ultim trimaran speed

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The Supreme Soloists of the Ultimes

• By James Boyd
• January 9, 2024

On January 7, ocean racing will take another evolutionary step with the mind-boggling feat of six brave Frenchmen who will set off from Brest in northwest France on board their giant 105-by-75-foot foiling trimarans—around the world, nonstop. Singlehanded. The new event is the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest, a sprint marathon that is expected to take 45 days or less at an ­average of 20 knots.

The present record for a solo lap of the planet stands at 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes, 35 seconds, but when this was set in 2018, skipper François Gabart had the luxury of departing with an optimal 10-day forecast (covering the first quarter of his voyage all the way down to the Southern Ocean). Competitors in the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest will have to leave on the designated start date and make the best of whatever Mother Nature offers them. However, while Gabart’s MACIF trimaran is going again (in new livery as Anthony Marchand’s Actual Ultim 3 ), it is now one of the older of the six trimarans that will set out. The newest Ultims, which harness the latest offshore foiling technology, are much, much faster.

Two of the biggest names in solo round-the-world ­record-breaking will be missing from the lineup; Gabart has passed over the helm of his Ultim to “the next generation” in Tom Laperche. Francis Joyon, who demolished the record for the solo lap on two occasions, bringing it down from 125 days to 72 days in 2005 and from 71 days to 57 days four years later, is now 67. While all six starting skippers are highly experienced, they range in age from 55-year-old Thomas Coville, skipper of Sodebo Ultim 3 , to 26-year-old Laperche.

Coville is the race titan. When it comes to racing large trimarans around the world singlehanded, his experience is unprecedented. He’s been attempting circumnavigation records on large trimarans since 1997 and as a skipper since 2008. On his fifth attempt in 2016, he finally set a new record only for it to be broken a year later by Gabart. He also has raced in the America’s Cup and the Volvo Ocean Race (winning it with Franck Cammas on Groupama in 2011-12) and was twice part of crews claiming the Jules Verne Trophy (fully crewed, nonstop around-the-world record). He has completed circumnavigations eight times—four times solo and six times on trimarans.

The most hotly tipped skippers, however, are Armel le Cléac’h, 46, on Maxi Banque Populaire XI, and Charles Caudrelier, 49, on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild . While Caudrelier is best known for being a two-time Volvo Ocean Race winner (with Groupama , then as skipper of Dongfeng Race Team in 2017-18), both cut their teeth solo racing in the French one-design Figaro circuit. But when it comes to solo offshore credentials, Le Cléac’h knocks it out of the park. He’s won La Solitaire three times, most recently in 2020, and crucially for the upcoming Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest has also raced in three Vendée Globe races, finishing on the podium in all and winning in 2016-17.

Le Cléac’h’s trimaran was launched in 2021 as a replacement for his ­previous Banque Populaire-backed Ultim, which broke up terminally in the 2018 Route du Rhum. Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is unique in the race for being designed by Guillaume Verdier, while the rest are from VPLP (although in every case, the team itself offers substantial input). While Caudrelier has won most Ultim silverware in recent seasons, including the singlehanded Route du Rhum trans-Atlantic race in 2022, Le Cléac’h ended his run by winning this fall’s Transat Jacques Vabre race between Le Havre in northern France and the French Caribbean island of Martinique.

Tom Laperche has taken over as skipper of Francois Gabart’s SVR-Lazartigue for solo races. This is Gabart’s second Ultim trimaran and is considered the most advanced of the six. Laperche won La Solitaire du Figaro in 2022 and has raced with Gabart on the Ultim ever since the boat was launched. He gained his round-the-world experience on the IMOCA Holcim in The Ocean Race.

Also inheriting his Ultim campaign is Anthony Marchand, who took over the helm of Actual Ultim 3 from Yves le Blevec in January. Launched in 2015, Actual Ultim 3 is Gabart’s former MACIF ­trimaran, which is the present holder of the solo round-the-world record. Marchand, 38, sets off with vast experience on ORMA 60 trimarans, in the Figaro class, the Volvo Ocean Race (competing in 2015-16 on MAPFRE ) and in the IMOCA.

Fundamentally, the rule limits length to 32 meters and width to 23 meters, and the complex foil configuration on all six Ultims is fairly similar. 

Éric Péron, 42, is the race’s last-minute entry, and as a newcomer to the Ultim class, he will likely back marker. Péron has a strong background in the Figaro and Ocean 50 trimaran classes, and his trimaran Adagio was previously Sodebo Ultim , on which Coville set both his solo round-the-world and west-to-east trans-Atlantic records.

While there is an Ultim 32/23 rule, the design parameters of these incredible machines is a work in progress. Fundamentally, the rule limits length to 32 meters and width to 23 meters. The complex foil configuration on all six Ultims is fairly similar. Each of the boats has six appendages, including the giant, retracting rake-adjustable J-foils (of varying shapes) in the floats. The latest-generation foils have grown larger, enabling the trimarans to fly both downwind and upwind in less wind. Among the three front-runners, the most recent edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre demonstrated that SVR-Lazartigue has the lowest take-off speed, while Maxi Banque Populaire XI ’s foils work best in waves. Maxi Edmond de Rothschild lies somewhere between these two positions.

Unique to the Ultims is the T-foil pioneered by Caudrelier’s team on their MOD70 (now Giovanni Soldini’s Maserati ). Located in the center hull, this is effectively a daggerboard with a trim tab (to aid pointing ability upwind) and an elevator. This foil is used in a similar fashion to how AC50 catamaran crews negatively raked their windward rudder elevator to produce downforce, sucking the weather hull down. When a gust hits an Ultim, the crew can drop the traveler, but a more energy efficient response is to increase pitch on the T-foil’s elevator to create additional downforce. Then there are three rudders (one on each hull), each with an elevator. The rudders in the floats can be raised (typically the windward one) to reduce drag.

