Newsletter

24 Horas Ultim, prelude to the Rum Route

30/09/2022

Updated at 06:57 a.m.

At the request of the skippers, the Ultim Sailing Class has decided to launch this maxi multihull regatta next weekend.

Competitors will sail a loop of between 450 and 600 miles on a course set the day before departure, depending on weather conditions and to guarantee a 24-hour regatta time.

Gildas Morvan, the regatta director explains: “Taking the solo start in a regatta, and not in training, is always interesting a month before the start of the season. The objective is to sail with the boats in competition mode, in long tacks and in all points of sail. This will give us an idea of ​​which boat is the fastest upwind, which is the fastest downwind or which is the best in range, the idea is to offer a fairly varied tour to see which boat is most optimized in all the navigation points. The latter is still being studied and will be decided the day before based on the forecast weather conditions”.

The regatta will take place in “False Solo” mode; On October 1 and 2, it is reserved at 24 hours, the skipper will be accompanied by a member of the crew who will act as a half and another as a “substitute” to guarantee the safety of the navigator three weeks before the Rum Route – Guadeloupe destination. And on September 30 there will be another speed test between Lorient and Larmor-Plage.

Armel Le Cléac’h, aboard the maxi trimaran «Banque Populaire XI», will be one of the participants with 38 days to go until the solo transoceanic Route du Rhum: “Since the end of August, we have sailed a lot, sometimes against other boats , to get closer to the sensations that we will experience on the Route du Rhum”.

For the technical director of the team, Pierre-Emmanuel Hérissé: “Our efforts are focused on reliability, the ability to gain weight and to strengthen the boat a little more to face the winter conditions that are expected on the Rum Route” .

“We are all focused, the team works without counting the hours” , explains the sailor. “We are meeting the schedule with a boat that we have developed and made as reliable as possible, a team that is in great shape and highly motivated. We are in good shape and highly motivated,” continues Ronan Lucas, director of Team Banque Populaire.

Junto al “Banque Populaire XI” competing el “Mieux” by Arthur Le Vaillant, el “Gitana 17” by Charles Caudralier and el “Sodebo Ultime 3” by Thomas Coville.

For Thomas Coville, skipper of the “Sodebo Ultime 3”, the 24H Ultim is a great opportunity almost a month before the Rum Route: “All the matchups are interesting, especially a few weeks before the Rum Route. This regatta puts us in a good dynamic and it’s great to create this kind of event with the local players here in Lorient.”


Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending