Pitre in a singlehanded match race, just like four years ago! But there were eight Ultims at the start and, unless an incident
occurs at the last hour, there will be eight at the finish. Four years after a devastating Route du Rhum this positive outcome shows the progress made in terms of reliability and bodes much better for a
solo round-the-world tour (Arkéa Ultim Challenge) in just over a year. Only the new Banque Populaireexperienced a breakdown (broken
daggerboard) without knowing the cause, but probably a structural failure rather than the consequence of a meeting with an UFO. The result also demonstrates, as if it is still necessary, the superiority of the big teams in being able to deal simultaneously with the devel- opment and reliability of these complex flying machines. After what appeared to be a good opening to the race under the
sun and a moderate SW wind Charles Caudrelier was one of the 16 skippers who were judged to have crossed the startline too early, according to the Race Committee! The Gitana team denied this, which explained why the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild still had not carried out the four-hour penalty (obligatory within 48 hours of the start, according to the rules). The data from the line marker buoys was updated in real time
and analysed against the Gitana team’s own positioning software. ‘All of the data has been recovered from the supplier of the beacons and is being compared to the track of the boat,’ reported race director Francis Le Goff. He added, ‘Either the committee will consider that they have made a mistake when they see these elements and the penalty will be cancelled, or the committee will confirm its first judge- ment and the International Jury will meet to give a decision.’ The analysis proved that the committee was wrong! And so
Gitana’s four-hour penalty was waived – which could be significant knowing that four hours for a boat averaging 30kt (the ‘cruising’ speed of a latest-generation foiler) equals 120nm… While Caudrelier could relax a nearby Armel Le Cléac’h suffered
his accident. ‘The incident happened 24 hours after the start,’ said Armel. We had made a great start to the race so far. It was physical, committed, but we were in the game and we knew that the real fight will start with the next big front, tomorrow or the day after. ‘Unfortunately in a few seconds everything stopped, there was
a big crack and I saw pieces of my boat floating away astern… I quickly knew it was the daggerboard! ‘I was sailing upwind in moderate conditions. We had sailed in
much more difficult conditions with this fin before. I cannot explain what happened. When the board split into several pieces it hit the hull and there were some further impacts, one or two of which went all the way through the hull skins.’ After being repaired in Lorient Banque Populaire set sail again at
12.30 on Saturday. Le Cléac’h wanted to complete the Route du Rhum, although the outcome will be very different from what he hoped for. The broken daggerboard has been replaced by the original one and the damage to the hull repaired. ‘It’s very important to finish,’ said Armel. ‘We managed to get the
boat back in shape to cross the Atlantic in less than 48 hours with the whole team (20 people) working hard. Now we have other objectives, including simply arriving in Guadeloupe!!’ Monday morning on 14 November, François Gabart, still close
behind Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, declared: ‘The pace is quite intense. Since the start we’ve had one long upwind tack, the first front with lots of sail changes, upwind on the other tack, then some reaching, a second front in the Azores and some more reaching, and now we’re downwind! ‘But that’s what you can expect in the Route du Rhum… I’m
wondering now whether I’m really in the trade winds at all yet as the wind is still up and down between 13 and 20kt and there’s still a residual swell from the NW.’ After getting through the Azores François was super happy with
his Ultim sailing very well. He took a nap because he has not slept much during the last 24 hours and suddenly a big ‘boom’ woke him up and his boat slowed down suddenly. The skipper said: ‘I thought it was the daggerboard for me too, because the noise was the same as when we had the problem during the delivery from Concarneau to Saint-Malo… ‘But no, the daggerboard was there in perfect condition. But the
working foil on port “floated” up. The foil connects to the hydraulic ram using a very heavy length of Vectran rope. And it had broken!
16 SEAHORSE
Not so happy days. ‘Definitely a structural failure,’ said Grant Dalton, making little attempt to hide his disappointment after his team’s AC40 did a nasty headplant during testing in Auckland
The foil was still there but was pulled up violently –fortunately without breaking. Without a foil the boat went 5-6kt slower. We talked to my team onshore, knowing that there were only 15 hours left on star- board before the long port to Guadeloupe. ‘Finally we decided to fix it. With the boat stopped completely I
spent two hours inside the float – which is “unpleasant” because there is not much room! Eventually it all came together and I was finally back on the foil.’ But the incident had cost François crucial time, although he was
still lying in second place between Gitana and Sodebo – but now much further back. So Caudrelier enters the legend of the Route du Rhum by winning
the 12th edition of the most famous French solo transatlantic. As predicted, because his boat won all the previous races she entered, the skipper of Maxi Edmond de Rothschildmastered the race from start to finish. The trimaran crossed the finish line in the bay of Pointe à Pitre
on Wednesday 16 November 2022 at 5:02am (local time), thus completing the 3,542 theoretical miles of the course between Saint- Malo and Guadeloupe in a new record time of 6d 19h 47m 25s (reducing Francis Joyon’s existing record by 19 hours). Which means an average speed of 21.6kt on the direct course,
but 26.9kt on the true distance sailed. Thanks to this new victory, the Gitana team, an offshore racing team founded in 2000 by Ariane and Benjamin de Rothschild, signed a double bullet after the 2006 edition won by Lionel Lemonchois aboard Gitana 11. The team thus joins a very small club, along with the former Primagaz team with the very special Laurent Bourgnon, who have won the Rhum twice. Charles Caudrelier is now also a RR winner after being a Figaro
winner and a Volvo race winner, just like his mentor Franck Cammas. The 48-year-old Charles declared in Guadeloupe: ‘The first time
I saw Maxi Edmond de Rothschild was at the start of the Route du Rhum four years ago… I thought it was crazy. A year later I was onboard… And so began a strong history with Franck Cammas, and the whole Gitana team. ‘I’ve been working with Franck for three years now and I owe him
a big thank you because he was the multihull expert, he had the solo experience in these boats… and I came from a different uni- verse. Without him I would not have had such a dominant boat, I would not know how to master such a big machine… At one point the question was always going to be who is to race solo in the RR. It was he who gave me the wheel and I thank him for that.’ Charles, a Rhum rookie, insisted that the fact that he had no
problems onboard during the race was down to the whole Gitana team. A very experienced and professional team, able to continuously upgrade their boat and reach such a level of reliability! Charles added: ‘She is an extremely complicated boat that is
constantly evolving. There were plenty of new boats facing us at the start but with these incredible machines time on the water is priceless; and this helped us, for sure.’ François Gabart, in second 3h 30m behind Charles Caudrelier,
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