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The favorite under threat
“The Maxi, Edmond de Rothschild was slightly ahead of the others back in 2017 thanks to the genius of Guillaume Verdier, but the rivals have since made up a lot of ground. We are lucky to have an owner who encourages us to keep pushing and make bold choices, so we have some new weapons, which remain secret… The 2023 version is better than the 2022 boat, but all of the boats have been fine-tuned and adjusted and it is going to be a close contest.” While they are keeping quiet about what changes have been made to the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, Charles Caudrelier knows that it is not going to be as simple as in 2021, when the skipper won his third title in the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre by setting the pace. This year, he is taking Erwan Israël aboard with him. Not very well known by the general public, but highly respected in this little world, he knows the boat like the back of his hand and worked on the routing for Charles in the last Route du Rhum, adding another achievement to the domination of the Verdier designed boat, which has been unrivalled in the class since 2019.
Two very advanced challengers
In the recent edition of the 24 hr Ultim race in Lorient in late September, we saw that the Maxi, Edmond de Rothschild was capable of losing. Even if it was by just 3 minutes and in conditions that had little to do with what we find in a transatlantic race. This was the end of a long series of wins, and was rather symbolic. After failing in the last Route du Rhum after suffering damage to his daggerboard, Armel Le Cléac’h is back with the same ambition and determination to win that we always associate with the Jackal. At the start of a race which he has not won, he is counting on the expertise of Sébastien Josse, winner in 2013, and one of the leading experts in these boats. He was the first to experience flying an ULTIM back when he skippered Gitana 17. It is a similar story with for SVR Lazartigue which won the Rolex Fastnet Race this year ahead of the Maxi Banque Populaire XI. “It was a huge technical challenge to have a reliable trimaran capable of crossing the Atlantic back in 2021. The notion of performance has continued to develop ever since. We are feeling much more confident,” declared Tom Laperche, who on 7th January will take the reins of SVR Lazartigue to sail solo in the Arkea Ultim Challenge.
Will the fact that this race follows so shortly after the Transat Jacques Vabre change their way of sailing? According to the skippers that is not going to be the case and the weather expected in the first 48 hours of the transatlantic race will encourage them to keep the pace up to get away from the worst of the bad weather. “We’re not going to do anything too clever, but a bit like in the Route du Rhum, we can see that the speed of these boats is an advantage allowing us to escape a nasty weather system,” explained François Gabart, who is going aboard with his replacement, Tom Laperche.
Once they are out of the reaches of the horrors of the North Atlantic, it will still not be over for the ULTIMs. Their 7500-mile long course is the longest in this Coffee Race and represents the equivalent of two transatlantic crossings. In particular, there is a long tack upwind in the SE’ly trade winds after they have gone through the Doldrums, as they pass between Sao Paolo & Sao Pedro and have to round Ascension Island.
Sodebo Ultim 3 has ambitions, while Actual Ultim 3 is ready to pounce
This element is something that the crews on the other two trimarans will keep in mind in this Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre. This will be the first time as skipper for Anthony Marchand. “This adds some extra pressure. A pressure I didn’t feel before,” said the skipper who previously took part as co-skipper for Yves Le Blévec in 2021. Anthony is this year relying on Thierry Chabagny’s expert knowledge of big trimarans (Spindrift as well as the Maxi Banque Populaire XI) as they make their way to Fort-de-France. Their Actual Ultim 3 is the oldest of the five ULTIM boats (François Gabart’s former MACIF launched in 2015), but she has made regular progress to make up for her lack of ability upwind and when taking off. She has been fitted with a new pair of foils that the crew says they “will continue to get to grips with.” She is however a tried and tested boat and has never had any major technical worries. That is a clear advantage in the nasty weather, when the performance capability of the various generations of ULTIM is much closer.
“In winds of above 25 knots and in 3m high waves, flying is not as advantageous,” confirmed Thomas Coville, twice winner of the race, who will be lining up with Thomas Rouxel for the second time on Sodebo Ultim 3, which was forced to retire in 2021. The round the world skipper with ten roundings of Cape Horn under his belt, has always been at ease in heavy weather in this trimaran, the design of which owes a lot to him. His team worked hard in the spring to make up for her deficit in light to moderate conditions, when she was not as fast as the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild and SVR Lazartigue in the last Route du Rhum. Adjusting the foils has been simplified, and this has made the boat lighter , while the mast has been extended by two metres to the maximum allowed under class rules and she has been given a new set of sails. Sodebo Ultim 3 has never been such a good performer as this and Thomas is relying on his co-skipper to push hard to win: "We haven’t had our last word in the Jacques Vabre or with the pairing with Thomas. Over the past few years as we have sailed together, we have grown close and complement each other well. At the start, we have the most experience of sailing together as a crew in this class."
In addition to the boats and the skippers, it is important to add a word about the battle between the routers. As with the Ocean Fifty boats where routing is permitted, the choice of trajectory and the quality of communications with the shore team are an integral part of the quest for performance, but also key to their safety.
