Ultim : les dernières infos Tip & Shaft

After a refit and paint job in her new colours, Actual Ultim 4, the former Gitana 17, was unveiled on Tuesday in Lorient before being launched the following morning. Tip & Shaft spoke to Samuel Tual, chairman of Actual group.

On April 22, the Ultim class unveiled its racing calendar for the next four seasons, alternating between major classics, record attempts and a new project in the Mediterranean. The new measurement system was also approved, with the aim of offering greater visibility and stability to a class that hopes to attract new entrants.

François Gabart announced on Thursday his intention to set off next September on a three-year round-the-world family voyage on a cruising catamaran. In his absence, he will entrust the management of his company MerConcept to a duo formed by Cécile Andrieu and Thibault Garin, Tip & Shaft tells you more.

The SVR-Lazartigue team announced this week that Franck Cammas would be Tom Laperche’s co-skipper this year in the Ultim class, with the Fastnet, 24h Ultim and Transat Café L’Or on the program. An opportunity for Tip & Shaft to chat with the 52-year-old from Aix-en-Provence, who is still looking for partners to launch his Imoca project.

Armel Le Cléac’h has had a busy year, with third place in the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest, the torch relay between Brest and the French West Indies, a stopover in Marseilles and then Paris for the Olympic Games. Before returning to the helm in September of Banque Populaire XI for the 24h Ultim (4th) and the Finistère Atlantique, which sets off on Saturday from Concarneau bound for Antibes. Tip & Shaft rewinds this season with the sailor from Saint-Pol-de-Léon.   

With just a few days to go before the arrival of the top three finishers in the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest, expected in Brest from Monday, Tip & Shaft analyses the week’s events, in particular Charles Caudrelier’s stopover in the Azores, in the company of sailors Loïck Peyron and Franck Cammas, and weather routing specialist Christian Dumard.

More than a month after setting out from Brest, the leader of the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest has rounded Cape Horn and his four pursuers are continuing to make headway despite the changing moods of the Deep South. To analyse the fifth week, Tip & Shaft interviewed Thomas Rouxel, a member of Sodebo Ultim 3’s routing team, Xavier Guilbaud, associate architect at VPLP Design, and Jean-François Cuzon, CEO of Pixel sur Mer, a specialist in onboard electronics and former racer. 

More than a month after setting out from Brest, the leader of the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest has rounded Cape Horn and his four pursuers are continuing to make headway despite the changing moods of the Deep South. To analyse the fifth week, Tip & Shaft interviewed Thomas Rouxel, a member of Sodebo Ultim 3’s routing team, Xavier Guilbaud, associate architect at VPLP Design, and Jean-François Cuzon, CEO of Pixel sur Mer, a specialist in onboard electronics and former racer. 

After 26 days of racing on the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest, difficult weather conditions in the Southern Ocean have forced Charles Caudrelier to slow down, Armel Le Cléac’h to take an atypical route, and Thomas Coville to stop over in Tasmania. To talk about these twists and turns, Tip & Shaft interviewed Nicolas Lunven, member of the Maxi Banque Populaire XI routing team, Francis Le Goff, race director of the last Transat Jacques Vabre, and Arthur Le Vaillant, former Ultim skipper now in the hands of Eric Péron under the colors of Adagio.

As the third week of the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest draws to a close, half the fleet is now in Cape Town or heading there, following major damage, while Charles Caudrelier set a new solo reference time at Cape Leeuwin on Thursday. To analyse these developments, Tip & Shaft spoke to meteorologist Christian Dumard, a member of Actual Ultim 3’s routing team, Christian Le Pape, former director of the Finistère ocean racing centre in Port-La-Forêt, and Renaud Bañuls, one of Sodebo Ultim 3’s designers.