ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE solo round the world race leader Charles Caudrelier sailed into the Pacific Ocean after setting a new solo record time for the passage of the Indian Ocean…

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The 37th edition of the San Diego to Puerto Vallarta International Yacht Race, a biennial international offshore yacht race between the USA and Mexico, begins with staggered starts that get underway on February 22 for the 1000 nm course. Twenty-six boats have confirmed their participation.

In 2022, Roy P. Disney and the crew of Pyewacket 70 set a new monohull record for the course of 3:04:38:02. Disney’s team bested the Bakewell White 100 Rio100’s 2016 mark by one hour and 4 minutes. Less than an hour later, Rio100 also beat their 2016 time by about 25 minutes.

Disney returns with his Andrews 68 Pyewacket, as does John Raymont on his Ker 52 Fast Exit II who will seek to defend his 2022 title in which his team won ORR-2 Class and Overall Honors. As he gears up for his fourth Puerto Vallarta Race, he looks forward to fast reaching into warmer waters. “Offshore racing is a complex, healthy, competitive, high skill sport with addressable risks,” said Raymont.

Event information – Race details – Entry list

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(January 23, 2024; Day 17) – While Charles Caudrelier on the 32m Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has demonstrated his offshore mastery by leading the ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest, he has benefited in this solo, non-stop round the world race from the hardships across the fleet. Here is the position report:

1. Charles Caudrelier (FRA), Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (2017 Verdier 32/23)
No reported issues.

2. Thomas Coville (FRA), Sodebo Ultim 3 (2019 VPLP/others 32/23)
Damage on January 17 to starboard foil lowering system but anticipates it can be fixed without stopping.

3. Armel Le Cléac’h (FRA), Maxi Banque Populaire XI (2021 VPLP 32/23)
Completed on January 16 a 27-hour pitstop in Recife, Brazil to repair bow pulpit and correct an issue with the hydraulics on the starboard foil.

4. Anthony Marchand (FRA), Actual Ultim 3 (2015 VPLP 30/22)
Collision on January 23 damaged port foil. No plan to stop.

5. Tom Laperche (FRA), Trimaran SVR-Lazartigue (2021 VPLP 32/23)
Damage on January 18 when daggerboard in the main hull collided with an UFO (unidentified floating object). Arrived to Cape Town on January 22 for repairs.

6. Éric Péron (FRA), Trimaran Adagio (2014 VPLP 31/21)
Slowed progress as only entrant without foiling appendages

The top four solo skipper are in the Indian Ocean which Coville considers the ocean he fears the most:

“It is the ocean that mixes more different air masses. First, there is the cold air mass of Antarctica along the line between Cape Town and Cape Horn. On the other hand, there is the warm air that comes down from Africa, Madagascar, and Reunion. We must go along this corridor affected by masses which are very different, which meet and generate violent and sometimes very erratic phenomena. Sometimes it takes different measures of opportunity, talent, and luck like Charles has to cross the Indian Ocean, remaining at the front of one front which was generated in South America….. but this is very rare. That doesn’t make us give up, we all know how long this course is!”

Details: https://arkeaultimchallengebrest.com/en

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For the six Ultim Class multihulls racing in the solo non-stop ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest, getting rest while their boat sets a blistering yet blind pace around the world would not seem too restful. And while a good night’s sleep is not an option, neither is getting no sleep.

“To last the distance, long term you have to eat well and sleep well,” notes skipper Charles Caudrelier. But sleeping well is a battle and requires preparation both technically and psychologically. That can be specific equipment, alarms, working with freedivers. Sleep management has long since become a performance issue.

“What we try to do is to sleep as regularly as possible five, six, maybe seven times cumulatively over any 24 hours in increments of 30 to minutes to 1 hour 30,” explains skipper Armel Le Cléac’h. “As soon as the conditions are good, you have to sleep.”

Sébastien Josse, a member of the Banque Populaire routing unit and co-skipper of Le Cléac’h on the Transat Jacques Vabre, notes how 6 to 8 hours of sleep is possible…

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Charles Caudrelier and the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild crossed the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope this Friday 19 January at 13:32:22 UTC…

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In seven months, America’s Cup racing will begin in anger in Barcelona – with the start of racing for the new AC75 boats in the Preliminary Regatta on 22 August…

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INEOS Britannia have started two boat training with the new AC40-10 ‘Sienna’ and the older AC40-2 ‘Athena’ in Barcelona…

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The final day of a regatta can be a strange one. Sometimes, it all comes down to the last race as in the Toulon Worlds, and sometimes the last downwind leg of that race too, as we saw in Houston. On other occasions, the frontrunner is already decided.

