worked [the Ultims have various ‘shock-absorber’ systems built in to protect the boat in the event of an impact] but a good check of the entire system is necessary.”

The post Foil damage halts Jules Verne record attempts: both Gabart and Coville’s crews turn for home appeared first on Yachting World.

The two crews are both attempting to break the non-stop, around the world record – the ‘no limits’ Jules Verne Trophy – which currently stands at 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds.

Thomas Coville’s Sodebo Ultim 3 was first to start, crossing the virtual start line off Brest in western France, at 2103 last night, Friday 29 November. The ‘line’ is between Ouessant and the Lizard, UK.

The crew set off at nearly 30 knots, though this morning were some 100 miles behind the equivalent pace set by current record holder IDEC Sport.

Sodebo’s tracker shows the bid’s progress against current Jules Verne Trophy record holder IDEC Sport

In order to break the record, Sodebo will need to return to cross the line by January 9, 2025 at 2034hrs.

Francois Gabart’s SVR-Lazartigue then set off this morning, Saturday 30 November, at 08.51 (local time). They will need to return by the morning of January 10 in order to break the record.

Record-breaking routing

Both teams set off independently, but their weather routing teams have identified the same weather window which is currently forecasting the boats to reach the Equator in around five days.

In order to be in with a shout of beating the record, they will then need to be at the Cape of Good Hope within a dozen days of starting. Both teams progressively went from ‘Code Orange’ standby mode, to ‘Code Green’ before starting just 12 hours apart.

Sodebo Ultim 3 Skipper Thomas Coville sets off on a Jules Verne Trophy bid from Lorient on 29 November, 2024. Photo: Vincent Curutchet / Team Sodebo

Thomas Coville, skipper of Sodebo, explained: “The transition from orange to green is often quite brutal, you have to change mode and mentality.

“Personally, what helps me to switch is when I get dressed in my sea gear, when I put on my boots, it allows me to enter another world, that of a sailor.”

Thomas Coville (far left), Benjamin Schwartz (centre) and the Sodebo Ultim 3 crew. Photo: Vincent Curutchet / Team Sodebo

Crew member and navigator Benjamin Schwartz explained the team’s start strategy: “We will set off close-hauled/reaching to look for a first front in the south of a depression, with a tack planned for Saturday afternoon, then dive south in a wind that will pick up, so downwind.

“The objective is to go around the Azores high from the east and slip under it for a final gybe, probably Monday morning, which will take us straight towards the equator in about five days, so a little ahead of the record time.”

But he cautions: “The window is quite short, insofar as the Azores High tends to emit a ridge  (an extension)  which closes the route to Portugal, so we will have to manage to slip into a fairly narrow corridor in time.”

Jules Verne Trophy crews

Sodebo is sailing with a crew of seven: Thomas Coville, Frédéric Denis, Pierre Leboucher, Léonard Legrand, Guillaume Pirouelle, Benjamin Schwartz and Nicolas Troussel.

Skipper Francois Gabart, third from left, and the SVR-Lazartigue crew setting off on their way to the Jules Verne Trophy start line in Brest on Saturday, 30 November 2024. Photo: Clement Gerbaud/SVR-Lazartigue

SVR-Lazartigue is sailing with six: Francois Gabart, Tom Laperche, Pascal Bidégorry, Amélie Grassi, Antoine Gautier, and Émilien Lavigne.

For the Jules Verne Trophy the teams may use on shore routers, and each will have a team monitoring the weather, position of ice, and potential routing strategies. Sodebo’s is headed up by Philippe Legros and Simon Fisher, while SVR-Lazartigue’s router is Jean-Yves Bernot.

Record holders rematch

The current time was set by Francis Joyon on IDEC Sport in 2017, when his six-man crew completed a non-stop circumnavigation – in the non-foiling trimaran – at a blistering average speed of 26.8 knots.

Both skippers have claimed the solo non-stop around the world record, Coville setting a record time in December 2016 of 49d 3h 7m 38s.

Gabart set the current benchmark of 42d 16h 40m 35s the following year – remarkably just two days slower than the crewed record they are both attempting to beat, including an astonishing 24hr record of 851 miles solo.

The newest of the Ultims, SVR-Lazartigue is perhaps the most advanced design. Photo: Guillaume Gatefait

Going head to head

In 2016, IDEC Sport and Spindrift 2 set off within hours of each other, in the first ‘head-to-head’ Jules Verne attempt. Both teams made it round, but neither broke the record.

The last time two boats set off together was in 2020, when Gitana 17 and Sodebo started within hours of each other in late November.

Both retired from their attempt early: Gitana turning back after three days after colliding with a ‘UFO’ (unidentified floating object), while Sodebo had a great start to their bid – extending to over 200 miles ahead of IDEC Sport’s position, and regularly posting days with 30-35-knot averages.

But by mid-December they too had to retire, after colliding with an underwater object and damaging the starboard rudder.

The foiling Ultims are notoriously vulnerable to collisions, but in February 2024 Charles Caudrelier won the first ever single-handed around the world race in the giant trimarans, after his Gitana 17 made the circumnavigation without stopping for a technical repair (he did stop in the Azores to avoid ‘impassable’ conditions in the Bay of Biscay, with a forecast of 7-10m waves and 50 knot winds). That passage proved it can be done.

Support crew bid farewell to the Sodebo Ultim 3 crew. Photo: Vincent Curutchet / Team Sodebo

How to follow the Jules Verne Trophy

You can follow the Sodebo attempt at their own tracker dashboard, which besides boat speed, wind data etc also includes the option to message the crew and even see who is on watch.

SVR-Lazartigue also has it’s own tracker – which also shows relative position to IDEC Sport (100 miles ahead after two hours of racing), wind data etc.

If they make it that far, the two crews are also likely to overtake the Vendée Globe fleet in the southern oceans.

The post Head-to-head Jules Verne attempts: two Ultim trimarans set off to try and break 40 days around the world appeared first on Yachting World.

It would be a scene worthy of the most outrageous Hollywood action movie: a man, alone on an enormous flying trimaran, is hurtling across the ocean’s remotest reaches, when he plunges through the floor of the cockpit. He dangles, metres above the churning waves – with no way of calling for help – until he manages to haul himself back on board. Then he dusts himself off, and keeps racing. But Charles Caudrelier barely mentions it.

“You had some wave damage?” I ask during our chat about the Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest, the solo around the world race in 100ft foiling Ultims.

“Oh, yes. Before Cape Horn, I caught some 7m waves and with the wind churning and the waves coming off a front for a few hours that was quite uncomfortable. A wave onto the back of the boat hit the deck, so I had a big hole in my boat. That was quite difficult, because you feel safe in your cockpit and then suddenly your cockpit is open and you can see water.

“I nearly fell in the water because I forgot that the hole was there. When I came back from doing a manoeuvre, I walked on the hole, because there was still one skin of carbon, but it was like a piece of paper. So I dropped in the hole up to my shoulders, and I managed to catch something and stay on board.

“At this moment I thought about all the hours I spent on the Volvo Ocean Race, outside, waves coming over the deck. And I say, okay, this is nothing compared to that. Your boat is 10m metres longer and you are inside the cockpit, you just have a hole. No worry, everything is going to be fine.”

Photo: Marin Le Roux/polaRYSE/Gitana

It was fine. Caudrelier went on to win the Arkea Ultim Challenge, sailing around the world in 50 days. In doing so he set a litany of firsts: first to foil around the world on an Ultim; winner of the first solo around the world race in multihulls; and takes a unique place as having won both a solo around-the-world race and a crewed around-the-world race as skipper.

Solo sailing goals

Charles Caudrelier, now 50, was born in Paris but the family moved to Brittany so his father could pursue his twin passions of sailing and horses. “When I was two, he decided to leave Paris for another life, which was quite courageous, because his job and all his family were in Paris,” recalls Caudrelier.

The young Charles got involved in sports ranging from golf to fencing and windsurfing, but remembers a pivotal moment when he decided his future was in sailing.

“My father was crazy about offshore racing, and we would go to all the starts of the famous races. One day, I think I was 15, it was the beginning of the one-design solo Figaro. It was also the start of the story of Michel Desjoyeaux, Jean Le Cam, all these guys. He introduced me to Michel and said, this guy will become a great sailor. Michel became my hero, and I started sailing more.

The Caudrelier family moved from Paris to Brittany, and immersed themselves in sailing and windsurfing. Photo: Courtesy of Caudrelier family

“I just wanted to sail single-handed. Sometimes I stole the boat belonging to some friends of my father, and would go sailing in the night trying to sail single-handed on it. It was really what I wanted to do.”

It’s a trait Caudrelier has shown throughout his career – putting the work in, trusting the process – with flashes of risk-taking when required. But the returns weren’t ever guaranteed.

“At this time it was difficult to be a sailor. Nobody was winning money and my father was a bit worried. He told me: finish your studies and after you can do what you want. But I was sailing more and more, doing the Tour de France a la Voile. When you are a young guy, motivated – and people don’t need to pay you! – famous people started to ask me to sail with them. That’s when I met Franck Cammas, and with Franck we did a lot of match racing, so I started to learn how to be very accurate and good at trimming, and as a tactician.”

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Caudrelier wins first ever solo round the world race in foiling Ultim

Solo skipper Charles Caudrelier has won the Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest, the first ever solo around the world race in…

Having left school he completed his French military service (compulsory until 1996) as an athlete, training at Port-la-Forêt, then took part in his first Solitaire du Figaro, where he finished 9th and 1st ‘bizuth’ or rookie. But when he lost his first sponsor, Caudrelier went back to the day job. “My job was at a merchant ship academy, so I went to work on the Brittany Ferries. But after six months, I was going crazy and said, okay, that will not be my life! I will do whatever I can, but I want to win the Figaro.”

After double-handing with Olympic sailing and Figaro legend Gildas Morvan, Caudrelier secured a new backer, and began to move his way up the Figaro rankings: 5th in 2001, 3rd a year later, before winning in 2004. But even then there were still no guarantees of success.

Caudrelier was inspired to sail solo aged 15, even ‘borrowing’ a family friend’s boat overnight to practice. Photo: Courtesy of Caudrelier family

“Now, people prefer to be good on Instagram than trying to win the Figaro! Lots of sailors are on the start of the Vendée Globe, who never succeeded in the Figaro, just find a sponsor because they are good in the media.

“At the time, when I started, if you wanted to have a big boat and do the Vendée Globe, the first step was to win the Figaro. So I did. Unfortunately, I never found a sponsor for myself.”

High performer

Though Charles Caudrelier might not have had his own campaign, the opportunities kept coming. “I was lucky that I joined the best team – Banque Populaire with Pascal Bidégorry – and did all the races in the Orma 60 multihull,” he recalls. “My phone was ringing a lot.”

He co-skippered Marc Guillemot’s innovative Safran IMOCA 60, winning the double-handed races they entered. “That was the first time somebody used this title in France of ‘performer’ [performance analyst]. I was in charge of performance for him.

Racing double-handed in the IMOCA Safran. Photo: DPPI Media/Alamy

“Then my phone rang again, and it was Franck calling me to join the Groupama Sailing Team. That was an amazing experience with top level guys, top design. But it was very tough.”

Groupama, with a Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed Volvo 70 and talent-packed crew (including fellow Ultim skipper Thomas Coville) won the 2011 Volvo Ocean Race, despite a dismasting.

“I learned so many things. I learned how to be a specialist, because as a single-handed sailor I could do everything on the boat. But at the beginning, it was difficult for me to concentrate on one thing. So I learned to do the pitman [role], to do manoeuvres.”

The campaign also had a strong performance development team led by Yann Riou with Charles Caudrelier. “We tried everything. During two years of preparing we did so much work with the designer, there were so many smart people in this team. I have the feeling that I learned more in two years than in 10 years of my sailing life before.

“I learned also to manage people. And I realised that even if you have the best people, if they don’t manage to work together, and if you don’t have a good team spirit, it doesn’t work. That was quite a difficulty inside the Groupama team sometimes.”

It was something Caudrelier prioritised when he was appointed skipper of Dongfeng Race Team for the Volvo Ocean Race. “When I created the team with [team manager] Bruno Dubois, I told him it’s all about human performance, it’s all about working together. And I can say that it’s a success – not only because we won (in 2017/2018). From the Groupama Sailing Team, I speak with nearly nobody. But the Dongfeng Race team – we still have the same WhatsApp group and nobody left it.

Firehose conditions on the Dongfeng VO65. Photo: Eloi Stichelbaut/Dongfeng Race Team

Each time there is a birthday or something important, like a baby – or a rugby match! – everybody makes jokes. I think in 20 years we will still be in contact.”

Another key tenet of the Dongfeng campaign was that the crew looked after each other. Caudrelier recalls that when Dongfeng made their final race-winning decision to take a daring inshore route to the finish in The Hague, no other team had spotted the opportunity. “When we spoke to the other guys they said, ‘Oh, I was exhausted, we didn’t think about it.’

“We worked a lot on the routing, probably because we were not exhausted. And nobody was exhausted because we had good food, we were in good shape. Some other crews had skin problems, foot problems – because they didn’t think this stuff was so important. We had very heavy mattresses; people were laughing at us, saying it’s too heavy – but not if you sleep better. The small details make a difference.”

Celebrating Dongfeng’s Volvo Ocean Race win with crew mate Carolijn Brouwer. Photo: Eloi Stichelbaut/Dongfeng Race Team

Big questions

Despite Caudrelier’s no-stones-unturned approach, the Arkea Ultim Challenge harboured a great number of unknowns, not least uncertainty about whether the 100ft foiling Ultims could even make it around the course.

“I was very confident – and I’m never confident, that’s not me. But I’m also Cartesian,” he says, referring to the mindset that allows you to rationalise two opposing truths. “I was thinking, okay, I know my boat is stronger than the others. I was sure about that. I know we have more experience. Nobody has sailed as much as me on this kind of boat.

“But I was not sure that one boat would finish the race, to be honest, because we tried two times with the Trophée Jules Verne and we broke something every time.”

The Verdier-designed Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, Gitana 17, was launched back in 2017. Seven years is a long time to be at the cutting edge, but its deep development programme has enabled Caudrelier, together with former co-skipper Cammas, to become the dominant force in the Ultim class, winning Fastnet Races, the Transat Jacques Vabre, and the double-handed Brest Atlantiques race – a proof of concept event for the foiling trimarans (which proved, ultimately, that they could race trans-ocean, but probably not non-stop).

Finally, in 2022, Caudrelier got his single-handed ocean race win when he took 1st in the Route du Rhum – a boyhood dream come true.

“I think because Gitana were the first to make the step of flying offshore it was a huge advantage that we still have in the game,” says Caudrelier. “Today, it’s very close in terms of performance. But I was sure that I have the boat that is the most reliable. I know that my boat is a bit heavier than the others – because it’s stiff, that’s the first reason. But also because we think systems need to be strong to last. And that’s what happened. Everybody had rudder system [problems]. We already had all these problems with rudders two years ago. So I knew that I could push.”

The Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest saw six 100ft trimarans race around the world solo, but only Caudrelier nearly made it non-stop. Photo: Vincent Curutchet

Breakneck pace

And push he did. The early stages of the race were breakneck with Charles Caudrelier and Tom Laperche on SVR-Lazartigue locked into a battle at 30 knots, often less than two miles apart. For followers it was riveting, but on board it was relentless.

“We were racing like we were with crew. We were dropping the sail at full speed, hoisting at full speed. We were trying to lose nothing. Each mile was important, which, I think, could have been our mistake. If Tom hadn’t broken his boat [SVR-Lazartigue retired into Cape Town after an underwater collision], maybe we would have been stupid and pushed together too far. But yeah, that was quite impressive…”

It’s a work rate Charles Caudrelier is known for. He has the reputation for being a machine. “It’s what my routing guys call me,” he explains, “because when I did the Route du Rhum, I was doing the same performance as the crew, and when they asked me to do a tack or manoeuvre, I never say no.” (During his six day transatlantic he made 17 gybes and 15 tacks).

Co-skippering with his close friend, Franck Cammas. Photo: Alexis Courcoux/Brest Atlantiques

“But I’m just very well organised. I don’t like to say where I’m good, but I think I’m very good at manoeuvres. I’m not a guy who’s organised in real life, but when it’s about manoeuvring, I always have a good plan, and I really want to do it perfectly. Tom is also a machine. I thought nobody will follow me at the beginning – Tom did, but he’s 25 years younger!”

By the time Caudrelier returned to the North Atlantic, he was the only one of the six skippers not to have made a technical stopover for repairs. Besides the hole in the cockpit sole, Gitana 17 had suffered early wave damage to the front crossbeam, and later mainsail damage, both of which Caudrelier was able to fix on the fly. Before and after Cape Horn he had slowed to avoid severe weather systems, but the forecast for the final approach to Biscay was impassable: 50-knot winds and 7-10m waves.

“So we stopped in the Azores. That was my decision. I didn’t want to stop, actually, and the team didn’t want me to stop. But at one point, it’s all about ego. What is the smartest thing to do?

“If I’d had a boat behind me, I would have gone, it was not impossible. But the only goal was to win the race, so why take so much risk? The mast was my big worry, because I can break a foil, I can break a rudder, I will finish. But if I break the mast, I cannot finish. So I said, okay, I don’t want to take this risk.”

Huge crowds turned out to welcome Gitana back to Brest. Photo: Loïc Venance/AFP/Getty

Ego is not something that drives Charles Caudrelier. I ask if the significance of his win has sunk in?

“No. I always see myself as a kid who had dreams. I’m 50 today, so people call me the old guy, but in your mind, sometimes you’re still the same person that you were when you were 20 or 15.

“I am proud about it. But I never forget that because I became skipper very late – I was 40 – you need a bit of luck in this sport. I try to stay humble. Of course it’s amazing, but it’s not only about me. Even if I was single-handed, it’s a team job. And I am lucky to be in the best team. Without them, I’m nothing.”

Caudrelier meets the crowds at the end of the Arkea Ultime Brest. Photo: Eloi Stichelbaut/polaRYSE/Gitana

What next for Charles Caudrelier?

The Gitana team has a new Ultim in build. They’re yet to release any details, but have been clear that radical ideas were on the table, in search of a radical performance gain.

“I think it’s possible to go much faster, especially on the waves. That’s the goal of Gitana 18. On flat water we know how to do it, but on the waves It’s much more complicated,” says Caudrelier.

“Unfortunately, we cannot do a wing sail. Today, we know where we could win a lot is by doing a wing. But it’s not possible because of the rules, and it’s also probably not possible today in terms of techniques, because you need to take reefs and so on. But one day it will happen, because I think the ‘engine’ of the boat with soft sails is not so good.”

Gitana 17 is up for sale, though Caudrelier says they could make another Jules Verne attempt. Otherwise he will aim to defend his Route du Rhum in 2026, but has no ambitions to sail the next Ultim around the world.

Instead he wants to work more closely on the design side, and help bring on a new skipper (none have yet been named).

“I realised today that the race is over,” he says, having just returned from a long-awaited holiday. “My brain was never free because I was always thinking about this race. And today I think I’m more available for my family than I was before. I don’t want to go again for another cycle.”

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The post Charles Caudrelier: the first man to foil a giant multihull around the world appeared first on Yachting World.

Among the elite band of rock star offshore racing sailors that do a solo lap of the planet there’s one basic yet counterintuitive rule they swear by: ‘To go fast you have to understand how to go slowly.’

Wherever you look into the history of fast passagemaking, the accounts of those that were seeking to set new records always include frequent references to looking after the boat. And no matter how clunky and old fashioned those boats might look today, in their time they were most likely at the cutting edge of design and materials available.

Being heavy and slow by today’s standards didn’t make them any safer, robust or any less of a challenge when it came to going the distance. Indeed, being hefty and sluggish brought its own problems that modern day skippers of carbon rocket ships don’t have to worry about, not least the inability to sail away from the path of a nasty depression.

The irony is that in the relentless quest to go faster, never has the skill of sailing slowly been more important. The Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest was a fascinating example.

This extraordinary solo non-stop race around the world in 32m trimarans saw five of the six entrants complete the course. This in itself is incredible – few would have given odds on that before the start.

The Ultims are notoriously fragile machines, plus the risk of hitting something in the water and doing serious damage is not measured by chance, but by certainty. (How skippers deal with the constant stress of this is beyond me.)

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There were staggering average speeds well into the 30s among some of the boats. One skipper reported hitting 47 knots at one point, on foils, alone, and deep offshore.

But for all the impressive speeds across the fleet it was Charles Caudrelier’s regular and obvious slow downs on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild to let weather systems pass in front, like children on a zebra crossing, that I thought were particularly amazing.

