There was some pride in the air during these Gitana days in Lorient. On Wednesday evening, the renowned French racing team unveiled its new future record chaser in Lorient. The unveiling was spectacular: after a presentation with Ariane de Rothschild and all the members of the racing team, all the curtains were suddenly lifted. Then all the guests found themselves in the huge hangar under the hulls of the new future Queen of the Seas.
"Gitana 18": visually an extraordinary work of art
The first thing that catches the eye is the design of the 32 metre long and 24 metre wide giant: The artists Florian and Michaël Quibert created the look in collaboration with the Palais du Tokyo. A painting covering almost 2000 square metres stretches across the hulls and sails. It is a minimalist yet complex fresco that has been applied point by point to the carbon skin and sails.
Inspired by Ariane Rothschild and her four daughters Noémie, Alice, Eve and Olivia, it shows five faces modelled in contrasts of light and dark, giving the impression that they have just emerged from the sea. The typical Gitana colours of blue and yellow are combined with carbon fibre black on this boat.
Before the new "Maxi Edmond de Rothschild" takes to the water in January, its mums and dads unveiled it this week at the Gitana team camp in the heart of Lorient's La Base in Rue Sous-Marin Venus. A 25-strong team worked on the design and development. The Gitana team with General Manager Cyril Dadashti, Project Manager Sébastien Sainson, Technical Director Pierre Tissier and their colleagues developed "Maxi Edmond de Rothschild" with design luminary Guillaume Verdier.
The epitome of French boatbuilding and innovation
The new "Maxi Edmond de Rothschild" is the twenty-eighth boat in the almost 150-year history of the Gitana racing team. Today, Ariane de Rotschild and her daughters stand for a "culture of innovation and boldness", as the team puts it. The terms almost seem like an understatement when you look at the new rocket ship, which is also - as Ariane de Rothschild said in an interview with YACHT - the epitome of French boatbuilding.
"This boat represents French excellence. Especially at a time when Europe-bashing is rife, this boat shows what is best done in Europe. This boat shows a level of technology and engineering that is hard to find," said Ariane de Rothschild, whose family name stands for planning projects for the long term and taking a certain amount of risk. According to the racing team owner, "my family has always had a passion for competition, performance and technological upheaval".
Gitana 18", the successor to "Gitana 17", who won many races and achieved new best performances such as the Victory in the Arkea Ultim Challenge 2024 with skipper Charles Caudrelier. Back in 2017, Ariane de Rothschild and the Gitana team were the first to believe that offshore flying was the future of offshore racing. Eight years later, enriched by the "Gitana 17" experience of more than 200,000 nautical miles and fuelled by many successes, the racing team is now sending "Gitana 18" into the race.
Into a new full-time flying era with "Gitana 18"
Technical Director Pierre Tissier explains the difference between the two projectiles: "With 'Gitana 17', we were the first to start the topic of constant offshore flying on foils. With 'Gitana 18' we know how to fly, but we are pushing the concepts for flying with this boat, we want to achieve more consistent flying. That is challenging. The simulator tells us how to do it. But it's also just a simulator."
50,000 hours of research and 200,000 hours of construction characterised the 36 months of development. More than 200 people were involved in the project up to the first unveiling in Lorient's La Base. Like its predecessor, the 'Maxi Edmond de Rothschild' is intended to break new ground. The deliberately ambitious goal is 100 per cent flight operation. "Gitana 18" marks the dawn of the new age of full-time flying - not only on short circuits such as the SailGP, but also on the high seas. The most striking and revolutionary ideas are in the appendages and the mast: the rudder blades, which have less twisting due to their U-shape, keep the boat in a more stable flight mode.
With the foil, the two wings can be set independently of each other. This generates lift and reduces drift. The righting moment is also increased by the possibility of different control options for the two wings. The T-foil under the main hull, in combination with the two rudder blades in the water, enables a more stable flight mode. This is especially true in heavy seas.
Secret metal alloy for more rigidity
The T-foil and the three U-shaped rudder blades were not milled from carbon fibre, but from a special metal alloy. The team is keeping quiet about the composition of the metal alloy and its weight - for the time being, it remains one of the few secrets with which the mission of the "Gitana 18" begins. However, the foil arms of the two foils and their wings, including the approximately 2.50 metre long centre section, are made of carbon for weight reasons.
The new mast concept is also sensational: compared to the mast of the "Gitana 17", the new mast is shorter and narrower in its wing shape. Skipper Charles Caudrelier calls it "a revolution". It is a canting mast with adjustable spreaders, which for the first time on a boat of this size can be adjusted backwards by up to 35 degrees. With these adjustable spreaders, the mast can be bent more in the all-important transition phase to flying mode, making the sails flatter and the sail shape much more flexible and better adapted to the speed.
The deckhouse is also different, with a large number of windows designed to give skipper Charles Caudrelier a better overview. This concept was realised with the help of a virtual reality programme that showed the perfect positioning of the windows. Below deck, the black look of the bare carbon fibre was retained at Charles Caudrelier's request. Among other things, the skipper hopes that this will reduce the reflection of the omnipresent data displays and generally feels more comfortable in darker surroundings.
With "Gitana 18", the Jules Verne record chances have increased
Charles Caudrelier has spent around 99 per cent of his time on this project over the past year, as he told YACHT. "We spent hours and hours simulator sailing this boat, giving our feedback to the designers. They really changed a lot of the foils as a result. It will be the first time I've gone on a new boat but sailed it in virtual reality. It's very interesting and has really changed the design," said Charles Caudrelier in Lorient. On a scale of super companions at sea, Charles Caudrelier categorises the new "Gitana 18" as a perfected Formula 1 racing car for the sea.
What will this "Maxi Edmond de Rothschild" be capable of, which on paper could deliver around 10 to 15 per cent more power than its predecessor? Charles Caudrelier says: "A little more than 'Gitana 17', although not much more. We will be faster in heavy seas, but not that much faster. With this new boat, we hope to achieve as perfect a flight as possible."
Caudrelier continued: "Ideally, we will be able to fly very high without ever touching the waves. We hope to be able to fly in waves three metres high and reach an average sailing speed of almost 40 knots. I think we can break the 40 days (editor's note: the Jules Verne record set by "Idec Sport" in 2017 is 40 days and 23 hours), even if it would have been just as possible with 'Gitana 17'. But now the chances have increased."
