The Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest, the first single-handed round the world Ultim race organised by OC Sport Pen Duick and Ultim class, celebrated the first anniversary of its start on 7 January. IAn opprtunity to bring back a few memories for the skippers in the class. “We were setting off into a world of unknowns, whether on a sporting, personal or technical level,” recalls Anthony Marchand, who finished 4th on Actual Ultim 3.
With the exception of Tom Laperche, who was forced to retire at the start of the Southern Oceans, the other five sailors completed this first edition, with one or two (authorised) stopovers for all of them, in order Charles Caudrelier, winner in 50 days 19 hours and 7 minutes, Thomas Coville, Armel Le Cléac’h, Anthony Marchand and Éric Péron. As Anthony Marchand says: “It’s a great sporting success for the Ultim class. As far as Actual is concerned, even though we had two technical stopovers, we still got a lot of enjoyment out of it and it was a great human experience, which will be very beneficial for the future, as this event really brought the team together.”
This unprecedented challenge, a real human and technological challenge for its six participants and their teams, was eagerly awaited by the skippers, in particular Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild), who dreamt of racing around the world solo for the first time: “I’ve always wanted to do the Vendée Globe, which seemed a logical step in my career as a sailor, but doing a solo round the world in a multihull was a consecration. It was a project I hadn’t even dared to dream about.”
Armel Le Cléac’h (Maxi Banque Populaire XI) confirms the extraordinary aspect of this event: “Even having raced the Vendée Globe three times, I knew that this was a much higher step. These machines are as ultimate in terms of their speed as they are in terms of the emotions they make us experience, as you go through all the scenarios. Between the management, the speed, the stress and the mechanics, which can quickly become complex, it requires a certain balance.”
This balance required in particular a constant physical and mental investment, as Thomas Coville confides: “There aren’t many moments in your life when you’re able to commit yourself and give so much of yourself. We’ll remember this race for the rest of our lives.” For Tom Laperche, the youngest competitor in the race (aged 26 at the time of the start), the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest, despite his retirement, also remains “a mix of incredible emotions“. The skipper of SVR-Lazartigue adds: “I had the impression that I’d found a rhythm, both physically and mentally, that could last, so I’m very happy to have experienced that, even if there is inevitably a feeling of incompleteness at having had to stop after eleven days.”
“This round the world is easily
worth ten transatlantic races”
What technical lessons can the skippers draw from this first race? “Whether it’s in terms of trimming, understanding and reliability of the boat, there are many, and I think in particular that we’ve managed to make good progress downwind,” emphasises Tom Laperche. “Each time aboard these flying trimarans, which are still pioneers of a new era, is a real challenge and an opportunity to learn. This round the world has given us a lot of information to help us progress.” Particularly with a view to the Jules Verne Trophy, for which the crew of SVR-Lazartigue are currently on stand-by once again.
“The Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest has enabled us to continue learning about the behaviour and use of the appendages with a view to future developments,” says Thomas Coville, who had to abandon his Jules Verne Trophy attempt on 6 January after 16 days, despite being within Francis Joyon’s record time. “Since leaving Brest on 7 January 2024, Sodebo Ultim 3 has covered 55,000 miles. It’s an ongoing development!”
For Armel Le Cléac’h, “this round the world is easily worth ten transatlantic races. We had never used the boat for so long, so we made progress on the reliability of the systems. What’s more, as we were finalising the design of our new foils at the time of the finish, it enabled us to adjust the final points of the geometry.” As for Anthony Marchand, he believes that “the analysis of the data collected during this round the world race has been very rich. It has enabled us to develop the boat and to think about the choice and shape of the sails or how to make her more stable downwind”.
Finally, Charles Caudrelier, while emphasising that the Gitana Team “had already learnt a lot before this round the world” on a trimaran launched in the summer of 2017, adds: “The Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest was above all proof that our boat had reached maturity – I’m the only one not to have stopped for technical problems -, and confirmed to us that the team had the expertise and the vision to imagine the ideal future boat.” In this case, Gitana 18, which is due to be launched at the end of September.
Will the pioneers of 2024 be at the start of the second edition in 2028? While Charles Caudrelier and Thomas Coville believe that it is too early to answer this question, Tom Laperche, Armel Le Cléac’h and Anthony Marchand have made no secret of their desire to return, with the ambition of adding their names to the list of winners of a race that is already legendary.
Photo: Vincent Curutchet / Alea
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