On an Ultim knowing how to slow down is one thing, these beasts take off like a scatty race horse at the least provocation, but they need a lot of sea room too and take a while to turn around. As a result, the tactics of pulling in the reins to just 10 knots need to be combined with giving yourself room to manoeuvre while maintaining this ‘pedestrian’ pace.

At one point Caudrelier did stop completely. On his approach up through the Atlantic his ETA had him conflicting with a serious weather system in the Bay of Biscay. His decision was to wait in the Azores.

The ability to stop during this race was one of the big discussion points before the start where some bemoaned the fact that the skippers would be allowed to make pit stops.

This wasn’t in the spirit of a solo non-stop lap of the planet, they said. And perhaps when judged by traditional global laps they’re right. But, the reality is that the machines at the leading edge of offshore design are now too quick for the weather. It’s an incredible position to be in. Continuing into serious weather would be asking for trouble.

Photo: IMOCA / TR Racing

Yet, before we go blaming the Ultims for spoiling the art of solo global racing, it looks like the IMOCA 60s are heading in a similar direction.

A recent study by French sailor and performance expert Olivier Douillard plots the rise in performance of these offshore 60s throughout the last 22 years. His figures, graphs and polar diagrams show how overall performance has increased by almost 50% during this time while the true wind speed to hit 20 knots of boat speed has reduced from 30 knots to just 14.

Over the same 20-year period, reaching speeds have shot up by over 70% with boat speeds leaping from 13 knots to 22 knots with a modern IMOCA on its hydrofoils. It is of course these outrageous scythe-like foils that have been at the heart of the leap in performance.

Originally there to generate more righting moment and to reduce the displacement and wetted surface area, it didn’t take long before the 60-footers were flying. But, even without understanding hydrodynamics it’s easy to see their current limitations. Dragging your stern around like a dog in the park is not quick, or especially comfortable. If and when the class moves to allow T-foils on the rudders, speeds will doubtless shoot up again.

Like it or not, you can’t uninvent the wheel. Boats that sail faster than the weather are already a thing.

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The post ‘The latest offshore racers take off like a scatty race horse’ – Matt Sheahan appeared first on Yachting World.

Solo skipper Charles Caudrelier has won the Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest, the first ever solo around the world race in multihulls, on the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild giant foiling trimaran.

Caudrelier crossed the finish line off Brest, northern France this morning, Tuesday 27 February, at 0837 after 50 days and 19 hours of racing.

The Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest is the first time giant multihulls have ever been raced solo around the world head-to-head. Caudrelier is the first person ever to sail a foiling Ultim around the world solo, and in fact only the eighth ever to complete a solo circumnavigation on a multihull.

Charles Cauderlier and the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild win the Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest solo round the world race. Photo: Vincent Olivaud/Arkea Ultim Challenge

Though the race is ‘non-stop’, in the sense it has no scheduled stopovers, by the North Atlantic Caudrelier was the only skipper not to have made a technical stop for repairs. But with potentially ‘impassable’ conditions in the Bay of Biscay forecast of 7-10m waves and 50 knot winds due to Storm Louis, Caudrelier took a four-day pause in the Azores before cautiously sailing the remaining 1,200 miles to Brest to take the race win.

Caudrelier was able to stop in the Azores having built up an unassailable lead since his nearest rival Tom Laperche on SVR Lazartigue had to retire into Cape Town after a collision with an underwater object. Caudrelier and his Gitana-backed Ultim consolidated their position as front runners since January 17, at one point extending his lead to over 2,500 miles from second placed Thomas Coville on Sodebo.

The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild in Faial, Horta -t he damaged front starboard beam is visible. Photo: M. Le Roux/Polaryse/Gitana SA

Throughout the race Caudrelier revealed little about any technical problems he had experienced on the ground-breaking, and highly complex 100ft foiling trimaran. However, when he put into Faial in the Azores it became obvious that his boat had incurred damage early on, after a front section of one crossbeam had been ripped off by a wave. The solo skipper had cut a spare mainsail batten in order to rig a repair, tying it together with straps.

Cauderlier’s first round the world

Remarkably, this is Caudrelier’s first ever solo around the world race. Though Caudrelier – who turned 50 yesterday – had early ambitions to compete in a Vendée Globe, he instead began working with many top offshore teams, including joining Franck Cammas’s winning Volvo Ocean Race entry Groupama 4 as a navigator and helmsman. He then stepped up to skipper his own entry in back to back races for the Chinese Dongfeng team, winning – by the race’s closest ever margin – in 2018.

Photo: Vincent Olivaud/Arkea Ultim Challenge

In 2019 he joined the Gitana stable as co-skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothchild trimaran with Franck Cammas, with a long-term plan that he would skipper the enormous machine solo for each single-handed event.

With one of the longest running Ultim campaigns, a well-resourced team encompassing some of the best in the business, and a focus on banking as much sailing time as possible, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has long been the boat to beat. Cauderlier skippered or co-skippered the Ultim to major wins in the Brest Atlantiques, back to back Rolex Fastnet Races, Transat Jacques Vabre, and an emotional 2022 win in the Route du Rhum. 

Though he did not set a solo round the world record on this race, he did set a new benchmark for a solo Indian Ocean crossing, covering the 6,113 miles between Cape Agulhas (South Africa) and the Cape Leeuwin (Australia) in 8 days 8 hours 20 minutes and 36 seconds, at an incredible average speed of 30.7 knots.

We’ll have a full report, with the skippers’ first-hand tales from this incredible race, in the May issue of Yachting World.

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Charles Caudrelier, skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild trimaran and Arkea Ultim Challenge leader has paused his race in the Azores after a severe weather forecast for “impassable” conditions in Biscay on his return to Brest, north-west France.

Caudrelier, who has led the fleet since the South Atlantic, having also been in front or vying for the lead since the race began on January 7, is the only one of the six solo skippers not to have made a technical stop for repairs so far on the ground-breaking around the world race for 100ft foiling Ultims.

However, his team confirmed this morning that they are making a stopover, which race rules specify must be for a minimum of 24 hours, off Horta, in the Azores.

Initially it seemed as if Caudrelier could arrive into Brest as victor tomorrow, Thursday 22 February. However, a severe low pressure system in the North Atlantic have made conditions for the final 1,200-mile passage to Brest untenable for the giant multihull.

Charles Caudrelier, skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild in the solo Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest. Photo: Yann Riou/Polaryse/Gitana

“Unfortunately, a big depression is blocking the way to Brest. 40 knots of established wind, gusting to over 50, and 8 to 9-metre seas… We’ve been patiently waiting and hoping conditions would improve but that is not the case,” explains Benjamin Shwartz, one of the weather routers from the Gitana team.

“It is out of the question to take the slightest risk, all the more so considering the lead we have over our rivals.”

Solo record out of reach

Caudrelier, who holds a 2000-mile advantage over second placed Thomas Coville on Sodebo, has been clear that he does not want to jeopardise a potential race win for the sake of a few hours or days.

“I’m not going to sacrifice the team’s work out of impatience,” Caudrelier told race organisers on Monday, 19 February.

“There are races which have ended badly in the Bay of Biscay which is one of the most difficult sailing waters.”

Despite a fast start for the Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest, the solo around the world record has been out of reach for some time, meaning Caudrelier is racing only the fleet, not the clock.

Initially the record looked within grasp – in spite of the fact the fleet set off on a fixed start day, rather than following an optimum forecast. The leaders crossed the Equator on their southbound stage after around six and a half days of racing, while the fastest solo time down the North Atlantic had previously been 5d 17h 11m.

Caudrelier then crossed the Cape of Good Hope after 12 days 1 hour 2 minutes and 22 seconds, which equates to an average speed of 28.85 knots. The current solo round the world record holder, Francois Gabart, passed the Cape of Good Hope after 11d 20h. 

He then enjoyed a rocket-fast South Indian Ocean stage, passing Cape Leeuwin after 18d 5h, compared to Gabart’s 19d 14h at the same point. This set a new Indian Ocean record, with Maxi Edmond de Rothschild maintaining an incredible average speed of 30.7kts from South Africa to Australia.

However, approaching Cape Horn in early February, Caudrelier intentionally slowed his giant trimaran dramatically for 48 hours to allow a violent low pressure system to roll to the south of him past Cape Horn. After rounding the iconic headland on February 7, he then faced tricky headwinds which saw the giant multihull making just over 400 miles in 24-hours, compared to the 800-plus mile days it is easily capable of.

Maxi Edmond de Rothschild passing Cape Horn in the Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest. Photo: Yann Riou/Polaryse/Gitana

Shelter in the Azores

The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild trimaran is currently seeking shelter in the lee of Faial, Horta. 

The Gitana team had initially considered waiting offshore from the French coast before making the final approach to Brest, but rejected the idea due to the heavy shipping and sea states expected which would make handling the 100ft foiling trimaran extremely difficult.

“It’s a safety choice to take shelter,” explains Guillaume Evrard of the race organisation. “Their intention is to stay outside the marina, in a small channel between two islands.”

Caudrelier will be met by a technical team from Gitana who can assist him in making any repairs to the boat – he has not disclosed many problems with the boat, but hinted that he has had some breakages.

The team will also be restocking Gitana with some very welcome food for the final few days of sailing – the skippers initially provisioned for 40-41 days at sea, and have already been sailing for 45.

Gobal Solo Challenge leader faces 9m waves 

Caudrelier is not the only race leader to be hampered on his final approach to the finish.

Philippe Delamare, the long-time leader of the Global Solo Challenge, was also due to arrive in A Coruna, north-western Spain, on Friday 23 February. 

Although Delamare does not need to cross Biscay, race organisers report that the same system is likely to produce a very severe north-westerly wind and 9m waves just offshore of A Coruna, with a sea state in excess of 10m further north. 

Delamare, who is already well north of the Azores and around 500 miles west of A Coruna, is currently continuing racing though Global Solo Challenge organisers report that he is closely monitoring the situation.

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Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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The post 50-knot winds and 9m seas delay round the world race winners appeared first on Yachting World.

Armel Le Cléac’h’s 100ft foiling trimaran Maxi Banque Populaire XI became the 15th boat to pass Cape Horn in a week, when he rounded at 05:01:50hrs UTC this morning, Sunday 11 February.

Le Cléac’h is currently 2nd in the solo around the world Arkea Brest Ultim Challenge race, and today’s rounding is his personal fourth passage of the Horn.

The Ultim fleet is just one of three around the world races currently exiting the Pacific and beginning the Atlantic return, in an extraordinarily busy period at the Horn.

First of the Ultims was fleet leader Charles Caudrelier on the Gitana Maxi Edmond de Rothschild who flew around the last of the great capes on his circumnavigation on Tuesday, 6 February at 1708.

Maxi Edmond de Rothschild leads the Arkea Brest Ultim Challenge fleet around Cape Horn. Photo Yann Riou/Polaryse/Gitana

HIs rounding had been delayed by severe weather forecasts, which predicted two major Southern Ocean lows colliding to produce potential winds of 50-70 knots and extreme sea states. Caudrelier sailed conservatively for around 48 hours, but retained a lead of more than four days over Le Cléac’h and 3rd placed Thomas Coville on Sodebo (who is expected to round later today).

Caudrelier’s Cape Horn rounding – his first solo – was dramatically captured by Gitana team photographer Yann Riou, who flew overhead.

However, Riou was also flying over the area to check for potential ice risk. Prior to Caudrelier’s rounding the CLS service (Collecte Localisation Satellites), which monitors iceberg movements and determines likely risk areas, spotted icebergs north of the previous exclusion zone in the Cape region. 

Since Gitana sailed out of the area, race management team members have made further surveillance flights over the area to check the movements of the ice, but the waters so far appear clear.

Ocean Globe Race rounds Cape Horn

Riou also captured Marie Taberly and crew on Pen Duick VI, Leg 3 leaders in the Ocean Globe Race, as they rounded the Horn early on Tuesday 6 February. in a 25-knot north-westerly, gusting 45, and 2-3.5m seas.

Skipper Taberly reported that their approach to the Horn had been challenging, on a video sent from the yacht after their rounding. “At some point, the wind stabilised between 40 knots, 45 knots, to 50 knots, then from 50 to 60 knots before dropping back to 50. It kept rising and falling, and the waves, well, there were waves and swells, some breaking waves, and the boat started to surf.

“We averaged about 12 knots throughout this low pressure area, which amounts to approximately 270 nautical miles per day. We had beautiful days of consistent surfing between 20 and 23 knots. There was even a surf at 28.3 knots, which I think scared us all. We were all very frightened, but the boat was on fire completely.

“Indeed, the sea was very rough, so the challenge was to keep the boat aligned and manage the waves coming from port or starboard, which could easily catch the stern of the boat and make us broach. In such conditions, it’s crucial to keep the sail up; speed is safe, so you must keep the sail up and move the boat as fast as possible to control and not be overwhelmed by the swell. Instead, know where to position yourself, maintain speed in the trough of a wave, and be ready to tackle the next wave with good speed.

Marie Tabarly at the helm of Pen Duick VI in the Ocean Globe Race, Flyer Class Photo: Martin Keruzoré

“Steering was very challenging; those who are cold once they’re at the helm usually warm up in a few seconds because of this, plus the stress of being at the helm. And yeah, there are moments when you feel quite small, especially at the top of a wave, 7 to 10 metres high, looking at the vast ocean. It’s really when you’re at the top of the wave that you realise the immensity of the sea. And then, we’re at the Horn, not just anywhere in the world.

“Passing Cape Horn isn’t that difficult because when you arrive, the sea is calm, and there’s no wind. The challenge is before reaching Cape Horn; passing it is the reward,” Taberly added. “We passed Cape Horn under excellent conditions with an incredible sunrise. It was the first sunrise in Patagonia, just sublime. And well, the Translated team was still there, passing Cape Horn a few hours after us.

“From Cape Horn, we started our ascent of the Atlantic towards Punta del Este, passing a place called the Strait of the Sea, west of the Falkland Islands, also known as the Malvinas. Our friends from Translated 9 also followed us closely in the Strait of the Sea, overtaken by Charles Caurdrelier and Gitana. So, we won our bet, arriving before the Ultimes.“

Storm conditions at the Horn

Second-placed Swan 65 Translated 9, co-skippered by Golden Globe Race finisher Simon Curwen and Marco Trombetti rounded five hours later in more moderate conditions of 15-20 knot winds as they sailed just half a mile from the coast of Cape Horn.

“We’ve had three days of fire; we sailed through the storm with winds at 55 knots, gusts, and formed waves. Only as we approached Cape Horn, about 60 miles away, did the weather situation improve, and we had a great rounding of the Cape,” the team reported.

However, Translated 9, which has held the overall race lead in IRC since the race’s outset, was forced to divert to the Falklands Islands swiftly after, having reported hull damage. The crew discovered two cracks in the stern section – one potentially significant – causing water ingress. The team safely made port in the Falklands, where they confirmed that the yacht cannot be repaired without assistance, forcing their retirement from Leg 3.

Thursday 8 February saw three more Ocean Globe Race crews make the rounding, with Maiden, the Swan 651 Spirit of Helsinki and the French former Whitbread 60 Neptune passing the iconic Cape, followed closely by the Swan 53 Triana. 

In doing so, three of the crew on Maiden – Vuyisile Jaca, Junella King and Maryama Seck – made history as the first black female crew to become ‘Cape Horners’.

Maiden rounds Cape Horn in the Ocean Globe Race. Photo courtesy of OGR

The brief messages sent from the teams in the ‘retro’ round the world race captured the moment. “CAPE HORN! Laughing, crying, hugging on the deck. LEGENDARY moment. Masa shouted land ahoy and Jouko drove us through the longitude,” reported Spirit of Helsinki. 

“Bye Southern Ocean, thanks for being so good to us. A life-changing experience.”

Over the past two days, the former Whitbread yacht L’Esprit d’Equipe, Tapio Lehtinen’s Galiana with Secure, the Swan 57 White Shadow, Outlaw and Evrika, with just two teams still to round on their way to the race’s final stopover in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

“The wind was gusting up to 50 knots as we were approaching, and the waves were steep, breaking waves, so it was proper Cape Horn weather! So I feel lucky that for me it was my fourth time sailing Cape Horn, and I felt lucky to do it in a proper gale and also during daylight,” said Lehtinen.

Tough conditions for Galiana WithSecure on the race towards Cape Horn. Credit: Galiana WithSecure Ville Norra / OGR2023

Global Solo Challenge

Meanwhile entrants in the single-handed Global Solo Challenge have also been streaming around Cape Horn. 

While the leader Philippe Delamare on the 46-footer Mowgli rounded on 9 January, the past couple of weeks have seen second-placed Cole Brauer on the Class 40 First Light round on January 26, then Ronnie Simpson on the Open 50 Shipyard Brewing on 1 February.

Italian skipper Andrea Mura, also on an Open 50 passed the Cape on 7 February, closely followed the same day by Francois Gouin on Class 40 Kawan 3, and Italian Class 40 skipper Riccardo Tosetto the next day. American David Linger is likely to pass the landmark before the close of this weekend.

The post Fifteen round Cape Horn in a week! Round the world racers stream out of Southern Ocean appeared first on Yachting World.

Less than a week after setting out from the start in Brest, the leading Ultim trimarans in the Arkea Ultim Challenge have crossed the Equator.

First to enter the Southern Hemisphere was Tom Laperche on SVR Lazartigue, who crossed at around 1843 (CET) this evening, with Charles Caudrelier on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild around 1.5 hours behind.

The blistering pace set by the 100ft foiling trimarans has seen the leading Ultims cover the North Atlantic, from northern France to the Equator, in six and a half days.

For context, on his 2017 record breaking solo circumnavigation Francois Gabart’s took 5d and 20h to get to the Equator, while the fastest solo time was during Thomas Coville’s previous record, in 5d 17h 11m. The fastest ever is is that of the crewed Spindrift 2 team, who sailed from Brest to Latitude 0 in just 4d 20h at the start of a Jules Verne Trophy attempt.

However, all of those record attempts were carefully timed to depart at the absolute optimum moment for a fast Atlantic passage, while the Arkea Ultim Challenge fleet set out on a predetermined race start day.

The start of the Arkea Ultim Challenge in Brest, January 2024. Photos: Alexis Courcoux

High speed solo trimarans

The Arkea Ultim Challenge, which is the first race of its kind as solo around the world non-stop in giant multihulls, set off from Brest on the West of France, on Sunday lunchtime, 7 January 2024. 

The six trimaran fleet had passed Cape Finisterre before breakfast on Monday and hurtled past the latitude of the Azores in the small hours of Tuesday. Despite being briefly slowed in the first 48 hours by a ridge of high pressure, the Race HQ frequently noted speeds of more than 45 knots at times by the fastest trio while by Wednesday, as they approached the Canary Islands, the leading boats were posting averages of 38 knots.

Vendée Globe winner Armel Le Cléac’h (Maxi Banque Populaire XI) commented after two days of racing: “At this pace we can be at the Cape of Good Hope in 12 days and at Cape Horn in 30 days. In the IMOCA it took more than double the time. It totally changes your vision of a race round the world.”

Anthony Marchand (Actual Ultim 3) agreed: “What’s crazy is this feeling of traveling very quickly, of being at the Canaries in 3 days and the Cape Verde 23 hours later.

Eric Peron on Adagio at the start of the Arkea Ultim Challenge in Brest, January 2024. Photos: Alexis Courcoux

46 knots is too fast!

The teams swiftly faced their first low pressure system, which required a mindset shift for the skippers from the first few days of closely matched sprinting.

Anthony Marchand (Actual) explained on Wednesday 10 January: “Going into 6 metre waves, after three days at sea, I feel good, I am starting to switch to ‘offshore’ mode, less in tactical regatta mode. 

“You can quickly get caught up in the game of in contact racing, which can be a bad idea.”

Charles Cauderlier on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild agreed: “For sure there is a definite, noticeable intensity between us, that’s for sure, even a little too much sometimes. 

“I calmed things down in the breeze for the boat, especially after I was hitting 45, 46 knots. That really felt a bit quick for what is, after all, the start of a round the world race!

“We started out fast but I think in time everyone will find their rhythm and it will all settle down little by little, especially as things get serious with the first depression.”

All six trimarans negotiated the first major front without incident, though experienced winds of up to 40 knots, as predicted by the shoreside routing teams each skipper works closely with 24-7.

Armel Le Cléac’h explained: “The wind strengthened from ahead as expected, pretty much as I was anticipating it to do, I had reduced sail area a lot, well in advance to tackle this slightly delicate passage. Then there was a big shift in the wind with gusts of over 50 knots. At night, in torrential rain, let’s just say it wasn’t very comfortable.”

