At least forty days of sailing await them; there will be swells, storms and hard blows, that’s for sure. But for the start of this first round-the-world multihull race, ideal conditions, calm seas, bright sun, docile wind, blessed the departure, Sunday at 1:30 p.m., of the six solo sailors entered in the Arkea Ultim Challenge.
At least forty days of sailing await them; there will be swells, storms and hard blows, that’s for sure. But for the start of this first round-the-world multihull race, ideal conditions, calm seas, bright sun, docile wind, blessed the departure, Sunday at 1:30 p.m., of the six solo sailors entered in the Arkea Ultim Challenge.
“Nature has been cool with us,” greeted Thomas Coville, 55, skipper of the Sodebo Ultim 3, eight world tours under the clock, before departure. But committing to such a long journey via the three great capes, Bonne-Espérance, Leeuwin, Le Horn, is not easy.
“There is emotion, of course, but I try to protect myself from all that,” said Charles Caudrelier (“Edmond de Rothschild) because it’s never easy to leave the land and the people you love, I put barriers on myself. And out of habit too. In the Volvo Ocean Race (editor’s note; round the world crewed trip) I made 30 starts I think and each time it’s hard but little by little we learn to steel ourselves a little in the face of all that. […] I’m rather surprisingly serene, it’s perhaps a little naive, but it’s also because I suffered a lot of stress at the start of a race and I don’t want that anymore. »
Eloi Stiechelbaut/Polarise/Gitana
Barely had they hoisted the mainsail, at the exit of the port of Brest, when these giants of the seas 32 meters long and 23 wide were welcomed by a myriad of boaters in sailboats, zodiacs, jet-skis and also windsurfing. On land, hundreds of Bretons had come to admire them from the customs officers’ path. Last to arrive in Brest, on Saturday only, after a repair in the form of a time trial, the “SVR-Lazartigue” of Tom Laperche, 26 years old, inheriting François Gabart at the helm, was the first to cross the starting line virtual, between Pointe Saint-Mathieu and the Crozon peninsula. “I want to get off to a great start,” announced the skipper.
Close ranking
Then the masts of the boats, 35 meters high (a ten-story building), disappeared in the distance to begin their course, their challenge. “We’re going to go cool. It’s an endurance race,” Charles Caudrelier, 49, had warned shortly before, setting out for 40,000 km.
After leaving Brest in a straight line for around fifty miles, in the afternoon the fleet began a series of gybes in a light wind of 9 knots, with initial shifts depending on the timing of each party’s maneuvers. others. The ranking remained very tight, and changing, between the three big favorites, “Banque Populaire”, “SVR-Lazartigue” and “Edmond de Rothschild”, but also with “Sodebo” and “Actual”, by Anthony Marchand, the ex “Macif” by Gabart, perfectly in tune at this moment.
A first depression awaits sailors from Monday morning, off the coast of Portugal. “It’s going to get more complex, we’re going to have to be ready to face this first trap,” underlined Armel Le Cléac’h, skipper of Banque Populaire. Only seven sailors have so far completed a solo round-the-world trip aboard a trimaran, of which only four have done it non-stop.
The ranking at 8:45 p.m.
1. Actual (A. Marchand) 24,187 miles from the finish; 2. Edmond de Rothschild (Charles Caudrelier) 10.3 miles from the first; 3. SVR-Lazarigue (Tom Laperche) at 13.4; 4. Sobedo (T. Coville) at 19.3; 5. Adagio (E. Peron) at 7.5 to 20; 6. Banque Populaire (Armel Le Cléac’h) at 28.4
2024-01-08 04:28:29
#Arkea #Ultim #Challenge #making #history