Aside from the significant developments to the foils, especially to reduce cavitation at high speed, teams have been focusing on improving aerodynamic efficiency. The Ultims now have low-drag vinyl fairings for the aft side of their crossbeams, and on some boats, the deck itself forms an endplate for the foot of sails. Living quarters have improved dramatically and, like modern IMOCAs, are becoming increasingly enclosed. The most extreme among them is Sodebo Ultim 3 , where the front of Coville’s “bridge” is forward of the mast step.

Autopilots have transcended beyond being able to steer to course, apparent wind angle or even true wind angle. Depending on the point of sail, the pilot will now automatically head up or bear away when a gust hits. 

The rigs are the same as those that have been fitted to French multihulls for the past 30 years—a rotating wing mast with each shroud terminating in a giant hydraulic ram, permitting the rig (and its center of effort) to be canted to weather. This reduces the downward force on the leeward bow, which can cause multihulls to pitchpole. Whether this is still required is a moot point because today’s foils effectively keep the leeward bow from immersing.

Due to the sheer physics of an Ultim, aided by the canting rig and the mast being stepped so far aft, the risk of capsize is almost ­nonexistent, Caudrelier says: “The Ultims are the safest multihulls because they fly, because they are big, but also because we have made huge improvements to the pilots with safety functions, and also we have a nice automatic ­system to ease the sails. It is quite safe. I don’t worry too much about capsizing, but I have in the back of my mind that it can happen.”

Thanks to teams working with such companies as B&G and Pixel sur Mer, Ultim autopilots have transcended beyond being able to steer to course, apparent wind angle or even true wind angle. Depending on the point of sail, the pilot (using what’s referred to as its “safety overlay”) will now automatically head up or bear away when a gust hits, which it can detect by the wind instruments or an inclinometer. In extreme circumstances, they have systems to dump the sheets, although these too seem to be near-redundant. 

An interesting point of dispute between the Ultim teams is how much automation should be permitted. Caudrelier’s team is pro automation, while other teams are less so. As a result, the autopilot can perform these functions but cannot, for example, adjust the boat’s flying mechanism, to automatically set ride height, pitch, etc.

If capsize is less of a concern, then the skipper’s biggest worries are technical failures on their giant boats, as well as collisions. They have tried to overcome the former through sheer time at sea, testing and failing to improve reliability. Le Cléac’h, for example, says that in the past year, he has sailed Maxi Banque Populaire XI some 20,000 miles, or half a circumnavigation. This has been solo and crewed, in a mix of races, private sea trials and the Ultim fleet training en masse. To avoid collisions, the Ultims have all available kit from radar to AIS alarms to the latest tech such as SEA.AI, which uses a masthead-mounted camera array to see objects—floating or semisubmerged—in the water ahead of the boat. These are compared in real time with the SEA.AI’s huge and ever-growing database of objects to identify them as threats.

In the recent Transat Jacques Vabre, Maxi Edmond de Rothschild suffered rudder issues soon after the start (later found to be a delaminating starboard rudder) and then damage to its port J-foil, but it still finished the race. It seems, therefore, very likely that this level of attrition can be expected in the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest. Caudrelier says that this proved to be a wake-up call for his team as well as valuable practice for how to deal with midrace technical issues. For example, the J-foil damage occurred after a small impact. “But while we were sailing, the damage increased,” he says. Perhaps it would have been faster in the long term to stop, fix the issue, and then continue, he muses. For bigger issues, race’s sailing instructions permit skippers to pitstop where their teams can join them to effect repairs, but in this case, they are obliged to spend a minimum of 24 hours in port as a penalty.

To help reduce risks, OC Sport Pen Duick, the race’s organizers, are ­imposing a movable virtual ice barrier as we have seen in other round-the-world races. Competitors must stay north of this, regardless of whether it drives them into high pressure or storms. Interestingly, they are also imposing exclusion zones around known breeding grounds for whales (yet to be defined at the time of writing).

The Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest may be a solo race, but each campaign is genuinely a team affair. Ultim teams today are giant, some the scale of America’s Cup teams two or three decades ago, with their own in-house designers, engineers, hydro and aerodynamic specialists, and electronic and hydraulic experts. In the event of a technical issue during the race, skippers can now get immediate support using reliable satellite communications. The most consistent remote support each skipper gets is with their routing. In the Ultim class, shore-based routing is permitted. Le Cleac’h, for example, is using Dutch legend Marcel van Triest and French skipper/navigator Nicolas Lunven to provide round-the-clock routing assistance.

Ultims are fast—50 knots is very possible—but skippers are less interested in top speed and entirely focused on maintaining high averages of 30 to 35 knots. They don’t need much wind to achieve such a pace, however. An Ultim’s optimal conditions are broad-reaching in 20 to 25 knots. Any more wind than that, and the sea state gets too large to foil safely. Even in optimal wind conditions, skippers must back off if sea state and wave direction is not ideal. Understanding this is vital to the routing process.

The Ultims are potentially so fast that their routing team can go a long way in ensuring that they stay in optimal conditions. For example, in the Southern Ocean, if they can get into the optimal reaching conditions in flat water ahead of a front, they can potentially ride this for days. But the biggest limitation is the solo skipper. The Ultims typically carry a mainsail and four headsails, including two gennakers and a permanently hoisted J2, all set on furlers. Tacking and jibing requires the sails to be released and sheeted in, the mast to be canted and tacked, and foils and rudders to be raised and lowered. It’s a process that typically takes 20 to 30 minutes. Le Cleac’h says that the most time-consuming sail change is going from the J0 to the J1 because the sails are heavy (around 120 kg), and this can take up to an hour. Factoring all this into the routing is vital because the skipper on his own can do only so much.

“If reaching 95 percent of the boat’s potential requires making three jibes and four tacks and to change two sails, it will be difficult to do that if you are tired,” Le Cleac’h says. His routers offer him three options—from the one offering optimal performance to the easiest for him to achieve—which can be decided based on his energy level and capabilities.