Since flying past the depression, the Arkea Ultim Challenge fleet were in search of tradewind conditions, with the fleet splitting into pairings. At the front, SVR Lazartigue and Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, with Thomas Coville on Sodebo and Armel le Cléac’h on Maxi Banque Populaire XI closely matched around behind, then Anthony Marchand on Actual Ultim 3 in 5th and Eric Peron, a late entry on Adagio, in 6th.

Thomas Coville on Sodebo racing in the Arkea Ultim Challenge, 2024. Photos: Alexis Courcoux

Long way round

Le Cleac’h revealed that he had suffered a problem with his largest headsail, the J0, which contributed to him losing touch with the leading pair.

“Two or three days ago I was still in contact with the leaders then I had a problem with a sail and it took me quite a while. I had to fix stuff and  unfortunately that left me behind. Now, though, I have found conditions that allowed me to sail quickly.

“But this course is long, I know a lot more things will happen. We must maintain our pace, our strategy with conditions which should allow us to quickly descend into the 40s.

“The idea is to get to the gates of the Indian Ocean with a boat at 100% operational capacity and to be able to attack the big South where we will have to change down the gears.”

For the leaders it now looks like a fast passage towards the longitude of Cape Town at good speeds. The wind flow around the Saint Helena high pressure system is favourable and in flat water they should be able to sail at close to maximum speed potential.

“There is no sea, no secondary swell and a very favourable weather situation,” explains  assistant race director Fred Lepeutrec from Race HQ in Brest.

“Within 48 hours, the leading duo will begin to slowly curve towards the South East, following the great circle route, the more direct route.

“It’s different to the usual sequence. With the southwest flow of the Saint Helena anticyclone, which will strengthen, they have a slant direct towards the Indian Ocean and conditions to go at their full potential.”

Follow on the live tracker at arkeaultimchallengebrest.com

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There are very few ‘firsts’ left in the world of sailing, but one such remaining barrier could be smashed when the Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest sets off from north-west France on 7 January 2024.

Since the Sunday Times Golden Globe in 1968/69 – the ‘impossible feat’ – there have been all manner of non-stop laps of the planet, from fully crewed Jules Verne Trophy and solo records, to races such as the single-handed Vendée Globe, and The Race in 2000 for fully crewed maxi-multihulls. This January sees a new pinnacle-of-pinnacles event: the first solo, non-stop, round the world race in Ultim trimarans. Six brave French skippers on their 100ft multihulls are entered.

The advancement in human endeavour and technology in this cutting edge area of sailing has been extraordinary. Thirty years ago we were in Brest for the first tentative Jules Verne Trophy attempts. Back then no one knew if sailing around the world in under 80 days was even possible: three boats set off and only one made it – Bruno Peyron’s maxi-catamaran Commodore Explorer in 79 days 6 hours.

Since then the record has been reduced by titans such as Peter Blake/Robin Knox-Johnston, Olivier de Kersauson, Loïck Peyron, Franck Cammas and, ultimately, Francis Joyon. In a quarter of a century, the record has halved with Joyon’s 105ft IDEC Sport setting the present benchmark of 40d 23h 30m 30s (at 26.85 knots average) five years ago.

You might assume that a solo around the world would be much slower, but Joyon destroyed this notion. In 2004, when the Jules Verne Trophy record was 63 days, he completed a lap in just under 73 days alone on his 90ft trimaran IDEC (also the first successful solo non-stop circumnavigation by a trimaran). The following year the UK ground to a halt for an afternoon, television dominated by live coverage of Ellen MacArthur’s arrival into Falmouth after she’d taken more than a day off Joyon’s time.

Gabart on his previous Macif Ultime. Photo: Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi

Thomas Coville took the time below 50 days in 2016 with 49d 3h, broken the following year by François Gabart’s 100ft Macif, establishing the present solo non-stop record: 42d 16h 40m 3s (just 4% slower than Joyon’s fully crewed).

While these times are impressive, they are records set in optimum, carefully selected conditions (for the first two weeks at least), whereas the Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest is a race. The solo sailors will have onshore routers, but their departure day is set, and pace likely dictated by their opponents. It’s a very different test of man and machine.

“It is something new,” says Gitana’s Charles Caudrelier. “The first time racing around the world with these big flying boats. It is a bit like the first Vendée Globe – not quite the same because we know where we are going! But it is a bit of an adventure, and I’m happy about that.”

Armel le Cléac’h in solo mode on Maxi Banque Populaire XI. Photo: Benoît Stichelbaut

The contenders

Surprisingly, skippers at all stages of their careers are competing. Amiable sea-dog Thomas Coville will be 55 when the race sets off. There is almost no major event Coville hasn’t done, from the America’s Cup to winning the Volvo Ocean Race.

Having sailed ORMA 60s, Coville moved into the record breaking business on maxi trimarans and is now on his third, Sodebo having backed him continuously. Of the six skippers Coville is the most experienced racing Ultims single-handed and is laudable for his sheer tenacity – he finally set a solo round the world record on his fifth attempt, after 11 years of trying.

At the other end of the scale, it was a surprise to learn that SVR-Lazartigue will not be raced by François Gabart, the single-handed round the world record holder and the blue trimaran’s initial skipper. Instead, taking over for solo races will be 26-year-old Tom Laperche. An engineer and highly talented sailor, Laperche is a graduate of the classic French offshore racing pathway; and has been involved with SVR-Lazartigue since its launch, racing as Gabart’s co-skipper in the last two Transat Jacques Vabre.

Anthony Marchand, 38, has also newly taken on a campaign, replacing Yves le Blevec on Actual Ultim 3 (ex-Macif) in early 2023. Meanwhile an 11th hour entry is Eric Péron on Adagio, the previous Sodebo Ultim. The boat is something of a ‘Frankenstein’ creation – recycling the 2001 maxi-tri Geronimo with appendages from 2010 America’s Cup winner USA17 – but a fast one.

Thomas Coville, on Sodebo Ultime 3. Photo: Vincent Curutchet/Team Sodebo

“I’ve been preparing for this kind of thing for years now,” said Péron. I haven’t done much preparation on the boat, but for everything else, the boxes are ticked. So, in the short time I’ve got left before the start, I hope to become at one with the machine. What motivates me most of all is the fact that it’s an extreme race, and that’s why I want to take up the challenge. Obviously, I’m not leaving totally confident. But I’m not going to give up.”

In the absence of Gabart, the two favourites are likely to be Armel le Cléac’h on Maxi Banque Populaire XI and Charles Caudrelier on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Gitana 17). Theirs are two of the best funded and oldest teams.

Banque Populaire first sponsored Joyon’s ORMA 60 in 1989 and has campaigned seven trimarans since, including building two Ultims. The team’s first Ultim had a disastrous 2018, before a final crash left it utterly destroyed during the Route du Rhum. Undeterred, the French bank set about building a replacement. Now, alongside SVR-Lazartigue, their two-year-old Maxi Banque Populaire XI is one of the newest Ultims.

SVR-Lazartigue and Banque Populaire XI are essentially VPLP designs (Ultim teams have their own in-house designers, engineers, aero- and hydrodynamists, foil and hydraulics experts), while Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is from Guillaume Verdier – Emirates Team New Zealand’s long term naval architect who has applied much of his Cup experience to the offshore trimaran.

Adagio, the previous Sodebo Ultim. Photo: Yvan Zedda

Impressive statistics

An Ultim’s length can be anything from 24-32m (78ft 8in-105ft) with a maximum beam of 23m (75ft), though in practice all six are trimarans built to, or near to the rule’s maximum. Overall mast height is less than 120% of length of the longest hull, so 38.4m (126ft). Additional rules cover minimum air draught below the beams and float volume. Water ballast, autopilots and automatic anti-capsize systems are permitted, but stored energy (produced by the crew) or the creation of inertial energy and computer or electromechanical assistance for adjusting any of the appendages is forbidden.

As with all things yachting, their quantum performance leap has come since going airborne. Today all six use a similar, complex foil configuration: on each hull is a rudder with an elevator where lift can be adjusted via a flap on its trailing edge. Midships in each float is a giant J-foil, which can be raised, lowered and its rake adjusted. Unique to the Ultims (apart from Adagio) is the daggerboard, which is fitted not only with a trim tab on its trailing edge to prevent leeway, but an elevator.

Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Gitana 17). Photo: Yann Riou/Gitana

The foils and elevators are adjusted hydraulically in combination to alter, for example, fore and aft trim and ride height, depending upon the point of sail and sea state. Generally the aim is for the platform to have zero heel/pitch. Thanks to the rudder elevators the ride is very stable in pitch (unlike IMOCA 60s), the foils effectively ‘locking’ the boat to the water.

Just as America’s Cup catamarans that raked their windward rudder elevator to produce downforce (like crew on the rail), so Ultims can produce downforce with their daggerboard elevator. According to Gabart this is vital: racing an Ultim solo is about maximising efficiency so, when a gust hits, the rake on the daggerboard elevator is increased, sucking the trimaran’s main hull down. “If you release the hydraulic main sheet, it takes five minutes to pump it in again,” explains Gabart. “With this, when you are sailing at 40 knots you can add two tonnes [of down force] in one second using minimal energy.”

With their latest substantially larger foils, Ultims can fly in less wind. Originally it required 15-20 knots of wind or 26-27 knots boat speed for Macif to fly, this is now down to 12-14 knots of wind and 21-23 boat speed for SVR-Lazartigue – remarkable considering an Ultim’s 15-17 tonne displacement.

It’s similar on Banque Populaire XI, says Armel le Cléac’h. “We fly in 12-13 knots of wind or 22-23 knots of boat speed. In 15-17 knots of wind we fly upwind at 27-30 knots – that is the big step. Compared to older Ultims like IDEC in the last Route du Rhum, it’s an 8-9 knot improvement.”

Actual Ultim 3, formerly Gabart’s Macif. Photo: Thierry Martinez

Such speeds permit Ultims to become ‘masters of the weather’ – to some extent at least – often travelling so fast that their skippers can choose the weather system they can sail in. Optimum conditions for an Ultim are 15-25 knots (more than this and the sea state becomes too choppy for foiling), so they aim at the sweet spot of weather systems (flat water ahead of a warm front), which they then ride, like a surfer on a wave.

Le Cléac’h says their top speed has been 47 knots, “But that is not an objective. We want to have a good average speed: 40-42 knots for one or two hours is very good. 35-37 knots for 24 hours is very good too.”

Riding a rocketship

So how can skippers handle such a monster-sized boat that is foiling single-handed? Autopilot technology has improved to extraordinary levels of accuracy. According to Gabart, once set up, speed sailing in a straight line is not much different between solo and crewed. “Upwind or downwind VMG you are a little bit better if you are steering and others are trimming. At 65-70° TWA it is no different.”

Naturally manoeuvres are slower alone. Gabart says that going from reefed to full main might take two minutes fully crewed, but at least 10 solo. Some technology helps, like Harken’s latest generation Air 900 winches and pedestal grinders with bespoke gearing for single-person operation.

The newest of the Ultims, SVR-Lazartigue is perhaps the most advanced design. Photo: Guillaume Gatefait

While foils and many sail controls are hydraulic (SVR-Lazartigue has 23 rams), the pedestals are able to drive twin hydraulic pumps – though it requires serious manpower: “80% of the grinding is for the hydraulics,” says Gabart. SVR-Lazartigue will race with just five sails, including main and J0-J3, two permanently rigged on furlers.

Sailing at such high speeds has several effects. With apparent wind factored in, on deck there is constantly storm force, or at best gale force, winds. Human beings cannot operate for long in this and so cockpit
protection has drastically increased with some Ultims now fully enclosed.

On the latest Sodebo and SVR-Lazartigue these have moved forward. On the former, the ‘bridge’ is forward of the mast, USS Enterprise-style, while on the latter it is just aft of the mast, with jet fighter-style steering cockpits each side, complete with sliding canopies. The end result is that an Ultim’s crew rarely ventures outside, viewing the world via CCTV.

While foiling reduces hydrodynamic drag, all the teams have been focussed on reducing aero-drag. Crossbeams now have trailing edge fairings made from robust vinyl, while on SVR-Lazartigue, moving their ‘cockpit’ forward has enabled them to have an AC-style ‘deck sweeper’ boom where the deck creates an endplate for the foot of the mainsail (improving efficiency).

Tom Laperche steering, jet fighter-style, on SVR-Lazartigue. Photo: Guillaume Gatefait

To finish first…

For the teams, the principal hurdle of the Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest will be finishing. The major worry on such a long race is reliability. To prevent structural failures Ultims have load cells, the output from which is monitored in real time. Otherwise teams have simply been racing and sea trialling as often as possible in all conditions.

This year’s Transat Jacques Vabre’s heavier conditions were ideal, enabling the double-handed teams to really push the boats harder. While all the Ultims finished, some were in better shape than others, Maxi Edmond de Rothschild suffering rudder and foil issues while Sodebo Ultim’s starboard rudder sheared off after a collision with an underwater object.

“The main problem will be to have all of the boats finishing the race in good shape,” says Caudrelier, who says it will take a new approach from his previous crewed around the world races. “Always you push to the maximum, but this time you can’t do that and we will have to find a good balance between performance and safety for the boat. That is quite an interesting exercise and also managing a boat like this alone for 45 days.”

Éric Péron explains: “On these boats, a small incident can immediately put us out of the race, because nothing can be replaced on our own. The boat is so big that there’s not much we can do to fix it with what we’ve got on board.”

Antoine Gautier, head of the design office at Mer Concept (behind SVR-Lazartigue) adds that their enormously complex boat will be simplified: “We are going to have less systems on board to make it simpler and more reliable. There are some things which won’t make much difference on a round the world race.”

Armel le Cléac’h at Banque Populaire’s mission control/protected pod. Photo: Vincent Curutchet/ Hublot Sailing team

Capsize was once a major concern, but for Ultims today is – apparently – almost a non-issue. The multihulls are simply huge, and their rigs are now stepped almost two thirds of the way back from the bow, to prevent pitchpoling. As Gautier explains: “The boats are definitely safer than any multihulls before. There are no more pitchpoling issues and in terms of heel stability, you almost can’t heel because the leeward foil is pushing up so much. That is why they are able to sail so fast, even short-handed – because the boats are very safe and you don’t feel in danger.”

Nonetheless they do still have inclinometers which can automatically dump hydraulics (eg mainsheet) or mechanically release headsail sheets if heel is excessive.

Of greater concern are elements beyond the skipper’s control: collision. AIS and radar target alarms substantially reduce the chance of an Ultim hitting another vessel, but the threat of a ‘UFO’ (unidentified floating object) remains. As Gautier says: “Collision is the biggest fear for all of us. If you hit something at 30-plus knots it is the end of your race. The boat which is going to win will be the one which has all its appendages at the finish. It is Russian roulette and you can’t do anything about it. This is not a fun part of the sport, but it is the same for any race like this.”

To help prevent such collisions Ultims are all fitted with SEA.AI (previously known as OSCAR) a camera mounted at the masthead that can ‘see’ ahead both in daylight and at night, using infra-red. Images are compared in real time with a giant database to establish whether something ahead represents a collision threat.

Ultims raced each other double-handed in the November 2023 Transat Jacques Vabre – won by Armel le Cléac’h/Sébastien Josse in Banque Populaire XI. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/Alea

There are other factors too that will come into play: a good deal of luck, undoubtedly, but also the skill, experience and motivation of the skippers. Caudrelier has perhaps the most experience in his boat and over the last three years has won most races, but he has never raced solo around the world. “This is my Vendée Globe” he acknowledges.

By contrast Le Cléac’h has completed three Vendées, on the podium every time. However his recent victory in the Transat Jacques Vabre was his first in an Ultim. For Coville, this might be his last lap? While for Laperche this will be his first big Ultim event and proving himself is a key objective.

What is certain is that this will be the ultimate contest between some of the world’s most talented offshore sailors. How many will make it round? And for those that do, it could be the fastest ever round the world race, so all the action will unfold quickly. Follow at arkeaultimchallengebrest.com

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The post Six solo skippers ready to race 100ft foiling multihulls around the world appeared first on Yachting World.

French duo Armel Le Cléac’h and Sébastien Josse sailing Maxi Banque Populaire XI have won the Transat Jacques Vabre 2023, crossing the finish line at 18:19hrs local time (22:19hrs UTC) on Sunday 12 November.

The biennial, double handed classic – which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary – started from Le Havre, France on Sunday 29th October, though due to significant depressions forecast in the Atlantic, the Ultime fleet were the only boats to set off on their Atlantic crossing, with others racing a shortened course and the IMOCA fleet held ashore.

The five-strong Ultime fleet sailed a 7,500 mile course south to round Ascension Island before turning back northwards to skirt the South American coast and finish in Martinique.

The elapsed time for the Banque Populaire XI duo is 14d 10h 14m 50s. They sailed the theoretical course at an average speed of 21.66 knots. They actually sailed 9263 nautical miles on the water at an average speed of 26.75 knots.

Banque Populaire XI closing in on the TJV finish. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot / Alea

Whilst SVR Lazartigue (François Gabart and Tom Laperche) led out of the Channel and on to the Bay of Biscay, Banque Populaire XI made their winning move at Madeira, and has led since just after Ascension Island and was never overtaken since emerging the most southerly mark of the course.

When Le Cléac’h and Josse finished, their nearest rivals were just over 160 nautical miles behind. The French duo of Gabart and Laperche on SVR Lazartigue finished the race in second on Sunday at 23:10hrs local time (Monday 03:10hrs UTC).

“We’re pleased to be here and have crossed the Atlantic, but a bit disappointed, as we would have liked to have won,” said Gabart who is handing the boat over to Laperche after this race. “We were up against people stronger than us. I don’t think we missed any strategic or tactical choices, but they were fast, very fast downwind. They sailed well and deserved to win. We are going to have to continue to progress and I hope Tom will win the next one. This has been a long series of second places since 2018. The positive thing is that each time, we’re not far off it. We’re close to winning, which is great. We have had some fantastic races, got it right, enjoyed ourselves, but it would nice to win.”

SVR Lazartigue approaching the finish to take second place.Photo: Jean-Marie Liot / Alea

On his seventh challenge it is the first time the 2016-17 Vendée Globe winner Le Cléach has triumphed on the Transat Jacques Vabre whilst Josse won the 2013 Multihull race as skipper of the MOD 70 Edmond de Rothschild, sailing with Charles Caudrélier.

In front of a huge, noisy crowd which turned out to greet the first finishers as the race returns to Martinique for the second time, Le Cléach enthused, “This is a mythical course which it is great to finally win on. Victory is very much about the fruits of our work as a team, optimising and stabilising the boat, improving the performance of the boat which we have demonstrated on this course with very good speeds, with a great co-skipper in Sébastien. It was a super course.”

Josse, who has been with the team for over a year now and helped Le Cléac;h prepare for last year’s Route du Rhum, confirmed, “There is the satisfaction of doing a job well, the two of us together and with this team, sailing with Armel is incredible, we were always working looking for speed and performance from the tough conditions coming out of the Channel across the Bay of Biscay, coming back at François after he led, and being able to always be pushing for speed, it is very satisfying and to learn more about the boat over mile after mile, to find good speeds and with good humour is very satisfying.”

Le Cléac’h highlighted, “All of the course was fast, we were sitting at 35 knots and more for a lot of today. This is a boat which is coming of age, which is getting to its stage of maturity, thanks to the work of this team. It is a long time since I started a race like that we had 30-35 and up to 40 knots off Cherbourg after the start but the boat was super good. We were always in the match.”

You can follow the TJV via the official race tracker.

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The post Le Cléac’h and Josse win the 2023 Transat Jacques Vabre appeared first on Yachting World.

The start of the Transat Jacques Vabre in Sunday 29 October 2023, only three of the scheduled four fleets got underway, due to a severe forecast in the Atlantic. Now, organisers of famous transatlantic race – also known as the coffee route – are working with teams to find a viable start and restart date for the fleets.

On Sunday Class 40 and Ocean 50 trimarans did leave the start, but the weather meant the two fleets would only race only as far as Lorient before pausing to restart. The reason for the disrupted start schedule is a series of low pressure systems forming in the Atlantic. With a particularly strong depression scheduled to cross the fleet on Wednesday, the decision was made early on start day morning to send the Class 40s and Ocean 50s on a 320 mile passage to Lorient on the French Atlantic coast, where they will be able to pause racing and then restart.

With the the majority of the 40-strong IMOCA 60 fleet featuring large foils, the fleet is far more difficult to accommodate in other ports and so the decision was made to hold them in Le Havre until conditions moderate. Results will be calculated with aggregate race time.

The Ultime trimarans were the sole fleet to set off on non-stop transatlantic.

