The Ultim 32/23 class brings together the “giant” trimarans taking part in very high-level offshore races, such as Brest Atlantiques, La Route du Rhum, or Nice Ultimed. Find the latest news and investigations from Tip & Shaft on the subject.
The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, considered by many to be the favourite in the Ultim class on the upcoming Transat Jacques Vabre, suffered foil damage during training last week out of Port-la-Forêt. This setback does not seem to worry Franck Cammas, co-skipper with Charles Caudrelier, as Tip & Shaft’s discovers when we caught up with him.
A little over a month after the launch in Concarneau, of his new Ultim SVR Lazartigue François Gabart takes stock of his first sails aboard the giant trimaran on which the emphasis was focused heavily on aerodynamics.
SVR Lazartigue, François Gabart’s new Ultim, was launched last Thursday in Concarneau in blazing sunshine in front of a large crowd. Born as M101 the new giant was known for a long time only by this code name after the withdrawal of its initial sponsor. The VPLP design is the result of 150,000 hours of work and is characterised by its strong design choices. It is, in essence, a radical but very carefully conceived concept, just like its skipper who was very involved in every stage of the design. Here is our take on this newest generation Ultim.
French ace Matthieu Vandame has been a multihull specialist since childhood. This season he is racing as a grinder with the French SailGP team, which returns to England next weekend, July 17 and 18 in Plymouth. He also sails alongside Thomas Coville on Sodebo Ultim 3, so these are two very good reasons for Tip & Shaft to talk to the 39-year-old.
On May 27 the French Kresk cosmetics group, owned by Didier Tabary, announced their four-year commitment to support François Gabart and the purchase from Macif of the Ultim M101, which will carry the colours of the SVR, Lazartigue and Fillmed brands. Tip & Shaft tells us how this alliance came to pass in a very short time.
Last Monday the Ultim 32/23 class revealed a change in governance with the departure of managing director Emmanuel Bachellerie, who will now devote himself entirely to the general management of the Brest Ultim Sailing company whose capital has evolved. The class itself should announce the new mode of governance in the first quarter of 2021 and also a proposed timetable for the years to come. Tip & Shaft tells you more.
Since 1st November, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has been on stand-by waiting for a weather opportunity to tackle the Jules Verne Trophy, which has been held since January 2017 by Idec Sport (Francis Joyon) with a time of 40 days 23 hours and 30 minutes. Tip & Shaft talked to the co-skipper of the Verdier deigned boat, Charles Caudrelier.
More than a year after the end of his collaboration with the Gitana Team, Sébastien Josse is back on the water. As soon as deconfinement started he started sailing and working with Nicolas Troussel helping him to prepare the next Vendée Globe aboard Corum L’Epargne, the latest new generation Imoca to be launched. That seems like a good opportunity for Tip & Shaft to catch up with the skipper who is originally from Nice and whose career to date spans Figaro, Imoca, Ultime and the Volvo Ocean Race.
To try to understand what is happening with the Covid crisis, Tip & Shaft set up a series of interviews around the topic of sail racing. Today, we listen to the designer, Vincent Lauriot-Prévost, co-founder with Marc Van Peteghem of the VPLP team, which designed three of the eight new boats built for the 2020 Vendée Globe (Charal, Hugo Boss and DMG Mori), as well as the two future Ultim trimarans, currently being built for Macif and the Banque Populaire team.
The announcement came as a bombshell last week, a bolt from the blue because it was so unexpected. French insurance giants Macif ended their Ultim programme when the new trimaran which they own is due to sail in a year’s time. So, why this decision? Why this timing? And what are the consequences for François Gabart and for his company MerConcept? Tip & Shaft investigate.
With the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the whole planet, it has meant a great deal of uncertainty for sport in general and sailboat races are no exception. To try to get to grips with this new situation, Tip & Shaft is carrying out a series of five interviews about the future of sail racing. Second to respond is François Gabart, skipper of the trimaran Macif but also the founder and boss of MerConcept.
After almost a month of lockdown, the different ocean racing divisions are spending a lot of time working with race organizers on the possible reprogramming of their 2020 or even their 2021 calendar, while at the same time trying to reassure their members, affected to varying degrees by this new turbulent economic crisis. After Tip & Shaft spoke to IMOCA’s Antoine Mermod last week, this week we go round the houses, speaking to other key classes.
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