One positive for the skippers is that the required endurance is comparably short compared with a Vendée Globe effort, but still, so much remains unknown as they embark on this extreme test of man and machine. 

“It is a bit like the first Vendée Globe,” Caudrelier says. “It is not quite the same because we know where we are going, but it is the first one, so it is a bit of an adventure. Usually you push to the maximum constantly, but for me, this is the first time I can’t do that. We will have to find the good balance between good performance and safety of the boat. That is an interesting exercise.”

• More: Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest , Print January 2024 , Racing , Sailboat Racing
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We sailed aboard the Ultim foiling trimaran Gitana17:Edmond de Rothschild

With the flying machine in full swing, note the adjustable end flap (yellow) at the bottom of the daggerboard (equipped with a trimmer). The 15.5 t and 32x23m of Gitana 17 sits on 4 points (leeward foil, central and port rudder blade and daggerboard flap)

At full speed, the foiler exceeds 40 knots, so you can understand the importance of aerodynamic optimization!

Sébastien Josse standing on the cap of the gigantic foiler. Note the log showing 35.7 knots of boatspeed with less than 20 knots of true wind!

Helming such an exceptional machine provides unforgettable pleasure... Philippe Echelle, chief tester at Multihulls World is one happy sailor!

The awesome deck plan of an Ultim foiler: hydraulics, computers, deck hardware, winches and custom-made columns developed in the USA as part of a partnership with Harken... Welcome aboard a flying trimaran of the future!

The protective capsule of Gitana 17 is a beautiful carbon structure, luminous, slender and strong. New ergonomics are needed to control a machine in which the apparent wind is constantly very strong and where there is generous spray

Sébastien Josse shows the screen for controlling all the parameters of the flight. Each appendage is loaded with sensors whose values are displayed in digital and analogue (on the image of the trimaran).

The foiler’s cockpit and life pod. Thomas Rouxel is adjusting the foil incidence (rake) from 5.50 high by means of the small, carbon half-wheel (it controls its action of 0 to 4° from the image of the boat on the screen in front of him)

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Published 20/09/2018

By Philippe Echelle

Published: nov. / dec. 2018

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Issue #: 162

Published: November / December 2018

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Gitana: A family of prestigious, classic boats

In 1876, Baroness Julie de Rothschild commissioned Thornycroft shipyard to build a 24.45m record steamer. The first of the Gitanas would be timed on Lake Geneva at 20.5 knots (an extraordinary speed for the period!): the world record! The Gitana saga had begun! In the 1960s, Baron Benjamin (founder of the financial group in 1953) revived the family enthusiasm for boating and racing.

The transformation into a racing team mainly dedicated to multihulls

In 2000 Ariane and Benjamin de Rothschild established a real competition team that recruits its skippers from among the cream of the crop: Fred Le Peutrec, Loïck Peyron, Jean Le Cam, Thierry Duprey Du Vorsent and Lionel Lemonchois have been among those elected. The first racing trimaran was the former Elf III, now Gitana IX (Designed by G.Ollier - Multiplast). Then came the first boat entirely developed by the team: Gitana X. Its design was already based on the characteristics that were to become the hallmark of the team: daring techniques and aesthetics were being sought. The X was the product of a unique collaboration (something not yet undertaken in 2002!) between Gilles Ollier, Sebastien Schmidt, Mario Caponnetto and Duncan Mac Lane. Geared towards performance at Grand Prix level, this boat with X-arms was a little fragile for ocean racing.

By now the team had gained experience and made the informed choice of the acquisition of Jean Luc Nélias' ex-Belgacom (VPLP / Larros / CDK). Fred Le Peutrec and Loïck Peyron were the skippers, before Lionel Lemonchois' fantastic ride in the 2006 Route du Rhum, with an incredible victory in 7 days 17 hours! It was one of the most fantastic performances in this race since its inception. The boat was then to be transformed and extended by 17' to be eligible for the new Ultim class, and would then come 4th in the 2010 Route du Rhum, with Yann Guichard. Gitana 12 (formerly Jean Le Cam’s Bonduelle) was to be the team’s last Orma before the acquisition of one of the 4 giants of the time: Loïck Peyron’s former Innovation Explorer. Perfectly prepared, the big catamaran measuring 32.80m set out on a series of ocean records in 2008. From 2009 through 2012, the one-design circuit of the Extreme40 Sailing Series mobilized the team's multihull activity with Pierre Pennec at the helm. In 2011, the Mod 70 series started to look promising: one-design with a dynamic calendar. The bar had been raised! An ideal boat for the team. Alas the system rapidly collapsed: Sébastien Josse and Charles Caudrelier’s victory in the Transat Jacques Vabre was to be the high point of the adventure. Transformed into an experimental flying trimaran, which makes L foils progress quickly (the most efficient at the time), the Mod 70 Gitana 15 returned under the hand of Guillaume Verdier (one of the pioneers of the Team New Zealand foiler during the America’s Cup). This boat was to become the first modern ocean foiler: it paved the way for Gitana 17:Edmond de Rothschild.

Gitana 17:Edmond de Rothschild, the first flying Ultim trimaran

Launched after Macif (CDK/VPLP in original Archimedean version, holder of the single-handed round the world record), but before Banque Populaire IX (CDK/VPLP), Gitana 17 was a born foiler: Guillaume Verdier's radical and highly innovative design is characterized by rectangular section arms, streamlined and without curvature (for better platform rigidity and increased reliability), a very large elevation of the topsides of the floats and optimized aerodynamics. From a hydrodynamic point of view, the flat U-shaped float and hull sections provide the planing shapes that maximize lift and avoid getting "sucked down". These flat bottoms in monolithic carbon also play a stiffening role to counteract the twisting loads on the foils when in action (50 tonnes!). The boat was designed around its appendages at the end of the Mod70 test campaign: 3 inverted T-rudder blades, 2 L-shaped foils with XXL dimensions (5.40m!), and a central T-shaped daggerboard with trimmer and flap at the extremity. Maximum height on the water, maximum platform stiffness and minimum aero and hydrodynamic drag: these are the parameters of this aggressive and futuristic design.