“The latest weather analysis [shows] no window is possible before Monday for the two classes of boats moored in the port of Lorient, which of course does not mean that a departure will take place on Monday. For the IMOCAs, the possible departure on Sunday remains a hypothesis under study,” explained TJV race director, Francis Le Goff. “The conditions remain challenging with air and sea… It is also not impossible that in the event of departure, a way-point is planned to avoid the very exposed northern [routes]. This remark also applies to the Class40 and Ocean Fifty.”

“We are all frustrated and disappointed and the financial impacts are multiple for the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre. But as for last Sunday, it is the safety of boats and sailors that will remain the priority in organising these new departures.”

The Ultimes at the start of Transat Jacques Vabre in Le Havre, France. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot / Alea

Out in the race course, the only fleet to get their transatlantic race underway were the foiling super-high tech Ultime trimarans. This fleet have now, more-or-less reached the Canaries are are having a fascinating battle, with all five boats vying for the lead.

Currently, Armel Le Cléac’h and Seb Josse on Banque Populaire XI are listed as the fleet leaders, but this is largely due to their position to the west of the rest of the fleet. But the aim of the game is diving south still to pick up good trade wind conditions to make the Atlantic crossing proper.

François Gabart and Tom Leperche on SVR Lazartigue are locked in a tight battle with Charles Caudrelier and Erwan Israel’s Maxi Edmond de Rothschild slightly to the east of Banque Populaire XI. Furthest east, Thomas Coville and Thomas Rouxel’s Sodebo Ultime 3 is also in a close fight with Anthony Marchand and Thierry Chabagny onboard Actual Ultime 3. At this stage in the race it is very much all to play for.

Regular updates are being posted on the official Transat Jacques Vabre website.

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The post Transat Jacques Vabre: Sunday start a possibility for IMOCAs appeared first on Yachting World.

Yesterday’s scheduled start for the Transat Jacques Vabre – the double-handed race across the Atlantic from Le Havre to Martinique – partially got away on Sunday 29 October, but the IMOCA class have been held ashore and both the Class 40 and Ocean 50 trimarans are racing only as far as Lorient before pausing to restart. The Ultimes were the sole fleet to set off on non-stop transatlantic.

The reason for the disrupted start schedule is a series of low pressure systems forming in the Atlantic. With a particularly strong depression scheduled to cross the fleet on Wednesday, the decision was made early on start day morning to send the Class 40s and Ocean 50s on a 320 mile passage to Lorient on the French Atlantic coast, where they will be able to pause racing and then restart.

However, the 40-boat IMOCA fleet – many of whom now carry large foils – are not so easily accommodated in other ports and so will be held ashore in Le Havre until conditions moderate. Results will be calculated with aggregate race time.

“We were all prepared to go, until the fleet got a message saying the start will be postponed,” explained IMOCA Medallia skipper Pip Hare yesterday. “Unlike the other fleets we’re not going to do a short leg, basically because there’s nowhere for us to go – all the ports are full. So we’re staying here.

“I think we could be here for a week because we’ve got the monster low that’s causing all the problems, and then there’s another one after that.”

Article continues below…

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The challenge for the TJV skippers would have been to make sufficient ground to the south in order to avoid the incoming secondary low – but for almost every IMOCA skipper the Transat Jacques Vabre (and the return solo race, Retour a la Base) are key qualifiers for the 2024 Vendée Globe and so many would have been planning a conservative approach to the early stages of this transatlantic.

The giant ultim trimarans, capable of 700-plus miles per day, are capable of outrunning the approaching low pressure system and so have started their race non-stop.

Despite the IMOCAs being held ashore, the start was spectacular, with five giant Ultim, 44 Class 40s, and six Ocean 50s launching out of Le Havre in tough and gusty conditions.

LE HAVRE, FRANCE – OCTOBER 29 : Ultim boats start the Transat Jacques Vabre in Le Havre, France, on October 29, 2023. (photo by Jean-Marie Liot / Alea)

In the challenging seaway there were some early collisions and overnight the Class 40 Crédit Mutuel dismasted off the coast of Guernsey, while two other boats have paused racing, one after colliding with an underwater object.

By this morning the Ultim race leaders were already nearly 200 miles west of Ushant and setting up to cross the first front into the 15-20 knots north-westerly winds which will set them up for some fast sailing southwards.

Furthest to the north-west, Francois Gabart and Tom Laperche on SVR Lazartigue are likely to get into the new wind first, while Armel Le Cléac’h and Seb Josse on Maxi Banque Populaire lead on the tracker by 8.5 miles.

Gabart said this morning, “We wanted to keep things simple with fewer manoeuvres. It wasn’t easy to get well positioned in winds that kept changing direction. In any case, the routings to the north or south of the TSS were fairly close to each other. We now have the wind behind the front and are on a long starboard tack towards Cape Finisterre.”

Transat Jacques Vabre start delayed: The right decision

Despite the last-minute announcements – “I had my boots on!” one skipper joked – there was support among the IMOCA fleet for the race committee decision to delay the Transat Jacques Vabre start.

“At this time of year a weather front coming up the western approaches and into Biscay is relatively normal, but this one that’s coming in Wednesday is particularly aggressive, it will have a big sea state behind it and as it approaches Finisterre where the continental shelf is that means huge breaking waves, damage to boats, damage to people, and its’ just not a good idea to head out into that,” explained Pip Hare.

“I think in general the response among the fleet is this is the correct decision. Those of us that were looking for bail out options realised there were very few.”

IMOCAs held ashore

Yoann Richomme, who is looking to qualify his new Paprec Arkéa for next year’s Vendée Globe, said: “Yesterday evening, I understood we would be heading out into an exceptionally deep low.

“We can cope with 40-50 knot winds, but here we are looking at 80 knots gusting to 100-115 knots with 10-12m high waves. With the danger to life, there is no good reason to be out at sea. It’s not reasonable to send the boats out in this, even cargo vessels.”

One of the early race favourites, Charlie Dalin with his new Macif, had already confirmed that he was not going to compete due to a medical issue.

Dalin planned to cross the start line and then retire due to a health issue, as there is provision within the Vendée Globe rules for a new boat to gain qualification miles even if a medical or technical issue prevents them for completing the course.

However, the majority of IMOCA skippers will be looking to complete two transatlantic in the next few weeks and will be watching the weather forecast carefully.

Regular updates are being posted on the official Transat Jacques Vabre website.

The post ‘Boat breaking’ depression disrupts Transat Jacques Vabre start appeared first on Yachting World.

The Transat Jacques Vabre is one of the ultimate tests of short-handed racing, a double-handed dash from France that sees many of the world’s top racing machines take on the North Atlantic in often brutal winter conditions. The Transat Jacques Vabre 2023 will start on Sunday, 29 October almost exactly 30 years after the first edition of the event back in 1993.

The Transat Jacques Vabre is now 30 years old, having first run in 1993 and every two years since, though the concept of the route is far older – the race course traces the historic coffee trading routes between France and Brazil used by clipper ships in the 19th century, providing the event its alternate title, ‘the coffee race’.

After starting in Le Harve, this year the finish is now in Martinique in the Caribbean, as opposed to the old finish in South America, with a mid-Atlantic turning mark of Trindade, off Rio de Janeiro, added for the fastest Ultime trimarans bringing their race distance up to 7,500 miles.

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Meanwhile the Ocean 50 multihulls and IMOCA 60s will round a mark off the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, in a nod to the race’s historical destination, covering around 5,800 miles, and the Class 40s pass the Cape Verdes before heading to Martinque, around 4,600 miles.

However, the race is often decided in the opening miles, with the Bay of Biscay in late October/early November often delivering brutal, sometimes boat-breaking conditions.

How to follow the Transat Jaques Vabre

For this 16th edition, the Transat Jacques Vabre is putting in place some special arrangements for television coverage to enable as many people as possible to watch the start as it happens.

The start of the coffee race can be watched live across Europe on the Eurosport International digital platform, or on TV in Switzerland via RTS, in Germany on NDR, in the Balkans on Sport Klub and Sport TV and in the Baltic states andEastern Europe via the Sia Media Group.

Thanks to the distribution network developed by A.S.O., the start can even be seen elsewhere around the world on Mondovision, as it will be broadcast on Supersport and Startimes, which cover 52 areas in Sub-Saharan Africa, on Dubai Sport throughout the Middle East, on Fox in Australia, Solar Sport in the Philippines, Sport5 in Israel and on SportsMax in the Caribbean.

After the start, the regular shows produced by the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie le Havre will also be broadcast around the world.

In Europe, Eurosport International will show these programmes in 54 countries. They will also be broadcast by twenty Europena broadcasters, including Abola in Portugal, Sport10 in Belgium, Nova Sport in Greece, Turk Telekom in Turkey and on the German channel, More Than Sport.

The shows will be also be shown in Africa, the Middle East, Canada and the U.S., South America, China, Australia, New Zealand and S.E. Asia.

Finally, various international channels such as TV5 Monde (daily clips and 52-minute long round-up) in French, CNBC (52-minute long roundup) and Edge Sport (Live and 52-minute long round-up) in English, will complete the arrangements enabling the Transat Jacques Vabre to be seen in 190 countries.

You will also be able to follow latest race developments, including the live tracker, at: transatjacquesvabre.org

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The post How to follow the Transat Jacques Vabre 2023 appeared first on Yachting World.

The 50th Rolex Fastnet Race got underway today, Saturday 22 July, with the largest offshore racing fleet ever setting off from Cowes in rain and 20-25 knot headwinds .

With strong headwinds and a significant seaway forecast overnight on the first night of the race, the near-3,000 sailors taking part knew they would be in for a hard fought opening of the race.

However, there were a significant number of retirements just hours into the race, with 50 boats no longer racing. Going into the first night at sea the trackers shows yachts seeking safe refuge in Yarmouth, Lymington, Poole, and small harbours along the south coast.

Given the predicted windy conditions for the start of the race, the race management team had wisely chosen to change the start order to ensure the biggest and fastest boats were the first to set off – as was the case in 2021 when similar conditions delivered another challenging start.

With the wind coming from the south-west most of the boats in most fleets elected to start on port, giving them a long first tack out to the middle of the Solent before they took a hitch back to the Island side.

Banque Populaire leads SVR Lazartigue out of the Solent

This was particularly true for many of biggest and least manoeuvrable boats. Although expected to be the fastest boats around the course by quite some distance, short tacking out of the Solent is not the ideal start for the 100ft Ultim foiling trimarans.

Both Armel Le Cléac’h’s Banque Populaire XI and Francois Gabart’s SVR-Lazartigue were very tentative getting off the line, with their clear priority being to try to avoid traffic around the start before they would be able to stretch their legs once beyond Hurst Point.

The sheer distance the Ultims can cover was driven home shortly after – just two hours after the race start, with most of the fleet still working hard to exit the Solent, Armel le Cleac’h’s Ultim Banque Populaire was tacking off Brittany, having flown across the Solent to set themselves up for a long reach west.

The other Ultim competing in this year’s Fastnet, Francois Gabart’s SVR-Lazartique, remained on the northern English shore and held the advantage according to the race tracker – but with likely more tacks to put in towards Lands’ End the two are likely to be close as they make the turn for Fastnet Rock.

Even upwind many of the newer IMOCA 60 were foiling upwinnd after the start

IMOCA fleet off to a flying start

Due to the huge fleets and tidal effects in the Solent, the Rolex Fastnet Race rules give early starters no option to return behind the line and if you are caught over at the start you immediately incur a a 2-hour time penalty. Given this it was key to get a conservative start for most.

Unfortunately, with the tide now running under the boats, pushing them to the start, during the IMOCA start both Pip Hare on Medallia and Jeremie Beyou on Charal were OCS.

As an indication of just how breezy conditions were, despite the early stages being upwind out of the Solent and most of the IMOCAs being well-reefed, several of the newer IMOCAs were impressively foiling as the fleet flew out of the Solent.

Frustratingly for Pip Hare, who is racing her newly modified Medallia for the first time with co-skipper Nick Bubb, as well as picking up a time penalty for being OCS she incurred some early gear damage.

“It was a mixed start – we know we were over, by about a second – so really gutted about that but actually really, really pleased with the start. All the way up to Hurst [Narrows] we were flying. I was so happy, we were keeping pace with new boats, everything was looking rosy.

“And then just when we got through Hurst the stopper knot on the J2 fuller pulled out, and the J2 just came out. It was flapping like crazy, it hit the J3 and made a hole in the J3… and then we had to go downwind. We had to re-rig the furling line and swop our J3 little jib for our storm jib. So now we’re back upwind, we’re back on track. We can only use our storm jib, so we’re a bit handicapped but that’s sailing for you.

“We’ll carry on, we’ll get through tonight, and whatever gets thrown at us – we’ll take it.”

In the IMOCA class there is also a hotly anticipated chance to see some of the latest generation designs go head to head, and they haven’t disappointed: Bayou’s new Charal leads going into the first night from Thomas Ruyant on his brand new For People, after a cracking start, with Yoann Richomme on his brand new Paprec Arkéa in 3rd, again after a strong start. The newest IMOCA on the block, Charlie Dalin’s box-fresh Macif is in 4th.

Jajo got the best start of the IRC Super Zero fleet

IRC Zero / Super Zero

The multihulls, IMOCAs and Class 40 had largely started with significant reefs in and smaller headsails in anticipation of the 30-40 knot winds they will see later in the day and once they exit the Solent. However, among the highly competitive Class Zero and Super Zero fleets there was a more variation.

The boat aiming to take line honours – and hoping to set a new course record – Lucky, the ex-Rambler 88 crossed the startline heavily reefed, however others in the fleet including INO Noir and Warrior Won set off under full sail.

Sadly some key boats in the IRC Super Zero and Zero fleet were among the early retirement, with the Maxi 72 Notorious retiring before the start, and seasoned offshore campaigners Ran and Tonnere de Glen among those that returned to port shortly after the start. The Cookson 50 Privateer was another well proven offshore boat which retired in the very early stages.

Within the first six hours of racing, around 50 boats had retired – many before the start having examined the forecast, and others with sail and rigging damage.

For those that raced on, conditions continued to deteriorate as forecast, though gusts may be even stronger than predictions.

The J/120 ‘Scream 2’ reported seeing 46 knots on the wind gauge at times, adding: “The storm sail is up and the crew is wet, very wet!”

Conditions are anticipated to be wet, with strong winds and a 1.5-2.5m sea state for many competitors overnight, but should moderate fairly rapidly tomorrow.

Follow all of our coverage of the 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race

Follow the Fastnet Race tracker.

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As with most big races around the world, bragging rights in the Rolex Fastnet Race race are split into two broad camps, the line honours winners (the first boat to complete the course) and the winner of the event on corrected time.

And since the inclusion of multihulls 20 years ago, these categories are split again into monohull and multihull line honours and handicap winners.

Most of those taking part in the race, in either monohulls or multihulls, will only be focussed on the handicap results as a line honours win is out of reach of all but the fastest, biggest and most expensive boats in the world.

For the Rolex Fastnet Race 2023, the fastest boat to complete the course will almost certainly be one of the two 100ft foiling trimarans, the Ultim of Banque Populaire XI and SVR-Lazartigue.

Banque Populaire XI in full flight. Photo: Jeremie Lecaudey

Fastest Fastnet Race Multihulls

The foiling ocean racers are at the very forefront of technical innovation and are designed to break records – be that offshore races, ocean crossings or the ultimate prize a Jules Verne Round the World record.

The Ultim trimarans are set to become especially newsworthy over the next months with the first ever race for five of these extreme 32m long by 23m wide flying trimarans, around the world, non-stop, singlehanded, setting sail from Brest, France on 7 January next year.

Before then two of the main contenders will be leading the charge on the rather shorter 695 mile Rolex Fastnet Race.

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SVR-Lazartigue and Banque Populaire XI are skippered by two titans of offshore racing, Francois Gabart and Armel le Cleac’h respectively. Both are Vendée Globe winners (Gabart 2012, le Cleac’h 2016). Le Cleac’h is part of the exclusive club of triple winners of La Solitaire du Figaro (the unofficial world championship of solo offshore racing). He has been racing Ultims since 2013, this being his second boat.

Similarly, Gabart joined the Ultim class in 2015 winning many events with his MACIF trimaran, culminating in his record for sailing singlehanded non-stop around the world of just 42d 16h 40m 35s, incredibly just under two days shy of the fully crewed record.

Gabart has competed in the Rolex Fastnet Race twice before, winning on his IMOCA 60 MACIF in 2013 and then, in 2019, leading into the Plymouth finish line aboard his Ultim trimaran, only to be pipped at the post by Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, finishing less than one minute astern. “That was a little disappointing,” Gabart admits.

Charles Caudrelier and Franck Cammas on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild win the last Fastnet Race in 2021. Photo: Eloi Stichelbaut / PolaRYSE / Gitana

Neither of these Ultims competed in the 2021 race, when Charles Caudrelier and Franck Cammas on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild established the record for the new course to Cherbourg of 1d 9h 14m 54s.

Their Ultims are more than capable of bettering this and it’s possible a good breeze could even see the 14-year-old outright record for the most miles covered in 24 hours (908.2 miles/average speed 37.84 knots), also broken, given enough runway with suitable conditions and the will. If pressed, the latest Ultims could cover 1000 miles in a day (average speed 41.6 knots).

The top speed on Banque Populaire XI to date is 47 knots, but it is not top speed but high average speeds that Le Cleac’h says is the objective. “40-42 knots for one or two hours is very good, or 35-37 knots for 24 hours. We know that it is possible with our boat if the conditions are good.”

The performance of the Ultims has taken a massive leap in recent years, since new foil configurations have enabled them to fly.

For Banque Populaire XI getting airborne requires 12-13 knots of wind/22-23 knots of boat speed. Ideal conditions are no more than 20 knots as above this the sea state becomes too rough to use the foils effectively. Upwind in 15-17 knots Banque Populaire XI flies and will be making 27-30 knots. “That is the big step forward compared to the last Ultims, and that difference is very important compared to the older generation Ultims.”

“We regularly reach speeds of over 40 knots at less than 90° true wind angle (TWA),” says Gabbart. “In certain conditions, such as 25 knots of wind on flat seas, at 65°-70° off the wind, you’re doing 40 knots. That’s 60-65 knots of apparent wind speed. The maximum AWS in our log is not far from 70 knots.”

Of course one of these two foiling beasts being first to finish the Fastnet Race does require that they actually finish. The giant trimarans are at the very forefront of innovation and are famously susceptible to damage.

Reliability is improving, however, as foiling technology improves but even these hugely developed technological marvels the old adage holds true; ‘to finish first, first you have to finish’.

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French former Vendée Globe skipper Alexia Barrier announced her plans for the ‘Famous Project’ last year. Since then the project has gathered huge momentum, and Barrier and her team now have the use of two giant trimarans, including a MOD70 and the 103ft record-breaking Ultim trimaran IDEC, and around half the funding required.

Barrier has teamed up with British around the world skipper Dee Caffari to co-skipper the team. For Caffari, who has completed solo and crewed races and records, both eastabout and westabout around the world, the project had immediate appeal.

“The call came in the second half of last year. And I was immediately: yes! As a sporting challenge, that’s the last Holy Grail for me,” she told Yachting World.

“But then the momentum and the speed at which everything has come together has been super quick, and probably even surprised Alexia.”

Dee Caffari (left) and Alexia Barrier (right) doing some team building in the alps

Barrier and Caffari initially spent a week ski touring in the Alps together to see how they worked as a duo. “It was good to put us in a situation of both testing ourselves physically and mentally and seeing how we communicate with each other,” Caffari reflects.

In Easter this year the team took delivery of a MOD70 (ex-Spindrift, now named Limosa), and began training with coaching from Brian Thompson and Tom Dawson, plus team director Johnny Malbon, sailing out of La Grand Motte.

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A strong Mistral breeze arrived mid-way through the team’s first training block. “With a Mistral, you either go for a record or you sit on the dock,” recalls Caffari. “So we decided to go for a record. And to do that in your first week, after we’ve been on the boat for three days, was just awesome. I think we gave Brian Thompson a few extra grey hairs, but it was a really good way to put everything we’d practised together under pressure.

“When everything’s at 30 knots, the transitions are massive. If you need to do a sail change, it’s a massive dial down. You have to think so far ahead, the speed of thought is much quicker. So it was really good to put us under pressure because you don’t choose to train under pressure that often.”

The team set a benchmark time for one of a series of speed run courses established by offshore racer Kito de Pavant. Later this year the team also plan to attempt an around Corsica record, followed by the Rolex Middle Sea Race in October in the MOD70.

