Arkea Ultim Challenge: Racing giants on course south - slaloming through the freighters
Tatjana Pokorny
· 08.01.2024
After 17 hours at sea, six of the seven participants in the historic Arkea Ultim Challenge had already reached the latitude of Cape Finisterre. On Monday morning at 9 a.m., Charles Caudrelier on "Maxi Edmond de Rothschild" continued to lead the fleet after almost 20 hours of racing, but the gaps between the pursuers were small: only 24 nautical miles separated the leader from fifth-placed Anthony Marchand on "Actual Ultim 3". Only outsider Éric Péron on "Ultim Adagio" had already accumulated a gap of more than 100 nautical miles.
Arkea Ultim Challenge: briefly crossing the Bay of Biscay overnight ...
The leading boats were travelling at average speeds of 33 and 34 knots in the early hours of the morning. And according to current forecasts, the wind is set to get even stronger. The routings had predicted this anyway, but anyone who got up this morning and took a quick look at the tracker must have felt a little dizzy. The "flying" sextet passed the Bay of Biscay in just a few hours of the night - a first exclamation mark on the performance of the impressive Ultim trailers.
Race director Guillaume Rottée said: "They were very fast tonight, with favourable wind strengths and angles. Top speeds of 45 knots were measured." There were always small changes in the rankings due to the different wind strengths with more easterly or more westerly positioning on a southerly course.
The pace will increase
Charles Caudrelier on "Maxi Edmond de Rothschild" initially benefited the most from this. His account of the first night: "You had to remain particularly vigilant, especially as the traffic on the course between Ouessant and Cape Finisterre is very dense." The sailing giants had to pass a whole series of cargo ships cleanly.
Speed remains the theme on day two. The wind is expected to increase and reach around 25 knots in the late morning of 8 January. The weather experts are expecting gusts of 30 to 35 knots on Monday afternoon. The speed displays on board the 32-metre Ultim projectiles will therefore skyrocket accordingly.
Sometimes we have 40 knots of wind, then only 15 knots. And then we also slalom through the freighters" (Tom Laperche)
Shortly after midnight, 26-year-old Tom Laperche from his "SVR Lazartigue", the youngest skipper in the field, reported his first impressions of the sea: "We're in the middle of the night, we're all sailing side by side with the various boats down to Cape Finisterre. The wind is very changeable, which is quite rare: sometimes we have 40 knots, then only 15 knots. And then we also slalom through the freighters!"
Tom Laperche also describes how he slowly got into the rhythm of the race: "It's not easy, but I managed to take a few naps. The departure? It was very exciting to set off on a round-the-world race. I was glad that I set off at all. The procedure and the handling with the team went well. It was nice to pass Ouessant and the line first. I made a few jibes, ate well, took a few naps ... What happens next will become clearer and clearer. But it's not quite clear yet."
