The six sailors at the start of the Ultim Challenge race set off on Sunday from the Breton coast for a solo round-the-world trip on a trimaran (a three-hull boat). This is the first edition of this race.
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After the tears shed during the departure of the pontoons, the six sailors at the start of the Ultim Challenge set off on Sunday January 7 under a radiant sun off the coast of Brest for the first solo around the world race on a trimaran, a crazy journey to aboard super-powerful machines.
Shortly after 1:30 p.m., Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild), Thomas Coville (Sodebo), Tom Laperche (SVR Lazartigue), Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque populaire), Anthony Marchand (Actual) and Éric Péron (Adagio) cut the starting line on 32 meter long sailboats with, in front of their bows, a course of 40,000 kilometers around the globe.
In very mild conditions for a Breton Sunday in January, some of the six giant multihulls began to fly on their foils, these side appendages which allow the boat to rise above the water to reach crazy speeds. An hour after departure, Laperche took the fleet at more than 30 knots (55 km/h) heading west-southwest in the Atlantic, followed less than a mile (1.8 km) by Armel Le Cléac ‘h and Charles Caudrelier.
The fastest could take around fifty days to complete the 21,600 nautical miles of this race, after having rounded the three legendary capes of Good Hope (South Africa), Leeuwin (Australia) and the Horn (Chile).
Moving goodbyes
At daybreak, the six solo sailors left the Brest pontoons one after the other, during an emotional goodbye with their loved ones in this city of all sailing records.
“Obviously, there is emotion, but we will have to quickly switch to racing mode at the start,” said Anthony Marchand, 38, shedding a tear when he found his team, gathered around the mast of his Ultim to welcome him. “We are going for an extraordinary race, but it will really be extraordinary when we finish it,” he added.
Wife in tears, stressed family, children at the closed mines, the last embraces were full of emotion during the departure, which began at 10 a.m. to the loud applause of a large audience who came to the port.
Racing in the morning light towards the starting line out of Brest harbor, the six sailors were then accompanied by their close guard, teammates who left them alone a few minutes before the start, sometimes by jumping into the water just before the cannon fire.
“One of the biggest challenges of our career”
“Everything comes together for a very beautiful story, I grew up here in Finistère, I learned to sail here. It brings me joy to see everyone gathered to encourage us. It’s up to me to succeed in my mission from now on,” said explained Armel Le Cléac’h, who is setting off on his fourth round the world trip, the first in a trimaran after three Vendée Globes, including a victory in 2017.
Completing a solo round-the-world trip on a trimaran, much faster but also much more fragile and risky than a monohull, is an extremely rare accomplishment. Only seven sailors have so far achieved this feat, including only four who have done it non-stop.
The latest is the Charentais François Gabart, setting the record for the exercise in 2017, after 42 days spent at sea during an attempt outside the race. Sunday, he was on the SVR Lazartigue to accompany Tom Laperche who, at 26, has now set off on his first circumnavigation.
“It’s super strong to see him here with the team. There’s impatience, stress, concentration, emotion, a little bit of everything… I’m going to make the most of it,” said Tom Laperche, winner of the Solitaire du Figaro in 2022.
“The objective is already to cross the finish line with a boat in good condition. It is one of the biggest challenges of all of our careers”, summarized Charles Caudrelier, winner of the last Route Rum.
With AFP