IDEC sport in the giant Ultim upon which the crew wants to set a new Jules Verne

In June Barrier also took delivery of the 31.5m (103ft) trimaran IDEC Sport, in which the team will attempt their non-stop round the world. IDEC Sport is the current holder of the Jules Verne record at 40 days (set in 2017 by Francis Joyon).

IDEC will go into refit this year, and Barrier says they have had good technical support from the boat’s many previous skippers, including Franck Cammas, and designers VPLP, before an intensive sailing programme in 2024 both racing the MOD70 and aboard the Ultim, training and record attempts. They intend to go on standby for the Jules Verne record attempt in the autumn of 2025.

Once on standby, the crew will be seeking a viable weather window, rather than the tiny optimal time frames the Ultimes have been waiting for. “I think we’re keen to go on schedule and go for it because although we want to go for the record, ultimately, lap one is about us finishing, and if we finish, that’s the first female reference record,” explains Caffari.

The maxi trimaran will race with a crew of eight. Alongside Barrier and Caffari, the crew currently includes Helena Darvelid, who holds multiple speed records, Volvo Ocean Race sailors Marie Riou, Sara Hstreiter and Elodie Mettraux, Irish Figaro and IMOCA sailor Joan Mulloy, who has co-skippered with Barrier, and Marie Taberly. They are also welcoming applications from young female sailors.

During training

A big part of the project’s aims, Barrier says, is to achieve parity in pay for her female crew with male offshore professionals. “I want to pay women like men, and in our sport that doesn’t really exist,” she explains.

‘We are still paid around a third of what the men are paid – when we are paid, because there are so few opportunities for women to do projects like this that sometimes you have to accept that you come for free, but that’s not the way you can be a professional sailor.

“So for me, it’s a big goal and why we are looking to have a proper budget to do it.”

Impressively, Barrier has secured around 50% of the funding needed for the project in just one year with founding partners including CIC and IDEC. Running costs are around €3 million a year, for three years, which leaves the title sponsorship available at what could be a veritable bargain compared to a foiling Ultime campaign.

For Barrier, the project dates back to her childhood dreams. “Since I was 12, I wanted to do the Vendée Globe and I was dreaming of the Trophée Jules Verne,” she recalls. She achieved her Vendée ambition in the last edition, finishing 24th with a shoestring campaign. “But there were no women doing the Trophée Jules Verne, so for me it was just impossible,” she recalls.

“I did try many times to jump onto a project, but it never worked. So I think it’s just the lack of opportunities for women which drove me to lead this project. It’s not a choice that I don’t want to sail with other teams, it’s just there is no space for women so I have to build my space.”

Female Jules Verne challengers

It’s been 25 years since the last all-female Jules Verne record attempt:

• Tracy Edwards, Royal & Sun Alliance (1998), with an all-female crew including Sam Davies, Emma Richards, Sharon Ferris, Helena Darvelid, Adrienne Cahalan, Emma Westmacott, and Miranda Merron. The attempt ended when the 90ft catamaran dismasted 2,000 miles from Cape Horn.
• Ellen MacArthur, Kingfisher 2 (2003). MacArthur was skipper and sole female member of the crew. The 110ft maxi catamaran Kingfisher2 also dismasted in the southern Indian Ocean.
• Dona Bertarelli, Spindrift 2 (2015). Bertarelli, who funds her own Spindrift campaign, is currently the fastest woman to sail non-stop around the world, having been a full member of the crew of 12 aboard the 140ft trimaran during a 2015 Jules Verne record bid. It was the third fastest lap of the planet ever completed, finishing in 47d 10h 59m 2s, and the fastest ever by a female sailor.

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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“The Ultimes to me are the most technologically advanced and fastest boats that you can still go offshore with, at incredible speeds and at the same time a robustness and all round performance: 30 knots upwind on the ocean! So I think they are technically the peak of sailing at the moment,” says Salen, who nominates the giant trimaran Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, also known as Gitana 17.

Gitana 17 is a 32m fully foiling trimaran built to a Verdier design to compete in both crewed (by a team of six) and solo races and record attempts. Skippered by Charles Caudrelier, it has won the Rolex Fastnet Race, Transat Jacques Vabre and Brest Atlantiques.

Photo: Benoît Stichelbaut/Gitana SA

“Gitana in particular, even though it’s not the most recent Ultime, has very good sailors who have constantly been evolving it so that at the moment it is the most optimised boat,” continues Salen.

“It’s so big and powerful, and to see the whole thing up in the air is really incredible.”

Make sure you check out our full list of Coolest Yachts.

Gitana 17 stats rating

Top speed: 50.7 knots
LOA: 32m/104ft
Launched: 2017
Berths: 1-3
Price: c.€12million
Adrenalin factor: 98%

Johan Salen

The Swedish co-owner of The Ocean Race and former co-president of the Volvo Ocean Race, Johan Salen has been involved with the race since competing in it in the late 1980s. Also a former professional windsurfer, Salen has previously cruised around the world on an Outremer with his wife and son and now lives aboard a Fountaine Pajot Aura 51.

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Charles Caudrelier sailing his Ultime trimaran Maxi Edmond de Rothschild was first to cross the finish line of the 2022 Route du Rhum race this morning in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe in a time of 6 days 19 hours 47 minutes and 25 seconds.

This is a new (yet to be ratified) course record for the Route du Rhum with Caudrelier beating the previous best set in the last race by Francis Joyon of 7 days 14 hours 21 minutes and 47 seconds, despite early conditions being far from favourable.

After the line an emotional Caudrelier said: “I’m not even tired. The first 24 hours were hard.”

The Gitana campaign is one of the most long-standing and committed sponsorships in sailing. Caudrelier took over the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, also known as Gitana 17, as solo skipper last year, having previously co-skippered with Franck Cammas for double-handed and crewed campaigns.

He continued: “I so wanted to win the race for the team. I’ve been dreaming of it since I was young. It’s for the family Rothschild. It seemed like a crazy idea, building a boat that could fly. It’s for Franck Cammas, as he had the experience. Without him I wouldn’t be here. He left me the place for the Rhum. He could have won it himself.

“It’s a Formula 1 team and I just drive in the race. This is a team effort and there’s Guillaume Verdier, the designer. I recently lost my mother and she isn’t here to share this moment. Thanks to everyone for believing in me.”

Maxi Edmond de Rothschild shortly before winning the 2022 Route du Rhum. Photo: Alexis Courcoux / Route du Rhum

It has been an impressively close battle between the top three Ultime trimarans (Gitana, Sodebo and SVR-Lazartigue Ultime) throughout much of the 3,542-mile race. Caudrelier led the fleet from the start but has not had things all his own way.

Initially the race committee called Gitana as was one of several boats over the starline, which would have required Caudrelier to stop for a mandatory four hour penalty. However, the Gitana race team were able to provide a significant amount of GPS data to the race officials to show that he was actually 50m behind the startline at the gun and the penalty was dropped.

Although Gitana led out of the start and at the finish, the lead swapped between Caudrelier and François Gabart (sailing SVR-Lazartigue Ultime) on a number of occasions as the huge foiling multihulls navigated several complex light wind transitions. But is was Caudrelier in the lead most of the time, with his gap to Gabart remaining around 40nm for much of the Atlantic crossing with a maximum gap to second of a little over 100nm.

Gabart is set to finish shortly, picking up his second consecutive 2nd place in the Route du Rhum, having lost victory to Francis Joyon in the final minutes of the 2018 edition of the Route du Rhum.

Thomas Coville on Sodebo Ultim 3 also remained in close contention with the lead two boats throughout this year’s Route du Rhum and was close enough to be consistently putting pressure on Gabart in second. This morning, however, his team reported he had caught a fishing net on his final approach to Guadaloupe.

Four years of improvement

Most significantly, this Route du Rhum resolved many questions of reliability for the giant Ultimes, with no significant incidents after Armel le Cleac’h on the Maxi Banque Populaire XI incurred foil damage at the start (he was able to repair and restart later).

It is a significant contrast to the 2018 Route du Rhum, which saw the previous Banque Populaire capsize and break up, Maxi Edmond de Rothschild had a whole bow section ripped clean off, the previous Sodebo suffered structural issues, while Gabart’s Macif limped to the finish missing two of its newly retrofitted foils.

This time around the Ultime skippers consistently managed 30-plus knot speeds and periods of headwinds and large swells, without capsize or serious damage. The reality of these giant 100ft trimarans racing around the world solo has got a step closer.

Route du Rhum still close for the other fleets

Further back, in the middle of the Atlantic, Charlie Dalin (Apivia) remains the clear leader of the IMOCA 60 fleet – a position he has held since the fleet sailed out of the English channel shortly after the start of the race. But a singnificant lead for Dalin has been reduced as he was the first to hit a lighter weather front allowing the rest of the fleet to close on him.

This gateway to the trade winds is very narrow and keeps changing for the IMOCA 60 fleet and is causing headaches for those in the tight pack immediately behind Dalin. “As long as we haven’t slipped under the area of high pressure and crossed the ridge, it’s going to be complicated,” commented Jérémie Beyou (Charal) early in the morning on Wednesday 16th November.

Jeremie Beyou is in a close fight for second in the IMOCA 60. Photo: Eloi Stichelbaut

The winds are light and variable going from 6 to 13 knots. “I’m getting passed by Thomas (Ruyant). He is two miles above me, but I can’t find the wind here… It’s complicated with a lot of people around me, but that does offer the advantage of indicating where the wind is. Losing or gaining places happens very quickly, when it’s close like this.” His lead of ten miles over Paul Meilhat (Biotherm) and Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) has quickly vanished.

There is a similar situation with the Ocean Fifty boats with the gaps narrowing between the three frontrunners, Quentin Vlamynck (Arkema), Erwan Le Roux (Koesio) and Sébastien Rogues (Primonial). Eighty miles separated the three yesterday, but now the gap is down to less than 25.

Things are slightly different for the Class40 boats with Yoann Richomme, skipper of Paprec Arkea leading the fleet since Monday afternoon. He continues to extend his lead and is now thirty miles ahead of Corentin Douguet (Quéguiner – Innoveo). “I’m trying to sail well and keep cool. There is another front moving in from the west. We have to get in the right place to deal with it. I’ll be trying to cross it where there is the smallest risk. The weather changes very quickly. I’ll try to avoid the calms, as it would be a pity to get stuck in there. We have to remain on it. The gateway is narrow and changing all the time. This is a critical and crucial moment in the race,” concluded Yoann Richomme.

Follow all the latest Route du Rhum updates here.

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It has been another intense 24 hours in the Route du Rhum 2022, with two dramatic mid-ocean rescues, as well as multiple other abandonments as the 138-boat fleet continues to contend with punishing transatlantic conditions.

Most dramatic was Fabrice Amedeo’s mid-ocean rescue. Amedeo was forced to abandon his IMOCA 60 Nexans – Art et Fenêtres after it literally exploded into fire mid-ocean. He was rescued by a nearby freighter M/V Maersk Brida.

Amedeo, a former journalist turned ocean racer, gave an extraordinary description of the events leading up to his rescue:

“Sunday morning: everything is fine on board and I’m having a great race. The boat is flying hard in the squalls and the sea is heavy. Suddenly, I realise that my ballast has exploded on a wave and that I have several hundred litres of water in the boat. I stop to be safe and start to empty everything.

“At that moment, the batteries are immediately affected by the water and failed and I had a complete blackout on board. I have no more electricity: no more autopilot, no more computer, no more electronics. I decide, in consultation with my team, to proceed cautiously towards Cascais.

“Sunday afternoon: big smoke on board the boat. I use the extinguisher, I put on my TPS (survival suit). I alert the race direction who asks a competitor in IMOCA to divert to assist me if necessary. The smoke eventually stops. I decide to resume my passage to Cascais.

An image sent by Fabrice Amedeo shortly after radioing for help. Photo: Fabrice Amedeo / Nexans – Art et Fenêtres

“I meet James Harayda, the skipper of Gentoo who had come to the area to help me. I thank him and resume my passage. I completely dry the boat and prepare myself for a difficult passage…

“Again 2h30 of siesta then 7 hours on the helm. Shortly after 1230 pm more new smoke on board. Followed by an explosion. I grope my way back into the cabin and manage to retrieve my TPS. My Grab bag (survival bag) had remained in the cockpit. I’m going back to get my wedding ring. I hit the fire extinguisher but nothing happens. The smoke is not white like yesterday but yellow. The cockpit warps and yellows. Seawater spray sounds like the sound of water hitting a saucepan. I understand that I will have to evacuate. I warn my team of a possible evacuation.

“When I hang up, I am then at the back of the boat ready to trigger my survival: a torrent of flame comes out of the cabin and the coachroof. I am caught in the middle of the flames. I can’t even open my eyes. I manage to push the life raft into the water and jump.

“Normally the end that holds the liferaft to the boat is supposed to let go. It doesn’t let go. The boat, which… is still going forwards pushed by rough seas, pulls it and it fills with water. I manage to get on board without letting go… I say to myself “if you want to live you have a few seconds to find the knife and cut”. The IMOCA pulls me back towards it. The waves bring me dangerously close to it. I finally find the knife and cut. My raft is drifting downwind of the boat which is fully on fire. It takes 30 minutes to sink. I spoke to the boat and thanked it. We were going to go round the world together in two years time.

Article continues below…

Dismastings, a capsize and damage toll rises in Route du Rhum

The Route du Rhum’s reputation as one of the toughest offshore races in the solo sailing calendar is proving to…

UPDATE: Route du Rhum 2022 start postponed. Is this the greatest ever offshore race?

The Route du Rhum 2022 single-handed transatlantic race start has been postponed until Wednesday 9 November. The decision was announced…

“Then you have to get organised. The satellite phone did not like the water in the raft and doesn’t work.

“I say to myself: ‘nobody knows that the boat has sunk and that you are in your raft, if you activate the beacon on the IMOCA that you were able to take with you and you trigger the one on the liferaft they will have the information’. That’s what I do. I can’t find a baler [sic] on board. A Tupperware box containing batteries will save me. I empty the raft. I begin the wait. I stand behind the raft so that it does not overturn.

“The sea is very, very big. I take stock of the equipment on board and prepare for what’s next. I gather the flares. I put the VHF around my neck. I spend three to four hours in this raft. I am surprisingly calm. The raft regularly fills with water from the lightly breaking waves. I understand all this but feel safe. I know, however, that nothing is over.

“Every 30 minutes, to preserve the batteries, I make a Mayday call on the VHF. I took the VHF on board thanks to Éric, my team manager, who had time to give me this advice just before I hung up. I keep the batteries of the raft for later.

“A few minutes later a voice answers me. A cargo ship which is 6 miles from my position arrives in the area. I’m reassured but don’t see how I’m going to board such a giant with this sea. I’m in constant contact on the VHF with the captain who can’t see me: the sea is big and the sun is on the water and I’m a tiny orange dot. He told me earlier: ‘You are alive because you told me: I am approximately 2 miles from your starboard side’.

Fabrice Amedeo in the water awaiting rescue

“I launch a distress flare. He sees me. He loses me. I hit a second one. He sees me and arrives in the area. He tries a first approach which fails. It is very impressive to be in my inflatable raft a few metres from this steel giant. He apologises on the VHF and leaves for an approach. As it passes, the wake builds, the raft fills with loads of water. He repositions himself upwind of me, a few metres away, it’s crazy, and drifts towards me. This building calms the sea a little and sucks me in. The raft rubs against the hull from front to back. If that doesn’t work it will very quickly become complicated. The crew threw ropes at me that I couldn’t recover at all at first.

“Eventually I retrieve one near the bow of the ship. Everything is played out down to the wire. There is the thickness of that line between success and failure, survival and drama. The crew pulls me to a gangway that has been dropped. With the waves I sometimes go up to the level of the top of the steps then go down 5 metres below. This is one last test. If the liferaft goes under the stairs it will be pierced and I will be thrown into the water. I approach. A first time: I don’t feel it’s right. A second wave, I go up and hop. I jump on the stairs which I reach, then find myself in the arms of a man wearing a helmet. I climb on deck.

“I am welcomed by about 20 crew members. It’s crazy right now. They take me in their arms, congratulate me.

“Once I am on board the freighter, the fear and adrenaline surge. My legs are shaking. It’s crazy, this animal capacity that humans have to manage a survival situation. Then it hits home. Death did not want me today or rather life did not want me to leave it. I’m devastated but the happiest of men because tonight my wife and daughters aren’t going to bed crying.

“This adventure in no way alters my passion for my job and for the ocean. I would like to thank my team, the race management of the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe, the rescue teams, who worked to ensure that this rescue operation took place in the best possible conditions.

“I also think of my partners. I thank them for their trust. I will bounce back. We will bounce back.”

Maisonneuve’s Marsaudon catamaran, CMA île de France – 60000.

Route du Rhum rescue for Brieuc Maisonneuve

The previous day Jean-Pierre Dick had rescued fellow competitor Brieuc Maisonneuve after Maisonneuve’s Marsaudon catamaran (CMA île de France – 60000) capsized.

Dick, a former IMOCA skipper who was racing his Verdier-designed one-off in the Rhum Mono class, diverted course and was able to recover Maisonneuve from the hull of his upturned catamaran.

Maisonneuve’s team is now focussing on a salvage effort. The upturned multihull is halfway between La Coruña and the Azores, around 400 miles from the Spanish port.

Adrien Hardy, offshore racer who specialises in these types of rescue operations, is already working in the area on the recovery of the capsized Ocean Fifty trimaran Solidaires En Peloton – ARSEP. Skipper Thibaut Vauchel-Camus was rescued on Sunday by the rescue boat Merida.

A shot from onboard one of the dismasted Class 40s

Shipwrecked and rescued

A third skipper was rescued this morning (Tuesday 15th November) while their trimaran beached. Erwan Thibouméry had been heading for La Coruña (Spain) after suffering a series of problems with both sails and engine on his Nigel Irens-designed 50ft trimaran, Interaction, which he was sailing in the Multi Rhum class.

At 0444hrs today Thibouméry reported that he had lost manoeuvrability of the trimaran and was in difficulty off the coast of Spain. The skipper was lifted off by helicopter, while his boat drifted onto a beach in Ferreira.

So far 21 skippers have been forced to retire: 13 Class 40s, 4 IMOCAs, 2 Rhum Multi entrants and 2 in the Ocean Fifty class. They include Australian Rupert Henry overnight, whose Class40 has suffered structural damage to a forward bulkhead, and, fellow Class 40 sailor François Jambou whose A l’Aveugle – Trim Control dismasted, and Matthieu Perraut who had a collision with an underwater object, damaging the keel fairing, port rudder and caused major delamination of crash box area in the bottom of the hull.

Charles Caudrelier currently leas the Ultime class on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. Photo: Eloi Stichelbaut / PolaRYSE / Gitana

Route du Rhum cliffhanger

Impressively, the Ultimes have suffered fewer problems with foil damage following collisions in this race.

Aboard SVR-Lazartigue, Francois Gabart had a technical issue with a board control line, but was able to repair it. “I broke the line that lifts and lowers the port foil. I slowed down for two or three hours to repair that. I hesitated but with the team we said there was still a lot of starboard tack before the finish, but I lost quite a few miles after being pleased about my position to leeward of Charles.”

“The pace is quite intense. Since the start, we’ve had upwind tacking, the first front with lots of sail changes, then upwind on the other tack, then some reaching, a second front in the Azores and some more reaching, and now we’re downwind. But that’s what you can expect in the Route du Rhum.”

He and race leader Charles Caudrelier on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild are now less than 500 miles from the finish in Guadaloupe, and expected to arrive early tomorrow morning (Wednesday 16 November).

Caudrelier currently has an 80-mile lead over Gabart, but the notoriously light and fickle winds around the island of Guadaloupe could see that advantage dissipate in the final moments.

“It’s not over before Guadeloupe! Concentration and rest are on the agenda for the day,” he commented this morning. “I don’t have enough of a lead to relax completely.

“What worries me is the bit around Guadeloupe. I’m afraid that François will ‘do a Joyon’, that he will take revenge for the last time!”, added Caudrelier, recalling how Joyon slipped past Gabart to take the win in light winds during the last night of the 2018 Route du Rhum race.

“I will get there at the wrong time, at the beginning of the night in local time. At this time of the day, the winds are not yet coming down off the land. Everything is in place to create a cliffhanger of a finish just like you like on land, but one you hate at sea as a racer”.

Follow all the latest 2022 Route du Rhum developments

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The post “A torrent of flames came out of my cabin” – dramatic mid-ocean rescues in the Route du Rhum appeared first on Yachting World.

The Route du Rhum’s reputation as one of the toughest offshore races in the solo sailing calendar is proving to be true once again.

