As announced last April by the Ultim Class 32/23, on Sunday 3rd November this year, Actual Leader, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, the Trimaran MACIF and Sodebo Ultim’3 will find themselves on the starting line of a race never before undertaken.
Departing from Brest, a port where countless records have been made, the giants will set sail on a 14,000-mile loop around the Atlantic, touring half the globe. The Brest Atlantiques will be the first large-scale head-to-head between the four major players in the fleet of the Ultim Class 32/23 and their skippers, ready to brave the Atlantic and make this extraordinary adventure a reality.
Accompanied only by a media man to record this epic race from on board, each pair of skippers will battle it out to be the first to return to the Finistère capital – that is after crossing the Bay of Biscay, catching the trade winds towards the equator, sailing around the mileposts just off Brasil – “Ilhas Cargarras” – and then another off the Cape of Good Hope – “Robben Island” – before starting on the return back to Brest.
The extremely varied weather conditions of the course will give these exceptional sailors complete freedom in adapting their sailing conditions and speeds to make the most of these high-tech giants, the Ultims.
The line-up and the provisional crews:
Actual Leader
Yves le Blevec, Alex Pella (co-skippers) et Ronan Gladu (media-man)
Maxi Edmond de Rothschild
Franck Cammas, Charles Caudrelier (co-skippers) et Yann Riou (media-man)
Trimaran MACIF
François Gabart, Gwénolé Gahinet (co-skippers) et Jérémie Eloy (media-man)
Sodebo Ultim 3
Thomas Coville, Jean-Luc Nélias (co-skippers) et Martin Kéruzoré (media-man)