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The leaders of the ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest, Tom Laperche  and Charles Caudrelier, head south in a steadily building trade wind…

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Another light weather forecast for Day 2 of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix, with seven of the teams still in with a chance to make the winner-takes-all final…

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Leaders of the Arkéa Ultim Challenge-Brest, the solo Ultim multihull race around the world, Tom Laperche (SVR Lazartigue) and Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild), have continued to pace each other…

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The steady leader is still Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild) who has a margin of about four miles. But as they sought a lane with more breeze and start to consider the approach to a big low pressure set to hit them tomorrow night…

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Charles Caudreiler in Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is leading the Arkéa Ultim Challenge by a 3.6nm margin over Thomas Colville (Sodebo)…

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Forty-six year old Ben Ainslie (GBR), considered the most successful sailor in Olympic history, is stepping away from the helm in the SailGP sports league. After a dust-up with the Kiwi team in October, and recently voted the biggest trash talker by his competitors, Ainslie hands over the wheel of the Emirates GBR team to double Olympic Gold medalist and America’s Cup teammate Giles Scott.

“It’s probably the toughest decision I’ve had to make in my sporting career,” shared Ainslie. “Like any big decision, there’s plenty that goes into it and a lot of factors at play.

“As the CEO of both Emirates GBR and the INEOS Britannia America’s Cup Team, and most importantly a husband and father, at some point you’ve got to realize that you can’t do everything.

“I’m coming to that point where it’s time to let the next generation come through and have their opportunity. We’ve got a huge talent in Giles Scott, he’s one of the best in the sport and he will suit this style of racing perfectly. He’s an incredible sailor, one of the best I’ve ever raced with, but he’s also a very mature, level-headed person and that’s why I think he will do a fantastic job in SailGP.”

Ainslie and Scott have a long history, initially competing against each other to represent Great Britain at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Scott pushed hard and it was an extremely close competition, but Ainslie was successful in selection and went on to secure his fourth Gold medal before retiring from Olympic sailing. The torch was then passed to Scott, who competed at the Rio 2016 Games, winning Gold in the Finn class, before achieving the double at Tokyo 2020…

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The Finn was designed by Swedish canoe designer Rickard Sarby in 1949 for the Helsinki 1952 Olympics, gradually evolving from the wood hull and cotton sails of the early years. The stout singlehander was used for 18 Games, and while its removal after Tokyo 2020 was unpopular for plus-sized competitors, the Class has proven to be far more than only an Olympic boat.

In 2024, the Finn celebrates 75 years of first-class racing for an active membership.

“One of the big decisions (last year) was going to Miami for the Finn Gold Cup in January 2023 and that was very successful,” noted President of the International Finn Association, Rob McMillan. “We can see the growth and enthusiasm of the American fleet and they are now in a very healthy position with lots of enthusiastic sailors.

“I think as an executive committee we’ve put together a great calendar for the years ahead and we continue to attract sailors into the class, and the events have great people loving their Finn sailing, builders are busy, so from my perspective, while I think there is a lot more work to do, we are trending in the right direction.

“For me the most important things are keeping together as a community and building the brand about the prestige of our events. Being the world champion in the Finn is an amazing achievement and needs to remain one of the greatest achievements in sailing. And to do that we need to sustain the level of competition and to do that we need to keep bringing people into the class.

“Whether they are U23, U30, U40, U50 or even legends, we need to bring in people that want to compete, enjoy it, and engage with their fellow Finn sailors, wherever they are and do that in the confidence that when they invest in the Finn it’s a very solid investment. That’s what every member of the executive wants to maintain. The concept of stewardship is very important to all of us.

Already the entry for the 2024 Finn World Masters is approaching 200 boats, the first time this has happened post-COVID.

“Further in the year, we have the Finn Gold Cup in Aarhus, out of the Danish Sailing Centre,” noted McMillan. “I can foresee a very good competition, very accessible and very well timed, so we should get many there and the talk in the boat park, even in Australia, is very positive.

“Cannes for the Europeans will be huge. Great location, late in the year, Cannes has a great historic connection with the Finn class, running the Cannes Ski yachting event in the 1980s, which was always the first major Finn regatta of the year. It’s going to be an amazing event.

“It looks like it’s going to be a really great year.”

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The ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE – Brest which starts from Brest, France on Sunday 7 January will be the first ever solo race round the world on giant Ultim trimarans…

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