Last night the IMOCA 60s went through the second Atlantic front of the race and, as Pip Hare on Medallia put it on a video sent from onboard, “This one means business, it’s got teeth!”.

The system brought gusts nudging 40 knots and resulted in three dismastings within a three hour period, and the capsize of an Ocean 50. All skippers are safe and uninjured.

First Louis Burton on the IMOCA Bureau Vallée dismasted yesterday early evening. Burton was lying 9th at the time. He is safe and motoring back to shore.

At around 2000hrs last night, the leading Ocean Fifty trimaran, Solidaires en Peloton – ARSEP skippered by Thibaut Vauchel-Camus, capsized. The skipper is safe inside the central hull and awaiting rescue around 400 miles west of the Portuguese coast.

Two Classe 40s also dismasted. One of the leading pack, champion free-skier Aurélien Ducroz on Crosscall lost his rig, as did Amélie Grassi on La Boulangère Bio who was in 10th place while about 350 miles northwest of Cape Finisterre. All skippers are safe.

They join Damien Seguin, whose IMOCA was dismasted two days ago after being struck by a cargo ship, and was returning to Lorient under motor and using a kite-power system. Developed by Yves Parlier, the Liberty kite does not require a mast to support it. Seguin is expected to make landfall later today.

Pip Hare’s Medallia disappeared from the tracker leading to concerns for fans, but it is just a technical glitch

Race followers and fans of Pip Hare were concerned when Medallia’s tracker did not show her position this morning, although her team have confirmed that it is only a tracker issue and all is well onboard, and she continues racing.

Conditions were challenging, as Conrad Colman on the IMOCA Imagine recounted: “I am in the middle of the approach to the front and currently have 35 knots sustained, gusting 38kts more or less upwind with two reefs and the J3. It is up to 39kts, the boat is doing 16kts over the ground and every once in a while it has a big, big landing off the waves. It is pretty lumpy and it is as well it is dark as better not to see this grumpy sea.”

In the IMOCAs, Charlie Dalin continues his dominance on Apivia, having built an impressive lead during the early stages thanks to a significant boat speed advantage.

Dalin holds an 80-mile advantage over Jeremie Beyou on Charal and Thomas Ruyant on LinkedOut, with Paul Meilhat (Biotherm), Kevin Escoffier (Holcim-PRB), Maxime Sorel (V&B Monbana Mayenne) and Justine Mettreaux (Teamwork.net) forming a tight chasing pack within 30 miles. Managing how hard to push in a group this competitive will be a challenge, especially for skippers in new boats who will be closely eyeing IMOCA qualification miles.

Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is back in the lead in the Ultimes. Photo: Mark Lloyd/Gitana

Tight at the front for the Ultimes

The leading Ultims are now largely clear of the worst of the weather now and are racing south-west at high average speeds of over 30 knots.

Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild) has regained his lead over nearest rival François Gabart (SVR-Lazartigue) by just over 25 nautical miles. Caudrelier is slightly to windward and may be able to hold the better breeze longer as they approach the Bermuda high ridge of lighter winds.

Although the higher proportion of upwind sailing in the early stages of the race means the Ultimes are not set to break the course record by any significant margin, the giant trimarans are already over halfway on the 3542-nautical miles course to Guadeloupe, and look set to only get quicker over the second half of the race.

Caudrelier commented last night: “François came back at me in the light airs, shortly before the Azores. He was going straight, while I couldn’t! I tacked four or five times, which took a lot of energy. I took a slightly more physically demanding option than his in the archipelago but, in the end, it came down to almost the same thing.

“It is still a bit of a war in terms of conditions. It is far from dream stuff. We are impatiently waiting to be able to take off the foul weather gear and enjoy stable winds. Here it is up and down between 20 and 30 knots and far from restful.”

François Gabart’s foiling UItime, SVR-Lazartigue is chasing in second in the Ultime fleet

Caudrelier has had his four-hour time penalty for being OCS at the start dismissed. Gitana team manager Cyril Dardashti explained: “We sent the GPS track of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild over the entire start phase, as well as the positioning of the Yellow Brick beacon provided by the organisation. The two agree and show that we were 50 m from the starting line at 2.15 p.m. when the gun was fired”.

Armel Le Cleac’h on Banque Populaire XI is bringing up the rear of the Ultim fleet, having restarted the race yesterday after repairing foil damage. Le Cleac’h had returned to Lorient in Brittany on Thursday and set off yesterday afternoon.

Banque Popularie XI’s daggerboard snapped on Thursday morning, less than 24 hours after the race start.

Le Cleac’h reported hearing “a crack”. He reported: “There was no warning. It broke in two seconds. It’s hard to believe.”

Having had to abandon his previous maxi trimaran in the last Route du Rhum race in 2018, Le Cleac’h’ was determined to restart this one

“It ended badly four years ago, we lost a boat. This year, we want to finish the story.”

Class 40s

Last year’s Class 40 winner Yoann Richomme (Parpec-Arkea) has sailed back into 3rd place after taking his statutory four hours penalty for crossing the start line early.

He described last night’s conditions: “It was fast but very, very violent after the front. The boat was jumping off the waves. It felt like everything was going to explode at any moment!”

“It was freakishly scary. Xavier Macaire seemed to be the one who attacked the most and I admit that I didn’t try to keep up with his pace, especially after seeing Aurélien Ducroz and Amélie Grassi dismasting behind my stern. I really thought we were all going to suffer the same fate.

“I know what it is to lose your mast in these types of conditions. It’s incredibly hard to undo all the lines and cables in rough seas and at night too. It is a stark reminder to keep a lid on it.”

British born Luke Berry (Lamotte Module Creation) also reported this morning, “It was a strong front and I can understand why some dismasted. I hope they are OK. I lost two aerials and so now I feel like I am sailing blind and the rest of the course is going to be a bit of headache.”

Two other Class 40s have also retired ­– Croatian Ivica Kostelic on ACI has several technical problems including autopilot failure, Kéni Piperol (Captain Alternance) was taking on water, and Pierre Casenave-Péré (Legallais) suffered rigging problems. All are heading for La Coruña.

Ocean 50 fleet

The multihulls are especially vulnerable to confused sea states, and the Ocean 50s racing north of the Azores are now through the front in 15-20kts westerly winds but still face cross-seas and gusty conditions.

“Now on this leg towards the Azores it is quite difficult, with cross seas and a few squalls that are unforgiving. We have to stay vigilant, ”explained Quentin Vlamynck on Arkema, now leading the Ocean Fifty fleet after Thibaut Vauchel-Camus’s capsize.

“This accident was a big wake-up call for all of us to calm things down. Me? I continue to sail cautiously. You have to be careful and that leaves no time to go to sleep, especially since you have to think about what’s next.”

Follow all the latest Route du Rhum 2022 developments

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The post Dismastings, a capsize and damage toll rises in Route du Rhum appeared first on Yachting World.

The Route du Rhum 2022 single-handed transatlantic race start has been postponed until Wednesday 9 November.

The decision was announced at this morning’s skippers’ weather briefing. While the forecast for the scheduled start day tomorrow was raceable, with 20-25 knot westerlies, a severe depression in the Channel during the first 36 hours of the race gave the skippers no safe routing options.

An active cold front sees Monday’s forecast give average winds of around 40 knots, and gusts above 50, accompanied by a very large swell, of 7m-plus waves, created by tropical storm Martin.

Boris Herrmann and Will Harris explain the metro situation on this video:

British IMOCA skipper Pip Hare described the forecast as ‘Biblical’, saying “No one want to go out into those conditions – but we were feeling like we had quite a strong boat. It’s a lot to process.”

In a statement, the race director, Francis Le Goff, commented: “We have received and heard your [the fleet’s] comments and concerns. Together with OC sport, I have decided to postpone the start on Sunday to Tuesday late afternoon or Wednesday in the morning.”

The 138 solo skippers taking part will be held ashore in St Malo’s docks, while the Ultimes – which docked out last night, along with a few other boats – are on secure moorings at Dinard.

Route du Rhum 2022 – the most impressive offshore fleet ever?

When the race does start, it will be off a single, 3-mile startline off St Malo for the 12th running of Route du Rhum 2022.

Is it the most impressive gathering of offshore competitors ever seen? It would be a bold claim to say that this year’s Route du Rhum is the greatest offshore race ever, but when it comes to strength, depth, and technological advancements, every single fleet in the Route du Rhum 2022 is so exceptional that maybe, just maybe, it deserves that accolade.

The other reason the Route du Rhum is so special is not only because of who has gathered this year, but because of who has gone before. Since it’s first running in 1978, won by Canadian Mike Birch, who recently passed away, its trophies have been littered with the names of legends – Bruno Peyron, Florence Arthaud, Ellen MacArthur, Yves Parlier, Michel Dejoyeaux, Franck Cammas, Loick Peyron… to win a class in the Route du Rhum is to take your place among the true elite.

Mike Birch helming Fujichrome ahead of the 1990 Route du Rhum. Photo by Nicolas LE CORRE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

And what makes it hard, of course, is the variables of mother Nature. The 3,543 mile race from St Malo, Brittany to Point-a-Pite Guadeloupe tests the solo skippers from start to finish.

Flung from the protection of St Malo’s mediaeval walled battlements and deceptively protected harbours, the fleet is usually immediately faced with the Bay of Biscay and North Atlantic at its November worst – rolling depressions, vicious sea states and strong headwinds often characterise the opening sections of the transatlantic, and early indications are that this year’s race looks set to bring similar.

Although the delayed start should avoid the most immediately severe weather, there are a series of fronts moving across the North Atlantic, and the likelihood is that the fleet will still face some strong upwind conditions before entering the trades.

This is a race we will be nervously glued to the tracker for the first 48 hours.

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How to follow the Route du Rhum 2022

NOTE: Since this article was published the start date for the Route Du Rhum 2022 has been pushed back to…

The ultimate foiling machine? Onboard SVR-Lazartigue

Launched in July after 150,000 hours of work, SVR-Lazartigue is the latest addition to the burgeoning Ultim 32/23 fleet. In…

38 IMOCA 60s on Route du Rhum 2022 startline

The numbers across the Route du Rhum 2022 are staggering, but the IMOCA pontoon stretches as far as your eye can see, with no fewer than 38 IMOCA 60s lined up side by side. It’s a record entry for the event and perhaps the largest ever gathering of IMOCAs in the class’s history. It’s five more boats than the monster 2020/21 Vendée Globe entry, and almost as many as will be permitted (40) in the 2024/25 Vendée Globe.

There has been much commentary about the current rude health of the IMOCA fleet, where new designs seemingly cannot be built fast enough. But the Route du Rhum fleet in St Malo is like an exhibition of two decades of offshore racing history, with vintage daggerboard designs nestling alongside latest generation foilers. Nearly every boat has a remarkable history to tell, and above the IMOCA pontoons was an absolute crush of spectators craning to see the iconic yachts.

Charal 2 was designed by Sam Manuard and features a scow-style bow. Photo: Eloi Stichelbaut – polaRYSE / Charal

Among the 38-boat entry are seven brand new launches that were splashed in 2022, for skippers who were able to swiftly move onto the next IMOCA cycle immediately after the 2020/21 Vendée Globe. They are Kevin Escoffier’s Holcim-PRB, Maxime Sorel’s dragon-branded V and B-Monbana-Mayenne, Jérémie Beyou’s radical new Charal, Boris Herrmann’s Malizia-Seaexplorer, Sam Davies’s new scow-bowed Initiatives-Coeur, Yannick Bestaven’s Maitre CoQ V and Paul Meilhat’s Biotherm.

It would be surprising, but not unheard of, for one of the new boats to dominate. Reliability issues, the need for skippers to refine their load management, and well-placed caution, are likely to mean these boats are pushed less hard than those belonging to skippers who have a new boat on order.

Of that latter category, Charlie Dalin and Thomas Ruyant are likely favourites – both sailing exceptionally fast previous generation IMOCAs, but with new boats in the shed for 2024.

“In my opinion, Charlie Dalin and Thomas Ruyant are in the best position with their super well proven, very reliable IMOCAs. Especially Dalin who won everything this year and who even beat fully crewed boats [on the Azimut Challenge]. It’s beautiful to see,” said German entrant Boris Herrmann.

In Charlie Dalin’s hands Apivia has proven itself to be a bit of a rocketship. Photo: Pierre Bouras

“There is a risk that not all new boats will finish into Guadeloupe because of teething problems. I really don’t want to be part of the battle but want to get there. The weather is not looking easy, it is going to be a real adventure.”

The winner of the 2018 Route du Rhum, Paul Meilhart returns this year, also sailing a brand new boat, Biotherm. Meilhart’s boat was launched at the very end of August this year and he admits that he is not expecting to defend his title, though he hopes to be competitive. “You have to choose your battles. I am setting off feeling humble…” he said.

“I’m still currently testing [Biotherm’s] reliability and getting used to my IMOCA… My main goal is of course to finish, but I want to do battle with the others to see what potential Biotherm might have. In spite of not having much preparation, I still want to be up there in the contest.”

However, it’s not just the skippers of new boats who will be making some delicate risk versus reward calculations. The more stringent Vendée Globe qualification rules for 2024 mean that almost all IMOCA skippers are now in a race against time to accumulate sufficient qualification miles in their Vendée boats.

Even those who’ve taken delivery of a well-proven previous generation design will be keenly aware that a race-ending breakage would shave thousands of valuable miles from their total, and pile the pressure on for 2023.

Pip Hare now has a foiling IMOCA 60 having completed the 2020-21 Vendée Globe on a 1999 vintage boat.

“It is all fantastic for the Vendée Globe to have all this interest and it is fantastic to be part of it and I definitely respect the need for a qualification. But I do joke about the fact that everyone got a free pass before this and then the year I come back to do it again you need to qualify!” commented Pip Hare, who’ll be returning for her second Vendée Globe next year and is sailing the new-to-her Medallia in this year’s Route du Rhum.

“But it really has changed the whole dynamic as it is now just mostly about a race for miles, even for the new boats. Everyone has a lot to lose if they don’t finish this race. And that includes the guys who are doing The Ocean Race who have to get the boat back quickly and then have, like, three weeks or so for a refit to do The Ocean Race.”

Another factor which Hare says is playing on her mind is the record fleet size. “This is a massive fleet. I am really, really nervous about the start.

“Can you imagine having a collision at the start and in the first 24 hours? And it looks like it will be upwind which then means the fast, new Class40s will be in with the IMOCAs so it will be … busy.

“I think I will approach this all with a sail plan I can handle quickly and easily with the top (roof) open, fully kitted up, alarms on and the minimum possible sleep. I need to be super vigilant and if the situation looks ‘iffy’ at all then just back off a bit.”

François Gabart’s foiling UItime, SVR-Lazartigue

8 Ultimes: foiling trimarans go solo

Though numerically the smallest, there’s no question that the Ultime 32/23 fleet is the most impressive, with no fewer than eight of the extraordinary trimarans taking part – also the largest ever gathering of the latest generation foilers.

Lined up nose to tail in the Route du Rhum 2022 race village, their retracted foils looming over the pontoons and leviathan-scale wing masts towering over everything, the Ultimes form a multi-million-Euro kilometre-long F1-style pit lane. To say it is impressive would be, well, an understatement.

(And, quick reality check, they’re also sailing solo)

Charles Caudrelier on Gitana is the obvious favourite, with the longest optimisation programme and most race victories behind him, including the double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre last November (2021).

However, in this fleet, and in this race, past success does not guarantee future glory. That’s something François Gabart discovered in 2018 when, a few months after setting his solo around the world record on the 100ft Macif, he lost out to Francois Joyon in the much older, and slower Idec in the final miles of the Route du Rhum finish, finishing just 7 minutes behind.

Gabart is back this year with his brand new (and controversial, foiling Ultime SVR Lazartigue). As is Joyon, on Idec.

“The standard of the competition is high with a few boats that were there four years ago and have been updated and the new ones, which learnt a lot from the older ones. As for the conditions, I feel curious rather than apprehensive. Is it going to be stronger than what I have already sailed upwind? You can suffer damage because the boat is new and hasn’t been tried and tested, as is the case for some of my rivals, or suffer damage because the boat is too old with its original gear like mine, so it remains open…” commented Joyon before the start.

Banque Populaire Xl is the result of a colossal 150,000 hours of design and construction
work. Photo: J Lecaudey/BPCE

Getting across the Atlantic unscathed is far from a given for these giant trimarans, and the Route du Rhum 2022 sees the return of Armel le Cleac’h with his new Ultime Maxi Banque Populaire XI. His previous maxi trimaran capsized and broke up 24 hours into the 2018 Route du Rhum. The boat was a total write off.

The new Maxi Banque Populaire XI picked up a 3rd place in the Transat Jacques Vabre (2021), while le Cléac’h has already completed the equivalent of a world tour in racing and training miles. During this summer’s crewed Ultime contest, the Finistère Atlantique, le Cleac’h enjoyed a close battle with the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. In the end, le Cleac’h finished 2nd, 26 minutes after Caudrelier after more than 3,100 miles of racing.

Thomas Coville, a previous Rhum winner, returns with Sodebo, also a new generation foiler. This will be Coville’s 7th entry in the race.

The other three older Ultimes are Actual Ultim 3 skippered by Yves Le Blevec, Use it Again! (the original B&Q/Castorama) skippered by Romain Pillard, and Mieux, skippered by 34-year-old Arthur Le Vaillant.

“I’m scared, but I’ll be at 200% to get off to a good start. There will be all the sailors I love around me. I’m here for that,” said Le Vaillant before his first Ultim race.

The Class 40 fleet is a hotbed of design innovation. Photo: Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi

55 Class 40: biggest fleet in Route du Rhum 2022

With 55 entries, the Class 40 fleet is the largest of all the Route du Rhum classes, and again represents one of – if not the – largest gatherings of the class in its history.

Unsurprisingly, picking out a likely favourite to win is near impossible, with at least 10 boats widely tipped for the top slot. Even then, “there are so many outsiders around that anything is possible. It’s a pity that betting is not allowed,” points out Halvard Mabire, the president of the class.

Among them will surely be Yoann Richomme on Paprec Arkea, winner of the last edition of the Route du Rhum and also a double winner of the La Solitaire du Figaro. “There is no magic formula to decide who the top contenders might be,” Richomme mused ahead of the start.

While the Class 40 has always been seen as a precursor to the IMOCA fleet for many skippers, it is increasingly becoming a design test bed also, and there are now 30 scow-style designs in the fleet. This partly reflects the continued success story that is Sam Manuard’s Class 40 design development, but also the sheer number of well-funded and skippers campaigning in the fleet.

Sam Goodchild’s Leyton is one of the favourites. Photo: Yann Riou/polaRYSE

8 Multi 50 trimarans

Although the eight-strong fleet of Multi 50s is much smaller, the evenly matched trimarans make it almost equally hard to predict the podium. British skipper Sam Goodchild (Leyton) is often ranked as the favourite, though Sébastien Rogues (Primonial) and Quentin Vlamynck (Arkema) are also likely front runners.

Meanwhile the considerable offshore experience of Vendée veteran Armel Tripon (Les P’tits Doudous), three times TJV winner and former Route du Rhum winner Erwan Le Roux, and the former Figaro, Volvo Ocean Race and Tour de France a la Voile sailor Eric Peron certainly mean they too have clear podium potential.

Acapella (the sister ship of Mike Birch famous Olympus) built by Walter Green in 1980 will compete in the Route du Rhum 2022. Photo: Christophe Launay

16 Rhum Multi, 14 Rhum Mono

The ‘Rhum’ classes represent an eclectic mix of modern and vintage designs, often sailed by passionate but more Corinthian campaigners.

Books could be written about the storied entrants in these fleets. Among them is Catherine Chabaud, the first woman to have raced around the world solo, non-stop in the 1996/97 Vendée. She returns to solo racing in the Route du Rhum 2022 aboard the 1990-built ketch Le Cigare Rouge.

Pen Duick III will be sailed by Arnaud Pennarun. Vendée veteran Jean-Pierre Dick sails his Verdier-designed custom 54-footer Absolute Dreamer, while St Malo resident and Jean-Sébastien Biard, a removals company boss, will be racing his 42ft Beneteau in the Mono fleet.

The Multi fleet has an even more intriguing mix, with former round the world skippers lining up in everything from new high performance cruising monohulls to vintage Walter Green designs.

They include Marc Guillemot, racing a new 50-foot catamaran apparently built using parts recovered from previous offshore racing yachts. Charlie Capelle returns sailing his invincible little yellow trimaran Acapella. Loic Escoffier, brother of IMOCA skipper Kevin, is racing a Marsaudon ORC 50. Roland ‘Bilou’ Jourdain is racing a sustainably built Outremer 5X. Philippe Poupon is racing Flo, the iconic 60ft trimaran which Florence Arthaud sailed as 1st Pierre to victory and worldwide fame in 1990.