The technical, conceptual and financial challenge

If the figures make us dizzy, they also express the reality of design and manufacture of such a speed machine that is actually evolving for the first time in the air-water interface. These 15.5 tons of black fiber required the investment of 250 stakeholders in all. These included 40 composites specialists who spent 20 months on its production, 35,000 hours of design team time and 135,000 hours of construction! The complex mobile appendages of such a flying machine have required the intervention of 3 different manufacturers in order not to risk weakening a company in case of default on one of the parts (the two foils cost €500,000 for example!). Eligio Re Fraschini (foils) is a strong, high-tech company specializing in the manufacture of Formula 1 chassis, avionics composite parts and large-vessel propellers; Heol's Morbihan team has an extraordinary mastery of hollow carbon parts and pre-impregnated material in general. This composites alchemist put together the central daggerboard with its trimmer and end flaps. C3 Technologie in La Rochelle operates in the same areas and also manufactures all-carbon passenger aircraft. Here’s are some amazing numbers: Foils with a height of 5.50m withstand up to 130t of load before breaking! The construction budget of the boat: €15M; the annual budget of the team: €3.5 M (but compare this with the budget, for example, of the Sky cycling team: €35 M!! And they’re not even building an innovative boat!

Just a perfect day!

I’m sure Lou Reed will forgive me for borrowing this from one of his iconic songs, but these are the words that came to my mind when I left the maxi foiler. Some notes on a Steinway, a heady, addictive melody, a song that transcends time! My experiences of multihull flight are very limited: Some runs in Windrider Rave in the late 90s, the AC50 Groupama; the TF30 trimaran and finally Gitana 17. However, sailing each of these boats gave me an intense pleasure and revived my passion for multihulls! With these machines, life starts at 20 knots, explodes at 30 and reaches a climax at 40! Ocean flight isn’t 5 years old, but for a new generation of Jedi-navigators it opens a revolutionary sector in the sailing experience. It was the magicians of the appendages who made this miracle possible!

Our trip took place at the end of a night out with a small crew off the coast of Brittany. The crew: (Thomas Rouxel, Sébastien Josse, his teammate in the Transat Jacques Vabre, Nicolas Lunven who will be in charge of weather routing for the 2018 Route du Rhum and Sébastien Sainson who is a naval architect who graduated from Southampton, and is a member of the design team) We joined the trimaran SE of the Ile de Groix. The mastodon descended towards us with the wind behind and the mainsail sheet in to slow her down and stabilize her. A spectacular fender staircase is set up from the big 10m tender to allow us access on board.  Immediately, we are in for a collective 5 minute session of effort (with 4 of us!) on the grinders to lower the port foil (the biggest winch has been designed as a one-off by Harken USA for a permanent workload of 9 tonnes)! The rudders and the daggerboard are in the lowered position,  and the foil raked at 3° (a positive impact out of the possible 4°). We then unfurled the solent (again, sizeable effort is required and there are 4 of us on the grinders)! Sheeted hard in (as always on this kind of boat where the apparent wind is always very close to dead ahead, whatever the speed, this sailing rocket takes off in 12 knots of wind. Thomas Rouxel is at the wheel where the jumbo display regularly shows 25 knots of boatspeed when, suddenly, at 90° to the true wind that goes up to 15-16 knots, the powdery wake becomes huge, the speedo panics and the appendages pull us free from earthly attraction! 32 knots, the trimaran’s trim is so perfect that it seems unreal. We are flying! Sébastien Josse offers me the chance to take the helm. Well-secured on the navigating platform, titanium rim in hand, I poke my head through the opening roof and find myself in an exclusive, exceptional universe, that of one of the 5 Ultim multihulls which exist in the world. 

The helm sensation is quite a shock at first, but you get used to the size of the machine quickly. Sitting between 82 and 90° off an irregular wind, I manage to keep the machine in flight and semi-flight. The transitions between the Archimedean sequences and the 5-point takeoff are smooth, as is the landing. It’s extraordinary! The noise coming from aft is powerful, but the noise level of the appendages (perceived from the outside) is low; not at all like the wild beast howls of an AC50. The wind speed, just unbearable for a long time, is the reason why the navigation capsule includes the helm station and all the sail handling controls. A small removable windshield completes the device to help fight against the spray! In these ideal conditions, the speed is maintained between 22 and 36 knots and the steady behavior is so perfect that one has the impression of sailing on a well-honed, long-developed machine, whereas in reality, the job list is always full at the end of each test run. 

If Nicolas Lunven (weather) and Olivier Douillard (performance) manage to position the machine in good condition and a driver in shape on an optimized trajectory, the long flight sessions will allow a unique wake across the Atlantic. The English Channel, Biscay and The Azores are not short of rough crossings, delicate weather phenomena and crossed seas, all the opposite of the desired conditions for high speed. The bonus will go to the pilot who will fly the best and the most regularly, knowing that it is almost impossible to rest in these conditions...

At the helm, I observe the fantastic work of the foils and the careful preparation of this platform which provides extraordinary performance, and am fascinated by the snowy wake that we leave between Ile de Groix and Belle Ile! At 30 knots, on our way back, the perception of the entrance to the Chenal de Lorient is distorted and in a few minutes we are off the signal station, where the speed is limited to 6 knots! With all the sails eased, the 32m trimaran stops: it's over. All that’s required now is get the machine back alongside the dock using the 110hp engine and the two little tugs!

