Arkea Ultim Challenge: Breathless top duel - young savage challenges master Caudrelier

The six skippers of the Arkea Ultim Challenge coped well with the first storm of their circumnavigation. The front runners Tom Laperche on "SVR Lazartigue" and Charles Caudrelier on "Maxi Edmond de Rothschild" were best able to parry the winds of more than 45 knots. Laperche, who is only 26 years old, and 49-year-old Charles Caudrelier led the fleet of six Ultim giants towards the end of the fourth day of racing on Thursday morning, just ahead of "Sodebo Ultim 3" skipper Thomas Coville and "Banque Populaire XI" tamer Armel Le Cléac'h.

Bow to bow on course for the equator

Even in the early stages, the race at sea is as close as an Olympic showdown. The sextet has already experienced 15 lead changes at sea since the start on 7 January. Many more are likely to follow. On Thursday, the 32-metre monsters were already racing towards the equator at 24 degrees north latitude. Anthony Marchand has fallen slightly behind with his repeatedly modified VPLP design "Actual Ultim 3" from 2015. 176 nautical miles separated him from "SVR Lazartigue" on the morning of 11 January. Outsider Éric Péron on "Adagio" is already around 350 nautical miles behind.

In an interview the day before, Gitana frontman Charles Caudrelier looked back on the start and summarised the essence of his race strategy for this historic premiere of a solo regatta with the giant foils: "It's a circumnavigation, we're not in 'Route du Rhum' mode. We had a tough time in the Bay of Biscay. I had to steer the boat well and didn't sleep much on the first night."

I try to sail my course without worrying too much about the others" (Charles Caudrelier)

The two-time Ocean Race winner and Ultim forerunner Caudrelier continued: "Afterwards I was able to rest. It's so important to stay in shape. I try to sail my course without worrying too much about the others." Commenting on the close competition between the Ultims, Caudrelier said: "There is definitely a noticeable intensity between us, sometimes even a little too much. But it's nice to see that we're all close together."

This remained the case on the morning of 11 January, even though the two leading boats were able to build up a small lead overnight. In the morning, the front runners rode along the flank of the first major depression of this circumnavigation at a high speed of around 30 knots. The night behind them was tough.

Arkea Ultim Challenge: accident-free through the night

At the front of the front, the leading quartet had to contend with very strong winds of up to 45 knots. At around 10 p.m., "Maxi Edmond de Rothschild" was the first to tack in this pressurised scenario in rough seas and stormy winds. "SVR Lazartigue", "Sodebo Ultim 3" and "Maxi Banque Populaire XI" quickly followed her.

The morning after, there was a sigh of relief at sea and on land. There were initially no reports of damage. "A happy absence of news", as the organisers of the Arkea Ultim Challenge put it.

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Speed, speed, speed: This clip with Charles Caudrelier was taken at the beginning of the fourth day at sea:

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