(Perhaps the question of which is the greatest fleet of all time remains up for debate…)

Nonetheless, this year’s Route du Rhum 2022 start is a tantalising prospect for offshore racing fans.

Follow the 2022 Route du Rhum

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The post UPDATE: Route du Rhum 2022 start postponed. Is this the greatest ever offshore race? appeared first on Yachting World.

NOTE: Since this article was published the start date for the Route Du Rhum 2022 has been pushed back to Wednesday 9th November at 1415hrs local time. A major storm in the north Atlantic, which would have seen the fleet facing 50-knot winds and 6-7m swells was deemed too dangerous to start the race. You can watch the live stream of the start below

The Route du Rhum is one of the biggest solo offshore races in the world, and will see 138 singlehanded competitors take to the startline in Saint-Malo, France this year as they prepare to race alone and non stop to Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe.

The Route du Rhum is a simple enough race, essentially, it’s a straight blast across the Atlantic as fast as possible.

The transatlantic course covers a total of 3542 miles, though typically the distance sailed is much higher than this as sailors try to find the most favourable weather conditions.

The Route du Rhum always takes place in early November, which means that sailors take on the autumnal Atlantic, often providing very windy weather as they boats leave France in the north Atlantic, cross the Bay of Biscay and dive south to try to pick up the favourable trade wind conditions.

What boats race in the Route du Rhum?

The Route du Rhum is split into six classes in total: the foiling Ultime trimarans; Multi 50 trimarans; IMOCA 60s; Class 40; and two classes for a broad range of boats that do not fit into any over the above categories, one for multihulls and one for monohulls.

As such the stories that come from the race vary, from the super high tech Ultimes who will fight it out to set new course records, to the IMOCA fleet, many of whom will be sailing a first solo transoceanic race in brand new super high tech boats, down to individuals on a shoestring budget who want to take on one of the worlds greatest solo challenges.

All boats in all classes start the 2022 Route du Rhum at the same time on the same (usually around 3 nautical mile long) startline. This makes for a spectacular sight and is relatively unique for such a big race.

The start of the race will be streamed on the Route du Rhum Youtube channel as well as the Route du Rhum Facebook page.

Yannick Bestaven’s IMOCA 60 Maitre CoQ V was launched in 2022 and will compete in the Route du Rhum Photo: Breschi /Maitre Coq

How long does the Route du Rhum take?

With such a wide variety of boats competing, finishing times will vary dramatically. The Ultime fleet will be the first boats to complete the course and they will all be looking to set a new race record should conditions allow.

With technical developments running at such a fast pace in this fleet, however, it will not take particularly special conditions for the record to fall, so expectations are high.

The current race record belongs to Francis Joyon who set the time of 7d 14h 21m 47s aboard IDEC Sport in the 2018 edition of the race.

One of those who will be fighting Joyon for victory in the Ultime class – sailing his radical foiler SVR-Lazartigue is François Gabart. Gabart currently holds the IMOCA 60 record time of 12d 04h 38m 55s which he set back in 2014.

The slowest boats in the fleet are likely to be in the Rhum Mono class and the record here is a little over 16 days, but such is the wider scope of performance, the slowest boats are likely to take over 20 days to complete the course.

François Gabart’s foiling UItime, SVR-Lazartigue

Where to follow the Route du Rhum

As mentioned the start will be streamed on the Route du Rhum Youtube channel and regular content will be uploaded there throughout the race.

We here at Yachting World will be keeping a close eye on proceedings and will keep you updated via our dedicated 2022 Route du Rhum homepage.

For those that want up the the minute information on which skipper is where you can follow the race live via the Route du Rhum race tracker, which can be found on the Route du Rhum website.

The Route du Rhum starts at 12:00 (GMT) on Sunday 6 November.

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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The post How to follow the Route du Rhum 2022 appeared first on Yachting World.

Launched in July after 150,000 hours of work, SVR-Lazartigue is the latest addition to the burgeoning Ultim 32/23 fleet. In addition to the complexity that’s inherent to these giant foilers, this rocketship design includes many unique innovations which are currently being extensively tested and fine-tuned. We were lucky enough to be able to explore some of them in detail with skipper François Gabart.

Having boarded the team’s support RIB as they headed out from the MerConcept pontoon at around croissant-time, we searched for the blue giant among the squalls. François Gabart and Tom Laperche, who was co-skipper in this autumn’s Transat Jacques Vabre, were returning to their base in Concarneau, Brittany, having just completed a 1,000-mile training loop in the company of three other Ultims: Sodebo, Banque Populaire and Gitana.

SVR-Lazartigue finally appeared as just a dot on the horizon. There was no need to throttle up to reach it though: it was closing in fast. When it drew level, even with one reef in the main and no headsail, our big outboard-powered RIB was struggling to keep up. The crew heading out on deck to lower the sails appear tiny, whereas in reality Tom Laperche must be over 6ft tall.

Twin cockpit bubbles adjacent to the mast

While the overall dimensions of SVR-Lazartigue are as breathtaking as the rest of the Ultim class trimarans, certain proportions of SVR-Lazartigue immediately stand out. First, the floats seem particularly narrow. There are two reasons for this: as the helm stations are no longer ‘on’ the deck but integrated into the central hull, the latter seems proportionally beefed-up, especially between the two connecting beams.

The other factor is that as the latest generation trimarans spend more time in foiling mode, so the volume of the floats is no longer as critical.

Article continues below…

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The third dimension that stands out when viewing this monster vessel from the water is the length of the horizontal surface of the foil tip – it’s a full 4m (13ft) stretched under the net towards the central hull.

Onboard SVR-Lazartigue

Gabart is at the helm in the starboard cockpit. This is the trademark of his new baby: two sliding bubbles, flush with the deck, which call to mind a Spitfire aeroplane or fighter jet. The analogy is not accidental: these ultra high performance trimarans reach such high speeds that staying outside is not only uncomfortable, but almost unbearable, and certainly incompatible with achieving a high level of human performance.

Boat speeds of 40 knots have become the norm – below 30 knots the crew feels unusually slow!

Despite being exhausted, Gabart and his teammate are smiling broadly. They have just completed a 200-mile reaching leg at an average boat speed of 37 knots, racing side by side with Sodebo. But to have completed 1,000 miles in racing conditions without any major technical problems in such a new launch is clearly the main satisfaction. That’s a triumph for Gabart’s MerConcept technical team – just a week before, they had to abandon the Défi Azimut Ultim race following damage to a foil jack.

Hydraulics are a key component on these boats. With enormous forces involved there are 23 hydraulic cylinders onboard on SVR-Lazartigue. One of the particularities of the Ultim class is that everything on board must be controlled by human power; only so-called closed-loop circuits are allowed.

Above: electronics, regulators, electric engine and a small diesel generator are housed under the floor of the cockpit and living areas

So while the grinders are connected to the winches, they are also connected to hydraulic pumps. If, for example, the crew want to increase the rake on a foil by 3°, they set the control to 3°, open the valve and it goes up to 3°. But the hydraulic pressure to achieve that has to be generated by the two-man crew, and it is in no way automated or self-adjusting.

65 knots of apparent wind

Most of the cylinders are hidden – inside the boom, behind a foil arm, and down below – the aerodynamics are optimised as never before on an offshore boat.

The apparent wind created by the speeds reached is “mind-blowing”, says Gabart. “This is the most impressive thing about this boat. We have never had these apparent wind figures on other boats.

“Here, we regularly reach speeds of over 40 knots at less than 90° true wind angle (TWA). In certain conditions, such as 25 knots of wind on flat seas, at 65°-70° off the wind, you’re doing 40 knots. That’s 60-65 knots of apparent wind speed. The maximum AWS in our log is not far from 70 knots.

The low profile fighter pilot-style cockpit ‘pods’

“When you go outside, it’s violent. Compared to the previous generation, this is where the difference is the most significant, between 65° and 80° off the wind, where we see very strong apparent winds,” Gabart explains.

At these speeds air resistance takes on an unprecedented importance. The design team, including VPLP, has focussed heavily on creating an aerodynamically optimised shape with every element refined to offer the lowest possible drag. The upper part of the foredeck is non-structural – all the strength is underneath at the level of the anchoring points of the headsails.

“The interesting [point] is that we can stow the sails there, protected from the wind. In the long term it will be closed off by a canvas cover to reduce water ingress, even though there are drains on the sides. This is an area that still needs to be optimised. We can see that the technical team seems to have played with the jigsaw before this training session,” observes Gabart.

Fred Bérat, the boat captain, asks Tom Laperche for his feedback. “We’ll have to use foam or partition off the unused areas to reduce the volume likely to take on sea water,” Laperche comments. That will add weight, but aerodynamically, nothing protrudes, the furling drums are completely hidden and the sail is flush with the deck when unfurled.

Gabart, a passionate engineer, explaining how the foils work. Each weighs 400kg (882lb) and supports a trimaran that weighs 38 times that

The entire deck and structure is designed to favour laminar flow and reduce air disturbance. All the way aft, only the two small cockpit bubbles protrude from the deck. Even the Fleet communication antennas, although cylindrical, are streamlined at the rear.

Within each of the two cockpit bubbles, a small Formula 1-type steering wheel acts as a helm. For the time being, only one button is fitted, the emergency mainsail release button, but more controls will come in the long term, Gabart explains. “We imagine we’ll be able to put a lot of things on it, especially for safety. And possibly sail adjustments when there are people around to grind the winches and therefore power the hydraulics below deck.”

The pilot-style flight position is designed to help the sailors maintain focus and high levels of performance while helming for long periods of time.“While we thought we would have to wear a helmet or harness to avoid hitting our heads, it turns out we are very well supported at shoulder level, especially since we don’t have to steer at high angles. You can steer standing up or sitting down and footrests are due to be fitted soon.”

Gabart is confident he’ll be able to spend hours comfortably at the helm “just like in a car”.

Fingertip conrol on SVR-Lazartigue

Three rudders are mechanically connected at the back of the stern arm, while at the front, electronics are used. The two Madintech pilots have their cylinders permanently connected to the same central rudder shaft.

More fingertip controls are planned for the Formula 1-style steering wheel in future

Just above, on the outside, a conventional wheel is connected directly to it, which is more practical for port manoeuvres or race starts: “Because we can see what’s going on better and we’re more used to the feeling. In the long term I am confident that we will be able to have the same feeling and efficiency on our small steering wheels, from a distance, but there is still work to be done, especially because of the speed of reaction of the cylinders,” he says.

From the inside helm stations or watch stations, as well as the companionway access just aft, there’s good visibility, almost 360°, even under the boom. However, below deck, where manoeuvres, navigation and living space are organised, there is no direct view outside.

As on Alex Thomson’s IMOCA Hugo Boss, cameras have been installed for an exterior view. But the two SVR-Lazartigue co-skippers admit they’re not yet always in the habit of automatically looking at the screens.

Chainplates and furling drums for the headsails are integrated under a false deck to help aerodynamics

At the stern, all sheets are tunnelled to two huge 43cm diameter Harken Air 900 winches: “We can put each of the eight sheets, which all arrive at the same place, crosswise on the two main winches, so we can do peels at any time between any sails: J0, J1, J2 and J3,” says Gabart. Up front are the so-called utility winches for halyards, furling lines, reefing lines, or barber-haulers.

Living zone

At the rear of the low-slung, white painted cockpit, a living area houses a navigation zone with a newly installed bucket seat facing a canting screen. There is a beanbag for sleeping on the floor, although berths will be installed on both sides for stowage. The only extra is a micro-galley.

Forward is another living area, this one in bare carbon, located along the centre of gravity of the boat. When the boat is being sailed in crewed mode, the space is big enough to sleep six people in a race or on a record attempt. “In terms of noise, we were quite uncertain about this central hull living area,” admits Gabart,

As well as nav and performance information the screens also display the positions and trim settings of the foils, rudders and centreboard

“I’m surprised, because intuitively I thought it would be quite different from the previous boat (Macif which became Actual) and in the end, here, in the closed cockpit, it’s quite similar. As soon as you put your head in the bubble, even when it’s closed, you hear and feel the wind, just like before.”

The central hull on SVR-Lazartigue is divided in two along its entire length, with a lower level under the cockpit and the living areas. In addition to the electric motor, the battery pack and a small diesel generator, there are a lot of electronics housed below. “Emilien Lavigne, the computer and electronics specialist is, after me, the one who has sailed the boat the most since she was launched,” points out the skipper, such is the importance of the hidden technology on board.

Meanwhile the most obvious examples of latest development technology are the incredible wings of this boat designed for flight. The shape of the SVR-Lazartigue foils is particularly complex, between the L-shaped lower section and and the S-shaped vertical a free ball joint gives a degree of freedom in the foil boxes to be able to raise and lower them. The upper section moves longitudinally, allowing the rake to be adjusted.

Skipper for scale! The two main Harken Air 900 winches on which all the headsail sheets are mounted

Unlike a conventional racing yacht, the VPPs (velocity prediction programmes) provided by the architects VPLP are much more than simple polars with the speed targets. The charts, displayed in the cockpit, also recommend theoretical settings for foil depth, rake and flaps.

“It’s amazing how good the fit is, on a windy sea, in out-of-the-ordinary conditions like a reaching leg in 40 knots, 50m from the beach without a single wave. Or the opposite, like now, where there’s only 10 knots of wind, but the sea remains rough following the passage of a front,” says Gabart.

As for the sensation of foiling at high speeds, Gabart is effusive about the behaviour of his blue rocket: “The more foil surface you have, the more damping there is in the waves. When you fly, there are few shocks, just quite violent movements due to the high speed. When the boat jumps a wave, the foil never really comes out of the water, even if it stalls, it absorbs a lot. Even when you’re not flying, at the same speed, it’s much more comfortable than an IMOCA. Even though, sometimes we go twice as fast…”

SVR-Lazartigue specifications

Length: 32m / 105ft 0in
Beam: 23m / 75ft 5in
Displacement (approx): 15,000kg / 33,000lb
Weight of one foil: 400kg / 880lb
Draught: 4.5m / 14ft 9in
Air draught: 37m / 121ft 5in
Mast length: 33m / 108ft 3in
Sail area upwind: 425m² / 4,574ft
Sail area downwind: 645m² / 6,942ft

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Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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The post The ultimate foiling machine? Onboard SVR-Lazartigue appeared first on Yachting World.

Banque Populaire is one of the world’s most experienced and successful sailing teams, and was the force behind Armel Le Cléac’h’s 2016 record-breaking Vendée Globe victory, they now have a new Ultime trimaran in the form of Banque Populaire XI.

Only a year after her launch, the previous giant trimaran Banque Populaire IX crashed out of the 2018 Route du Rhum in spectacular fashion, having already capsized once before, and was declared an insurance write off after being towed in broken chunks back to shore.

Much has been learned from the experience with that boat and the new vessel incorporates radical improvements that put it a big leap ahead of her predecessor in terms of both performance and, more importantly, safety and reliability.

Banque Populaire Xl is the result of a colossal 150,000 hours of design and construction
work. Photo: J Lecaudey/BPCE

Like Banque Populaire IX, this boat was conceived with a single objective in mind – for one person to sail round the world faster than anyone else. The record to beat is 42 days, 16 hours set by François Gabart in 2017.

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Structural failure of a cross beam failing after a collision with an unidentified floating object (UFO) was the cause of the loss of Banque Populaire IX.

Her successor, Banque Populaire XI, benefits from an entirely new concept for structural engineering of the cross beams, plus considerable work on both the foils and the sail plan to make foiling more stable over sustained periods.

The foil on the starboard ama – these are almost twice the size of those on Banque Populaire lX. Photo: Rupert Holmes

“We have worked a lot on the foils, daggerboard and rudders, as well as with the sails, to go fast and be stable,” Clément Duraffourg, the team’s head of data acquisition and analytics, revealed. As a result the new boat’s foils are almost twice the size of those of the previous boat.

A further important plank in the project is a state of the art simulator bought from Emirates Team New Zealand. While the boat was in build this enabled the team to spend more than a year trialling numerous different parameters.

As a result, Duraffourg says, even before the boat hit the water they had good base settings for the foil adjustment across a wide range of conditions. Given the interplay between the main foils, plus the T-foils on the centreboard and each of the three rudders, this task is extremely complex, yet absolutely critical to success.

The massive daggerboard also features a large foil area. Photo: Rupert Holmes

“The bigger foils, including the rudder T-foils, make the boat more stable when flying and add righting moment, which means increased safety,” skipper Armel Le Cléac’h told me as the boat emerged from the shed at CDK Technologies in Lorient.

This makes it easier to achieve high average speeds, by staying up on the foils for longer, without potentially dangerous and slow splash-downs. “The foils will continue to function up to around 45 knots of boat speed, and the simulator tells us the boat should be able to make 50 knots,” le Cléac’h added. “But then you start having problems with cavitation.”

Banque Populaire XI: Aiming for consistency

However, achieving these kinds of high top speeds was never a priority. Instead, the aim is to achieve a consistent average speed without significant peaks or troughs. “For me a good 24-hour run would be staying close to an average speed of 35 knots,” Le Cléac’h says. “That would be a super day.”

A key reason that top-end speed potential is academic with these boats is that the upper end is determined by sea state, including swells that may be generated hundreds of miles away, and not by theoretical performance in flat water.

The importance of this was brought home for me during a sail on Giovanni Soldini’s foiling MOD70 Maserati off Lanzarote in 18-22 knots of true wind.

All sail handling is carried out from the protected aft cockpit, which has a wheel each side. Photo: Rupert Holmes

We occasionally hit speeds of 38 knots, but never sustained that pace for long before ploughing into the back of the wave ahead and crashing down off the foils, slowing markedly and fire hosing the whole boat with torrents of water.

It was quickly obvious that the first key to faster and safer passages is to minimise these splash down events, rather than chase ever-higher peak speeds.

In addition to bigger foils for Banque Populaire XI, which improve stability when airborne, the team worked with North Sails to further refine sail shapes that confer better stability when foiling.

Duraffourg says: “These boats are very reactive and very dynamic, so we need a sail plan that won’t induce too much heel. The sail plan is also as close to the deck as possible to benefit from maximum end plate effect.”

At this level most round the world record attempts fail, not because the boat isn’t sufficiently quick, but as a result of a critical breakage.

Banque Populaire XI therefore incorporates a conceptual step-change in the approach to the structural engineering of the cross-beams. These have twin structural elements, so that if the boat hits a UFO at speed and one element breaks the second should remain intact.

Both ends of the amas are very fine. Photo: J Lecaudey/BPCE

The beams also have a monitoring system that Duraffourg says “helps us to see the condition of the laminate.” The idea is this will allow the boat to continue racing or, if damage is more extensive, to safely make port without assistance.

This fundamentally different philosophy for Banque Populaire XI is one that clearly adds cost and weight (the boat is a tonne heavier than its predecessor) but reliability is the over-riding factor. “This is very important for us,” emphasises le Cléac’h.

In a similar vein, there are systems on multiple levels to minimise the risk of capsize. For instance, the hydraulic ram that controls the mainsheet will release at a predetermined load. In addition there are cleats connected to a pneumatic system that will automatically release if the boat’s heel angle exceeds a specific value.

The autopilot can also be configured to change course to depower the boat if heel angle is greater than a pre-set figure.

Aero foils

Externally, the most obvious differences on Banque Populaire XI are in the aerodynamic shapes that minimise wind resistance. This is a vital factor when the apparent wind speed can top 50 knots for thousands of miles at a time.

Extensive aerodynamic CFD analysis produced a profile close to that of an aircraft wing – even the doghouse is shaped with this in mind. As well as reducing wind resistance this shape increases vertical lift, giving the foils a small helping hand. It’s also a shape that gives the central hull enormous inherent stiffness.

To keep weight to a minimum, lightweight fabric is used to achieve the necessary shape for the cross beams in areas where no additional structural strength is required.

Harken developed larger, extremely light carbon winches for the boat. Photo: Rupert Holmes

Duraffourg believes we will see still more optimisation in this area in future: “Aerodynamics are the last brake on performance and we are getting into a new era in this field,” he told me.

Construction of the central hull and amas was subcontracted to Multiplast in Vannes and Fibre Mechanics in Lymington.

The main hull is of a new design by VPLP. It’s flat bottomed, with very fine forward sections, then becomes very deep further aft, where there’s also plenty of flare in the topsides, which increases the beam at deck level.

In addition to its adjustable elevator foils, the huge daggerboard includes a pinger intended to warn humpback whales of the boat’s presence. “We don’t want them to be afraid, but just that they notice us,” says Duraffourg.

The amas are built from the existing moulds from Banque Populaire IX, that were also used for Actual-Leader and Sodebo. These are so fine in the ends that the antifouling stops more than 4m aft of their bows, while the transoms taper away to the minimum needed to support the rudders.

All three rudders, plus the daggerboard, have elevator flaps that can be set at different angles to control the flight, trim angles and both longitudinal and transverse stability. These are not interfaced with the pilot but some of the trimming is adjusted almost automatically.

The control section is spilt into two areas. Aft is a covered cockpit with a wheel each side. Enormous glazed areas and extensive white paint makes this feel almost as bright as being outside, despite the excellent protection it provides. Further forward is a more sheltered area with bucket seats and additional monitors.

Forward pulpit on the central hull offers some security when changing sails. Photo: J Lecaudey/BPCE

Sail handling systems haven’t changed a great deal from previous maxi trimarans, although Harken developed new carbon winches for the team that are exceptionally light. While everything is optimised for le Cléac’h to handle the boat alone as efficiently as possible, the layout also works when sailing two-handed and even with a team of six when training, on delivery and for occasional crewed races.

Huge potential

At the time of writing Banque Populaire XI has shown tremendous promise, exceeding 40 knots on each of the first four days of sea trials. “Even we are amazed – compared to its predecessor the boat achieves significant speeds more quickly and with less wind,” says le Cléac’h.

However, we will have to wait to discover the boat’s full potential in solo long distance mode. After an extended set-up phase this year’s main objective is the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race with Kevin Escoffier in November, where they will take on Thomas Coville’s Sodebo, Yves Le Blevec’s Actual-Leader, and Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier in Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (now out of Ultime class measurement).

Therefore a solo record circumnavigation attempt is not expected before 2022. Le Cléac’h will also doubtless be looking closely at the latest new Ultime, François Gabart’s M101, which has just hit the water.

The prospect of two state of the art Ultimes simultaneously racing the clock and each other around the globe – and up to five giant trimarans attempting records and races over the next couple of years – will undoubtedly be an incredible spectacle.

Banque Populaire XI specifications:

LOA: 32.00m / 105ft 0in
Beam: 23.00m / 75ft 5in
Draught max: 5.00m / 16ft 5in
Displacement: 15,000kg / 33,000lb
Upwind sail area: 350m2 / 3,770ft2
Downwind sail area: 600m2 / 6,460ft2
See more: voile.banquepopulaire.fr

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Francois Gabart, currently the fastest man to sail solo non-stop around the world, has unveiled his latest trimaran, the radical SVR-Lazartigue.

Previously codenamed ‘M101’ the trimaran has taken two and a half years to bring to fruition and yet again shifts the bar on what is considered radical in the giant foiling Ultim class.

The most obvious innovation for the new trimaran is that it has no ‘cockpit’. Instead of a covered or protected cockpit, François Gabart – and his crew on crewed record attempts or races – will sail the boat from inside. 

Launch day for Francois Gabart’s new Ultim trimaran SVR-Lazartigue. Note the steering ‘pods’ in the middle of the flush cockpit roof Photo: Maxime Horlaville

Besides foil developments and the ongoing search for hydrodynamic improvements, François Gabart’s team has placed huge emphasis on the search for aerodynamic improvements. While some of the other Ultims have retro-fitted panels to improve aero efficiency, SVR-Lazartigue has been designed for flight from the outset.

Key to this is the integration of the cockpit and living space within the central hull. Within the 5m2 central hull there are three main areas: a ‘cockpit’ to manoeuvre and steer the boat, a small galley space, and storage for sails etc. The cabin roof sits almost flush with the main arms and trampoline for minimum drag.

Giant curved foils and hydraulic controls on the SVR-Lazartigue Ultim Photo: Maxime Horlaville

Visibility forward is created via two fighter-jet style forward facing pods or ‘bubbles’, with a sliding access hatch – just like those on a military jet. The helmsman will be protected by a windscreen when sailing at high speeds – many Ultim skippers wear goggles to enable them to look into the wind and any spray.

François Gabart and his crew will only go on deck for essential repairs, and manoeuvres such as some sail changes. Like Alex Thomson’s most recent Hugo Boss IMOCA 60, which also employed an inside cockpit, there will be exterior cameras to view on deck and around the trimaran.

The ‘fighter jet’ style helm stations on Francois Gabart’s new Ultim

Also like a fighter jet, the trimaran has adopted a radical new control system, developed in-house. Five times smaller than the usual 1.5m-diameter wheel, the new SVR-Lazartigue trimaran will be flown with a compact 30cm wheel tucked into the cockpit, along with other foili and sail controls.

MerConcept founder and SVR-Lazartigue skipper Francois Gabart Photo: Maxime Horlaville

François Gabart explained: “It’s a new way to sail. It will probably rely more on sounds and movements. We will be able to go very quickly, while being protected from an apparent wind which can reach 120 kmph. 

“This configuration should allow us to go even faster on the water. Under certain conditions, the speed gain is going to be enormous. What is certain is that we can go 10 to 15% faster. Over a day, that can represent 200 km…”

The internal cockpit will also give Gabart or crew additional protection in the event of a capsize.

Additional aerodynamic gains have come from careful fairing of everything from the communications antennae to the propeller. Like Thomas Coville’s Sodebo, which moved the cockpit forward of the mast, the integral cockpit allows the boom to sit very flush to the deck, creating a very aerodynamic end-plating effect for improved sail efficiency.

Over 150,000 hours, some 40 months of work and around 20 local companies were involved in the project, which built by Gabart’s MerConcept company in Concarneau, where it was unveiled yesterday as launched this Thursday in Concarneau.

Integral fairings on the forward beams and super slim hull forms for maximum aero and hydrodynamic efficiency Photo: Maxime Horlaville

Halfway through the build, Gabart’s sponsors of his winning Vendée Globe campaign and successful around the world solo record with his previous Ultime, Macif, announced that they would not continue to back him. However, he has since secured the backing of a French cosmetics firm, Kresk, and was able to complete the build.

Design was a joint project between VPLP and MerConcept’s in-house team, with GSEA Design and CDK Technologies working on the floats, front and rear arms, and foils. Multiplast built the central hull, C3 Technologies the centreboard and rudders. Sails are by North Sails for the sails with a Lorima mast.

Low profile from bow to stern with the two ‘fighter jet’ pods just visible abaft the foil Photo: Maxime Horlaville

François Gabart said on launch day: “This boat is exclusively designed for offshore flight. We are living an extraordinary revolution and we do not know how far it can take us. Everything is possible and we have no limits, the trimaran SVR-Lazartigue embodies this approach. ”

After sea trials, Gabart’s first race with SVR-Lazartigue will be the transatlantic Transat Jaques Vabre, which starts from Le Havre on November 7th. Next year will be Route du Rhum, building up the single-handed around the world race for Ultims in 2023.

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Forty days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds: that is the time that is embedded in the psyche of crews currently challenging for the Jules Verne trophy.

The clock will mercilessly count down 983 hours as they attempt the near-impossible: to beat Francis Joyon’s blistering time set on Idec Sport three years ago; to become the first foiling trimarans to fly around the world; and maybe, just maybe, to break the incredible 40-day barrier.

The odds are stacked against them. Thomas Coville, skipper of Sodebo, says the chance of success is “only 20 to 25%”.

Sodebo training in strong winds in the Gulf of Morbihan. Photo: Pierre Bouras/DPPI

Charles Caudrelier, co-skipper of rival challenger Gitana 17, ranks his fortunes similarly. “I was surprised, I think the statistics are very optimistic, and in the statistics the boats never break, but it’s around a 30% chance to beat the record [based on] the polars. “Which is quite good,” he adds sanguinely.

On November 25, both trimarans set off within hours of each other on their first Jules Verne record attempt of 2020. Gitana had to turn back after three days after colliding with a ‘UFO’ (unidentified floating object), but the team has vowed to repair and restart as soon as possible.

Sodebo, meanwhile, was having a great run – extending to over 200 miles ahead of Idec Sport’s position, and regularly posting days with 30-35-knot averages. But on 11 December they too had to retire, after colliding with an underwater object and damaging the starboard rudder. Skipper Thomas Coville explained: “I am very disappointed, but I am not downcast because it is obvious: we will come back. We have a group and a boat to do it, we have a partner who wants to go back too, so the future is in front of us…. it got off to a good start, [and] it’s not over yet!”

But how do you plan to attack something with such a gossamer thin margin, when you have at best a 1 in 4 chance of success?

Man versus machine

There are two teams hoping to defy the improbable. Franck Cammas is looking to claim his second Jules Verne trophy with Gitana 17, the Edmond de Rothschild trimaran he co-skippers with Charles Caudrelier. Gitana will be sailing with a crew of just six.

The Verdier-designed Gitana was launched in 2017 and was originally part of the embryonic Ultime class, but the team wanted to incorporate more automation than Ultime rules permitted and this year stepped out of the class. For the Jules Verne, they have a flight control ‘servo loop’ that automatically trims some of the foils.

Article continues below…

Battle of the giants: The inside story of the Brest Atlantiques Race

On Tuesday 5 November four giant trimarans – Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, Macif, Sodebo and Actual Leader, and their double-handed…

Trying to break the 40-day barrier: Thomas Coville and the most radical Ultime yet

This week solo yachtsman Thomas Coville opened the doors to the build of his Sodebo Ultim 3, the newest Ultime…

“It’s not a race, so we are allowed to use an auto-trim for the appendages,” explained Caudrelier. “We don’t have enough energy to [use it] to move the foils, but all the flaps of the rudders and the daggerboards can be managed by the pilot. It’s new, and it’s quite efficient.

“The question is: how much energy do we want to spend on that, [how much] weight of fuel do we carry? So we have to find a balance, but we think we’ll use it probably 50% of the time, because in certain conditions it’s really another jump of performance.” The gain can be as much as 5%.

The Gitana team will be sailing with two crew on deck on watch, and a third on standby. “With two guys we can have one driver and one adjusting all the appendages. On these big boats you don’t trim the sails so much, you find an average and you don’t spend your time trimming because you would kill your rigging very quickly,” says Caudrelier.

Photo: Vincent Curutchet / Sodebo

Thomas Coville has taken a different approach, choosing to sail with eight. His Sodebo Ultim 3 is the newest of the big tris, and designed to be lighter, less loaded, with a smaller sailplan. It is not automated.

“I decided to invest in humans,” Coville says. “I’ve made the choice to be eight to have two guys – myself and Mark Keruzoré, our media man – off watch. Then two guys on stand-by and two guys off, and you can be sure that when you’re off, you won’t be disturbed.”

Rest will be key. “These machines need to have people who are well recovered, that are fresh and can concentrate. We’re going to be potentially able to steer all the time. We’ve got autopilot, but sometimes you need to be to be 100% and to push the boat,” he explains.

Autopilot development in both the foiling multihulls and IMOCAs has made huge advances, but there are still conditions when a human on the wheel is faster, particularly in downwind VMG mode.

Constant crew rotation will be necessary, however, because maintaining concentration on the helm is so critical. “One hour is the maximum. When we are flying in VMG mode it’s a very narrow margin on the helm and you have to be very concentrated,” explains Cammas.

There are other drains on the crew. Besides the workload of manoeuvres, simply existing on board is exhausting. “These boats are pretty hard on your body now,” explains Sodebo crew member Sam Goodchild, “We do everything we can to avoid injuries, which includes protective gear. We’ve got helmets and skullcaps and padding in basically everywhere you can have padding in foul weather gear.”

Apparent windspeeds over the deck can easily hit 50-60 knots. Photo: Martin Keruzoré

The relentless noise of flying through the ocean for five weeks is also energy sapping. “Life on board is quite difficult. With the foils humming and just the banging of waves going fast all the time it’s quite tiring. So we take earplugs and noise cancelling headphones to help us with our off watches,” explains Goodchild.

The noise level is so high that a crew member in the pit, basically next to the helmsman’s knees on Sodebo, would not be able to hear the helmsman in his ‘tank commander’ driving position, so they use a headset comms system.

“In every manoeuvre we’ve got the helmsman, pitman and bowman connected and there’s also a speaker in the cockpit so the whole cockpit can hear what’s happening,” explains Goodchild. “The apparent wind over the deck is huge; if the boat’s going 30, 40 knots, which is quite normal, and we’ve got 25 knots of wind you can have 50 or 60 knots of apparent wind over the deck quite easily. So fairly quickly you don’t hear a lot!”

Life at 40 knots in the cockpit. Photo: Vincent Curutchet / Sodebo

20,000 miles of foiling

The trimarans are on the very edge of development and go through a constant cycle of modifications. Since last year’s Brest Atlantiques race the Gitana team has worked on aerodynamics, including a new cuddy roof which endplates more closely to the boom, and altering the angles of the enormous fairings that stretch across the beams.

The foil and appendages shapes have also been refined. “Today our big problem is cavitation, because we reach some very high speeds, 45 or 46 knots,” says Caudrelier. The jumps in performance are considerable. “We have managed to push the maximum speed before cavitation from around 40-42 knots to 44-45 knots, so that’s a big step. The boat has never been so fast.”

Sodebo has also gained T-foils on the centre daggerboard and main rudder, which means that sustained flight is now possible at levels that are surpassing even Coville’s expectations. “Last week we were delivering the boat for sponsor sailing in Vendée. For three hours, we were in rough seas. It was 4 or 5m on the offside and we were sailing between 35-45 knots of boat speed all the time. I have to admit that I would not have even imagined that one year ago.”

The central ‘pod’ is situated forward of the mast on the Sodebo Ultim 3. Photo: Martin Keruzoré

Over the 26,000-odd miles of their circumnavigation, how much could potentially be sailed in foiling mode? “About a year ago, I would have told you 20%. Now, I would say it could be more like 80%,” says Coville, “And we are just at the beginning. Every day we go sailing, we’re learning more. But I’m pretty sure that we are going to fly for more than 50%.”

Caudrelier agrees: “If you stop flying you lose more than 10 or 20% of performance, so it’s not the same boat. And there will be strong winds where we will not really fly, but we will be in skimming mode, when the waves are too big. But still, 50 to 60% around the world in some sort of flight mode is space travel.”

Shoreside commanders

Yet a Jules Verne record is not won on the water: a huge factor in each challenger’s chances is down to their weather routing, directed by a commander on shore.

Photo: Martin Keruzoré

Sodebo’s weather router is Jean Luc Nelias, Coville’s right hand man for many years, who also directed him to his 2016 solo around the world record. Gitana has the legendary Marcel van Triest, who has worked with Caudrelier and Cammas closely in the past on their Dongfeng and Groupama campaigns, and routed both Loïck Peyron on Banque Populaire and current record holder Francis Joyon on Idec Sport to Jules Verne wins.

The first, and greatest, challenge is to choose the best weather window in which to leave Ushant. Get this wrong – even by a few hours – and a team’s chances of beating the record could be over even before they have exited the Bay of Biscay.

With the benchmark time to the Cape of Good Hope less than 12 days, there is a balancing act between not only finding the optimal forecast for the Atlantic, but also setting up the boat with the best chances of hooking into a favourable low pressure system roaring eastwards around the Southern Oceans.

‘These new machines are going to beat the record. It will happen’ – Thomas Coville. Photo: Martin Keruzoré

“I try to look at the situation from the start line in Ushant to more or less the point of entry to the Indian Ocean, so basically south of Cape Town,” explains van Triest. “We know the reference times for that, so we can have a forecast, although in the South Altantic it will be no more than a trend.

“Then you try to judge what happens after Cape Town, because you can have a situation with a high pressure ridge off South Africa and ice to the south, which makes the entry into the Indian Ocean really narrow. To get around it, if you see a situation that is a 600-mile wide entry into the Indian Ocean, you’re willing to arrive at Cape Town a little bit slower, but it will be easier to get into the westerlies.

“Also, these boats are now so quick that you need a Southern Ocean weather system that is quick enough that they can stay in the same system the whole time. So you’re going around at more or less at the speed that the low is.” Idec Sport, van Triest says, rode a single system from Madagascar almost to New Zealand.

The Atlantic may also be where the foilers make the biggest gains on the record. “Where we have most improved the speed of the boat is upwind reaching – like the parts of the Doldrums where you are upwind and slowly the wind is lifting. This is where we have the biggest difference of speed compared to boats like Idec,” says Caudrelier.

“Their upwind speed was between 19-21, now we can achieve between 25-30 depending on the sea state.” In order to determine the best window, van Triest is reanalysing historic weather data. “We have done 6,000 routings covering the last 12 years,” explains Caudrelier, “One start every six hours, every day, during the standby period.”

Seeing the unknown

Once the crews are underway, the routers will fall into a twilight world of 24-7 weather analysis, endlessly programming routes further and further down the track and offering a constant stream of information to the skippers. One key decision is how far south to go, and for that the routers need to know where the icebergs are. Sailing additional mileage to avoid ice can be fatal to a record bid’s chances; not avoiding ice at 35 knots doesn’t bear thinking about.

Photo: Eloi Stichelbaut / PolaRYSE / Gitana

“They’re going to a part of the world no one is interested in. Further north there is commercial shipping, and further south is the ice shelf where there is lots of scientific interest, but the bit in the middle: no-one cares basically. Which means there is very, very little data available in the public domain,” explains van Triest.

The solution is to request the data from specialist companies. “We use a company called CLS. They’ve got two techniques mainly: one is with altimeters that measures the distance from satellites to the Earth’s surface, or sea level in this case, and if that is higher because there is an object there, you know it is either an iceberg or a ship.

“Then you cross-reference that against AIS to take out any ships, and the other ones are possibly ice. The disadvantage is this has got a very narrow footprint, so it’s like throwing a big fishing net to catch a small fish.

Gitana’s crew have been maximising sea trial time in preparation for the gruelling Jules Verne Trophy attempt. Photo: Eloi Stichelbaut / PolaRYSE / Gitana

“That defines the zones that are really of interest. And then you can order pictures, which are called SAR images. They are done with a radar on a satellite: the scatter that comes back from the earth’s surface gets captured, and analysed and it creates an artificial image.” But the costs of this are eye-watering: a single image can easily range up to £4,000. “It adds up pretty quickly,” notes van Triest.

Request your image at short notice and the price rises steeply, request it too early, and the ice may have drifted from its known position, rendering it useless. That the Jules Verne trimarans are likely to be in the Southern Ocean at a similar time to this year’s Vendée Globe fleet may ameliorate the costs slightly, as the Vendée race committee will also be analysing ice position.

It is not only ice that the crews need to avoid. During the Brest Atlantiques Race three-quarters of the Ultimes suffered serious foil damage, all attributed to suspected collisions with unidentified floating objects. The teams are trying to develop various solutions, but none are reliable.

Gitana 17 training off Lorient – the new trimarans have made major upwind speed gains. Photo: Eloi Stichelbaut / PolaRYSE / Gitana

They include a ‘whale pinger’ – an alarm audible to sea life that is designed to scare large mammals away from the oncoming boat – and an infrared camera in the mast that interfaces with software to identify hazards. At these speeds, however, its accuracy is limited.

“It is supposed to send an alarm when it sees something not normal in the water, but that is very difficult and it’s not working well. We are working every day on it but it’s just the beginning of this system,” explains Caudrelier.

Sodebo employs similar systems, but Coville concedes that, in practical terms, “We’ve got nothing, or nothing real.” Rather than trying to avoid collisions, they have been trying to protect the boat against the inevitable, with hydraulics that can absorb some of the loads if the rudders or boards have a moderate impact.

Photo: Yann Riou / polaRYSE / Gitana

“You can’t avoid everything, but [the hydraulics] can absorb 10 or 15 tons sometimes. They’ve been working pretty good actually, and a few times it’s saved our boat already,” he explains. “We want to control more and more, but at some stage you have to accept that you can’t control everything.”

Breaking 40

So are this generation of foiling adventurers attempting the impossible? Marcel van Triest knows the true chances of setting an around the world record better than almost anybody, based on cold, hard data: “I think sub-40 days is very realistic, given the potential of the boats.

“To get under 39, you need a perfect window. You need a bit of a break with the ice, and you need a bit of luck in the Atlantic coming back up. And above all, you have to keep all your bits underwater attached to the boat.”

The ebullient Thomas Coville is not a man who worries about things being deemed impossible.  “I don’t know if we’re going to beat that record this year, it’s the first time that a flying boat is attempting it. But one thing I know is that it is going to be beaten. There’s no doubt in my mind that these new machines are going to beat that record. It will happen.”

First published in the December 2020 issue of Yachting World.

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