Name: GITANA17-EDMOND DE ROTHSCHILD

Naval Architects: Team Verdier-Gitana

Builder: Multiplast/ Appendages by Eligio Re Fraschini-Heol- C3 – Persico (coachroof tip), mast by Lorima

Length: 32m

Laden weight: 15.5t

Mast height: 35m

Upwind sail area: 450m²

Downwind sail area: 650m²

Construction: honeycomb carbon-epoxy, hull bottoms in monolithic carbon

Decor on hulls and sails (800m²): JB Epron based on an original work by Cleon Peterson

Text: Philippe Echelle Photos: Eloi Stichelbaut / Gitana SA and P.Echelle

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Ultim Foiling Trimarans Schedule and Behind the Scenes

Discussion in ' Multihulls ' started by Doug Lord , Apr 5, 2019 .

Doug Lord Flight Ready

From Tip and Shaft Newsletter today: ULTIM 32/23 CLASS: WHAT LIES BEHIND THEIR SCHEDULE On Tuesday in Paris, the Ultim 32/23 class unveiled its calendar for the next five years. They will be competing in two round the world races, including the Brest Oceans as the climax at the end of 2023, several transatlantic races , a race around Europe and this autumn, a double-handed 14,000 mile race across the North and South Atlantic. Tip & Shaft analyses what lies behind these events. After the accidents in the Route du Rhum , which led to the postponement of the Lorient-Bermuda Race and the Brest Oceans, the solo round the world race initially scheduled for late 2019, and then t he refusal of the Transat Jacques Vabre to allow the maxi trimarans to compete, the Ultim 32/23 class had to respond. After the problems they encountered during the winter of 2018, they are bouncing back with a new, ambitious 5-year programme . "It took a long time," admitted Patricia Brochard, the class president. The programme was supposed to have been announced two months ago, but it took a while for Banque Populaire to sign up again , and to analyse together the accidents in the Route du Rhum, while consulting towns and partners about the right choice of dates. It would seem that the reaction from Brest was the deciding factor : "They could have forced us to organise the solo round the world race in 2021,” explained Thomas Coville, whose Sodebo Ultim 3 has just sailed for the first time. “But they were exemplary. The possibility of postponing the race until 2023 meant that the situation became much clearer.” See Brest Atlantiques and Brest Oceans News here: Ultims Brest Oceans Race https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/ultims-brest-oceans-race.61545/ 2020: The Transat… or maybe not. The legendary race is on the calendar for the Ultims next year, which has annoyed its organiser, OC Sport Pen Duick. Contacted on Thursday, Hervé Favre , CEO told Tip & Shaft: " No agreement has so far been signed . Talks are ongoing, but the Notice of Race won’t be published until the end of May and nothing is certain. It looks like this announcement is an attempt to force us to allow them to race . The same goes for the next Route du Rhum." However, 2022 is still some way off and a lot could happen before then. No round the world race until 2021 … with six boats competing. Until the second half of 2021, the boats will remain in the Atlantic with a short incursion into the Mediterranean for the Round Europe Race, called The Arch , which is being organised by Damien Grimont (who was behind The Bridge). The start of the crewed round the world race at the end of 2021 will also start in the Mediterranean . The town for the start has officially not yet been announced, but everyone knows that the application from ASO and the City of Nice – who organised the Nice UltiMed in 2018 – is likely to be chosen. The timing means that Armel Le Cléac’h’s new Banque Populaire and François Gabart’s new trimaran will therefore be able to compete, so there should be at least six boats for this crewed race, as the former Macif will officially be up for sale this summer and will be available in 2020 after The Transat, and the delivery trip home, which Gabart is to attempt in record mode.  

Nice day for a walk in La Trinite-sur-Mer: posted in sa-no credit....  

Ultimes threaten Rolex Fastnet Race record destruction Unless there is a flat calm, it is very likely that the outright record will fall in this August's edition of the Royal Ocean Racing Club's premium event, the Rolex Fastnet Race. For leading the charge in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, with a fleet of 300-350 competing, will be the world's fastest offshore boats - the Ultimes. In the last windy Rolex Fastnet Race in 2011, the Loick Peyron-skippered Banque Populaire V blasted around the 608 mile course in 1 day, 8 hours and 48 minutes. But for the mighty 131ft (40m) long trimaran (later re-christened Spindrift 2) her average speed, a mere 18.53 knots, was like she was towing buckets. Two years earlier she had managed the 2880 mile west to east Atlantic crossing, averaging 32.94 knots. Today, while her transatlantic record may remain tough to beat, Banque Populaire V is old technology. Modern day Ultime trimarans at 100ft long may be shorter but, mostly thanks to their new foiling technology, are substantially faster. And this year's Rolex Fastnet Race will feature at least three of them. Francois Gabart: MACIF, all 30 x 21m of her, can fly in around 13 knots of wind but optimum conditions are 15-18 knots - more than this and the sea state becomes too lumpy. In her sweet spot MACIF has already touched 49.4 knots (in the Route du Rhum, singlehanded under autopilot) although he admits this is not the goal. "Our target is to average more than 40 knots." A 40 knots Rolex Fastnet Race would take just over 15 hours! Franck Cammas-Charles Caudrelier co-skipper set-up on board the rebuilt Edmond de Rothschild, following its bow breakage in last autumn's Route du Rhum. The latest Ultime, Thomas Coville's Sodebo Ultim 3. Coville is remarkable for having competing in almost every major sailing event from the America's Cup and Whitbread/Volvo Ocean Race (winning with Groupama 4) to the Mini, IMOCA 60, ORMA 60 and for more than a decade in giant multihulls, on which in 2016 he set a new solo round the world record (later broken by Gabart). www.rolexfastnetrace.com  

Sodebo Ultim 3 Foiling Trimaran

Arkea Ultim challenge : the race around the world, in solo !

Ultims are back in 2021, ultims are back, for the dhream cup july 19, brest atlantiques 2019 - ultims, ultims in next fastnet race 3rd august, ultim: actual leader, banque populaire xi- new ultim for 2020-21 by vplp, ultims brest oceans race, transat jacques vabre: no ultims-"the question did not arise".

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ULTIM EMOTION 2 MULTIPLAST

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Charles Caudrelier and the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild take the crown in Arkea Ultim Challenge - Brest

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Round the world race: 100ft trimarans set for solo race

The fastest offshore racing designs ever built, the foiling 100ft Ultim trimarans, will go head-to-head in a solo round the world race in 2023The Ultim class has announced the first single-handed race round the world for giant multihulls, the Solo Ultim World Tour.  This will likely be the most challenging ocean sailing race ever held. The solo skippers will need to navigate a course as arduous as the Vendée Globe, but will be doing so in 100ft foiling trimarans with complex appendages capable of sailing at 45 knots, with the ever-present risk of a split-second capsize. Six of the fastest ocean-racing designs in the world will be taking part in the new solo race round the world, with record-breaking sailors Armel Le Cléac’h, Charles Caudrelier and Thomas Coville among the solo skippers lining up. The Gitana entry Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is one of the most highly optimised big trimarans, and will be coming back into the Ultim class. Photo: Eloi Stichelbaut / PolaRYSE / Gitana Unsurprisingly, the race has been a long-time in coming to fruition. Now called the Solo Ultim World Tour, it will be organised by the hugely experienced event company OC Sport Pen Duick, in collaboration with the Class Ultim 32/23, to start in the autumn of 2023.

The concept was first mooted around 15 years ago, just as the notoriously skittish Orma trimarans were in their final days. A calendar was drawn up for the embryonic Ultime class which included solo and crewed round the world races, building up to a solo around the world race set for December 2019, then called the Brest Oceans.  Article continues below…

Aiming for the impossible: The inside story of the 2020 Jules Verne contenders

Forty days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds: that is the time that is embedded in the psyche of…

Coville sets incredible new 49-day solo round the world record – with a blistering average speed of 23 knots

Solo sailor Thomas Coville has pulverised one of the hardest records in sport: the single-handed round the world record. He…

However, in the 2018 Route du Rhum – the transatlantic race with a reputation for being something of a demolition derby – four of the big trimarans suffered severe damage. Armel le Cléac’h’s Banque Populaire IV capsized and broke up mid-Atlantic, while the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild lost 10m of one float, Sodebo also suffered structural cracking to one float and Macif lost a foil and a rudder.  History seemed to be repeating itself – in the 2002 Route du Rhum, only three of 18 multihulls had managed to complete the race, and the ensuing capsizes and dramatic rescues saw many sponsors leave the Orma fleet. It was clear that the Ultim class was nowhere near ready to race solo around the world. Macif at the start of the 2019 Brest Atlantiques Race However, the class changed tack. A multi-stage double-handed race looping around the Atlantic was held in 2019 instead – the Brest Atlantiques. Although several boats suffered damage – Macif swopping out a rudder in Rio, and Sodebo breaking off its starboard rudder after hitting a whale (an impact which caused so much damage that the aft section of the starboard float filled with water and later also broke away), three of the four made it around and there were no dramatic rescues. Round the world race entries Even more remarkably, new boats kept being launched. Banque Populaire commissioned a new Ultim for le Cléac’h, and although Francois Gabart’s previous sponsor Macif pulled out mid-build, his new Ultim – code-named M101 – was completed, and he secured new backing from French cosmetics group Kresk (now under the name SVR-Lazatigue).  Combined with a new Sodebo for Thomas Coville in 2019, and a healthy market for second-hand giant trimarans that are ripe for optimisation, the biggest, and most audacious ocean racing fleet in the world is now attracting entry numbers to rival that of the last one-design Volvo Ocean Race (seven in the last Volvo, six currently in the Solo Ultim World Tour). Confirmed entries for the round the world race so far are: Banque Populaire XI, skippered by Armel Le Cléac’h; Maxi Edmond de Rothschild with Charles Caudrelier (which will come back into the Ultim class after being modified out of class rules for round the world record attempts); Thomas Coville’s Sodebo; Francois Gabart on his new SVR-Lazartigue; Actual, skippered by Yves Le Blevec, and a Brest Ultim Sailing entry, the former Actual, with the skipper still to be announced.  These sailors are the absolute elite of ocean racing. Between the five confirmed skippers alone they include two Vendée Globe winners, two around the world solo record holders, two Volvo Ocean Race wins, at least two Jules Verne around the world crewed records and multiple further attempts. The start and finish host city has not yet been decided, although discussions are underway with the City of Brest, which has shown keen interest in hosting the event since the creation of the project and hosted the Brest Atlantiques Race in 2019. Sodebo was one of three latest generation Ultimes racing in the 2019 Fastnet. Photo: Kurt Arrigo / Rolex The current around the world multihull solo record stands at 42d 16h, set by Gabart on his previous Macif in 2017. The Solo Ultim World Tour is likely to take around 40-50 days, as they will not be setting off with an optimal forecast for record-breaking. However, the biggest question will be whether they can make it around without race-ending foil damage. After the experiences of the Brest Atlantiques Race and 2019 Route du Rhum, all the teams have been innovating with ways of both avoiding collisions, and making their trimarans more robust in the event of hitting a UFO. The new Banque Populaire has increased structures, sacrificing ultimate light weight for strength (see more on this in the August issue of Yachting World magazine, out now). Sodebo has been experimenting with appendage fittings designed to absorb impact, and all the big tri’s are trialling collision avoidance systems such as Oscar to try and identify objects in the water. Charles Caudrelier, the co-skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild who will be taking on the solo race, said: “This solo round-the-world race in the Ultim is a dream I didn’t even dare to hope for in my career. I have always been very drawn to the Vendée Globe, but here, at the helm of the fastest boats on the planet and in flying mode, it is quite simply the ultimate challenge.  “Leading such a boat alone on such a demanding global course is an extraordinary adventure that I am really proud to share with the Gitana Team and on the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. I have been thinking about this world tour for two years, it is this goal that motivates me and keeps me moving forward every day.” The newly launched Banque Populaire XI Thomas Coville, skipper of Sodebo Ultim 3, commented: “It is a privilege to be part of this group of sailors. With Sodebo, we have been thinking about this race since 2007 when we launched the construction of the first Sodebo Ultim trimaran. “There were a lot of twists and turns in the creation of this race around the world. This race justifies 20 years of commitment and high-level sailing. This is the race that will consecrate the life of an athlete and a sailor.” Armel Le Cléac’h, Banque Populaire skipper added: “Our boats are magical, and I am happy that we can share them with the public around great adventures. I can’t wait for it to start!”

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Coville sets incredible new 49-day solo round the world record – with a blistering average speed of 23 knots

• Elaine Bunting
• December 25, 2016

French solo sailor Thomas Coville has succeeded in his fifth attempt to break the solo round the world record with an incredible time of under 50 days

Solo sailor Thomas Coville has pulverised one of the hardest records in sport: the single-handed round the world record. He took his 105ft trimaran Sodebo Ultim over the finish line off Ushant on Christmas Day to set a new time of 49d 3h 7m, smashing the record set in 2004 by Francis Joyon by an incredible margin of 8d 10h.

This new sub-50 day record is one that exceeded all expectations, including perhaps Coville’s himself. It equates to a mind blowing average speed of 23 knots over the entire 27,325-mile course.

The previous record, set by Francis Joyon record in the maxi catamaran IDEC, had stood for 12 years and had resisted three previous unsuccessful attempts by Coville.

Thomas Coville

Thomas Coville’s long quest to gain this record has been punctuated by disappointment and, on two occasions, the bitterest of defeats. His previous challenges have all ended in retirement through damage and, on two attempts he completed circumnavigations only to miss out on the record by days.

But this time Coville had good fortune to match his skill, and benefited from favourable weather that sped him south through the Atlantic. With one gybe he entered the first Roaring Forties low pressure system and managed to stay ahead of a cold front with the following wind angle and low sea state in which his boat performs best.

Coville had no hesitation in diving south, much further than the Vendée Globe yachts have been allowed to do, in pursuit of the right winds and best VMG. He crossed the Indian Ocean in just 8 days ,12 hours and kept going through the Pacific to Cape Horn in 8 days 18 hours.

To put this in context, compare those times to the fully crewed round the world record times. Crossing the Indian Ocean took Banque Populaire V 8 days 7 hours in 2011 and Spindrift 2 8 days 4 hours in 2015.

Such weather occurs perhaps once a decade – and it has taken Coville all these attempts to find and make use of it.

Thomas Coville breaks the solo round the world record on Sodebo Ultim

He made these speeds despite hugely difficult conditions. Through much of the Indian Ocean, Coville experienced 30-40 knots of wind and 10m seas. “We often sailed under three-reefed mainsail and J3. It’s exhausting,” he said. “Living with it is not easy, because you have to be very focused and available for the boat. You have to be outdoors; there’s a lot to regulate.

“The problem there is that either you have too much canvas, or not enough canvas. It is therefore necessary to accept that, at times, you are sailing underwater. Sodebo is big, but in troughs of 10m waves it’s like a model yacht.”

Guided by his weather router, Jean-Luc Nélias, with whom Coville sailed in the the Volvo Ocean Race winner Groupama IV, and with help through 24 hours a day also from friend and fellow sailor Samantha Davies, Coville picked his way carefully through the south to avoid ice.

He had more favourable winds and a much quicker time back up the Atlantic than Joyon had in 2004, when the route was beset with headwinds. This meant Coville was able to extend the handsome lead of over 5 days he had accumulated at Cape Horn.

Coville communicated with his weather team using Skype instant message, and very rarely by speaking and every day the team would put weather maps, satellite photos, synoptic charts, wave height models, grib files and routeing options on an FTP server for Coville to pick up and download.

Coville’s previous failed attempts took a huge amount out of him psychologically, he has admitted.

On his first attempt in 2008, the same year Joyon set his superb record, the crash box of Coville’s theoretically faster trimaran was damaged in a collision, possibly with ice, and he had to retire.

On a second attempt, he endured some quite hair-raising times, including one occasion in the Southern Ocean when, overcanvassed for a squall, his boat lifted up onto one float and set off blindly on a huge surf. Coville was on the point of retreating to the cabin, the only place he’d be sure to survive a capsize, when the boat sat back down, picked up on another surf, and a piece of the traveller whistled by, decapitating both carbon wheels.

He went on to battle up through the Atlantic, only to finish 2 days outside Joyon’s record.

When he tried again in 2013, he suffered in the Southern Ocean, rounding Cape Horn some 800 miles behind the record time (potentially less than a day-and-a-half in such a yacht) and had no better luck in the Atlantic. Once again, he finished in Brest just days outside the record. He broke down in tears and was inconsolable.

Although not as well known outside France as he deserves to be, Thomas Coville is one of the most experienced and accomplished ocean racers in the world. He has now raced round the world eight times. He has twice won the Jules Verne Trophy for the outright (crewed) round the world record: in 1997 with Olivier de Kersauson on Sport-Elec and again in 2010 as part of Franck Cammas’s crew on Groupama 3.

He was also part of Cammas’s winning crew in the 2012/3 Volvo Ocean Race in Groupama 4. He has also race in the 2000/1 Vendée Globe, finishing 6th.

His trimaran, Sodebo Ultim, was originally Olivier de Kersauson’s trimaran Géronimo, built for an (unsuccessful) attempt by de Kersauson on the crewed round the record.

As Sodebo Ultim, little remains of the original configuration other than the platform itself, as it was completely modified by Coville and designers VPLP. A key feature is the foils the trimaran now sports, which came from the USA 17, Oracle Team USA’s 2010 America’s Cup winner.

Key statistics from the record

Start on 6 November at 13 hours 49 minutes and 52 seconds GMT

Passage of the equator: on 12 November at 07h 04min 54s GMT

Time from Ushant / Equator*: 5d 17h 15m 2s

Passage of Cape of Good Hope: 20 November at 18h 33min 40s GMT

Time from Ushant / Good Hope*: 14 days 4 hours 43 minutes and 48 seconds

Passage of Cape Leeuwin: on 27 November at 16:59 GMT

Time from Ushant / Cape Leeuwin: 21 days 3 hours 9 min and 8s

Indian Ocean Record* (Cape Agulhas /Tasmania): 8d 12h 19m on 29 November at 06:51 GMT

or 23h 47min faster than the previous record set by Francis Joyon in 2007 (9d 12h 6min)

Average speed: 25.16 knots for 5,325 miles

Time from Ushant / Tasmania: 22d 17h 1m 23s – or a lead of 2 days 5 hours 4 mins over the record set by Francis Joyon

Pacific Ocean record* (Tasmania/Cape Horn): 8d 18h 28m 30s or 1 day 19h 58min better than the previous record set by Francis Joyon in 2007 (10d 14h 26min)

Time from Ushant / Cape Horn: 31d 11h 30m 8s – Or a lead of 4 days and 59 mins over Francis Joyon’s record

Record Equator/Equator: 35 days 21 hours 38 min 6 sec – Or 5 days 11 hours 36 minutes better

Published on January 29th, 2024 | by Editor

Records and retirement in Arkea Ultim Challenge

Published on January 29th, 2024 by Editor -->

(January 29, 2024; Day 23) – Race leader Charles Caudrelier in the 2024 Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest yesterday set a new solo record time for the passage of the Indian Ocean between Cape Agulhas in South Africa and the longitude of Tasmania. On the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, Caudrelier completed the passage in 08:08:20:23 for an average speed in the Indian Ocean of 30.7 knots.

While Caudrelier makes good time, four of the six skippers who started the non-stop round-the-world race on January 7 have had technical issues and today came the confirmation of the first official retirement from the race.

Tom Laperche on Trimaran SVR-Lazartigue and his team realized they don’t have the facilities or the means to complete the complex, difficult repair needed, and they have no option but to retire and get their boat back to Concarneau. Laperche incurred damage on January 18 when his daggerboard in the main hull collided with an UFO (unidentified floating object). He had arrived in Cape Town on January 22 in hopes to repair the damage.

Here is the position report: 1. Charles Caudrelier (FRA), Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (2017 Verdier 32/23)

2. Thomas Coville (FRA), Sodebo Ultim 3 (2019 VPLP/others 32/23) Damage on January 17 to starboard foil lowering system limited its use but reported on January 29 that he had regained full use out his foils. UPDATE : Coville will stop in Hobart on Jan. 31 to repair bow pulpit and port-side netting.

3. Armel Le Cléac’h (FRA), Maxi Banque Populaire XI (2021 VPLP 32/23) Completed on January 16 a 27-hour pitstop in Recife, Brazil to repair bow pulpit and correct an issue with the hydraulics on the starboard foil.

4. Anthony Marchand (FRA), Actual Ultim 3 (2015 VPLP 30/22) Collision on January 23 damaged port foil, and went to Cape Town to remove it, completing a 24 hour technical stopover on January 27.

5. Éric Péron (FRA), Trimaran Adagio (2014 VPLP 31/21)* The starboard rudder system was damaged on January 25, and completed a 24 hour technical stopover to make repairs in Cape Town on January 29.

6. Tom Laperche (FRA), Trimaran SVR-Lazartigue (2021 VPLP 32/23) Retired January 29.

Under Australia, Coville and Le Cléac’h have to deal with a nasty low pressure system to their south, Caudrelier is not finding the Pacific any more peaceful than the Indian Ocean and Marchand is looking to deal with an anticyclone as he leaves Cape Town in his wake.

Details: https://arkeaultimchallengebrest.com/en

The Ultim Class trimarans have a maximum length of 32 meters and a maximum width of 23 meters.

The solo speed record around the world was set in 2017 by François Gabart (FRA) on the 30m Macif trimaran in a time of 42d 14h 40m 15s for an average speed of 21.08 knots. This yacht has been rebranded and will be raced by Marchand.

Entrants: • Charles Caudrelier (FRA), Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (2017 Verdier 32/23) • Thomas Coville (FRA), Sodebo Ultim 3 (2019 VPLP/others 32/23) • Tom Laperche (FRA), Trimaran SVR-Lazartigue (2021 VPLP 32/23) • Armel Le Cléac’h (FRA), Maxi Banque Populaire XI (2021 VPLP 32/23) • Anthony Marchand (FRA), Actual Ultim 3 (2015 VPLP 30/22) • Éric Péron (FRA), Trimaran Adagio (2014 VPLP 31/21)* * Only entrant without foiling appendages

Five rules from the Sailing Instructions: • The start is January 7 from Brest, France. The start line is kept open for 168 hours and the finish line is closed after an elapsed time of 100 days after the start time, that is to say April 16, 2024.

• The skippers can communicate and exchange with their teams on shore, so they have the freedom to get weather information and be routed by their team on shore and get technical help and advice to help with technical problems.

• The solo skippers can stop but there are two distinct operations. A technical stop is unassisted and requires the sailor to drop anchor, take a mooring, or tie up alongside an anchored or moored boat with no external help. There is no time penalty for a technical stop. But for a technical stopover (escale technique) where one or more crew or technical team come on board to help, there is a mandatory 24 hours minimum. This does not apply to the start port of Brest where all means are authorized to reach or leave the port within a radius of 50 miles.

• For the first time in ocean racing, zones where there are known to be a high concentration of whales and sea mammals are determined. Establishing these zones should both protect the marine wildlife and reduce the chance of a collision. These zones are around the Azores, the Canaries, south of South Africa, the Kerguelens, and parts of the Antarctic.

• There are ice exclusion zones to protect the skippers and their boats.

Tags: ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE – Brest , Tom Laperche , Ultim Class

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Caudrelier wins Arkea Ultim Challenge →

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