Every Friday we talk to the ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE – Brest routers who work round the clock on-shore to provide the optimum routes to keep their respective skippers fast and safe…

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Bradley Adam and Thomas Walker topped 21 teams to win the 2024 Snipe Midwinter Championship on February 9-11 in Key Largo, FL. Posting bullets in four of the 9 races, Adam and Walker beat out Ivan Shestopolov and Lexi Pline by 15 points with Watt Duffy and Trevor Davis two points back in third. – Details

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(February 12, 2024) – The fatigue by boats and skippers in the 2023-24 Global Solo Challenge is mounting, with the biggest news coming from American Ronnie Simpson who was dismasted today at 0200 UTC. His Open 50 was approximately 650 nm due east-southeast from Buenos Aires, with the breakage occurring as the boat landed hard off a wave crest.

Due to a developing storm in his area, a rescue was initiated, with the Bulk Carrier Sakizaya Youth of Taiwanese ownership redirected from its course to Necochea, Argentina, after a voyage from Australia to India and Pakistan. The carrier, under the coordination of MRCC Argentina, successfully reached Simpson and brought him aboard, leaving his yacht Shipyard Brewing adrift in the South Atlantic.

In other news, David Linger rounded Cape Horn today on his Class40 Koloa Maoli despite a broken boom, with his plan to stop for repairs in Ushuaia, Argentina.

Pavlin Nadvorni has decided to retire as his left arm needs to be immobilized for at least a month, following the knockdown incident while having the kidney stone issue. He had already stopped his Farr 45 Espresso Martini in New Zealand due to problems with his mainsail mast track.

Also tapping out is Édouard De Keyser on his Solaire 34 SolarWind who had stopped in Australia for repairs, and has determined that he will be unable to depart before the race deadline to round Cape Horn.

Race details – Entry list – Start times – Tracking

Attrition List:
DNS: Peter Bourke – Class40, Imagine
DNS: Ivan Dimov – Endur37, Blue Ibis
DNS: Curt Morlock – IMOCA, 6 Lazy K
DNS: Volkan Kaan Yemlihaoğlu – Open 70, Black Betty

RTD: Juan Merediz – Class40, Sorolla
RTD: Dafydd Hughes – S&S 34, Bendigedig
RTD: Ari Känsäkoski – Class40, ZEROchallenge

The inaugural Global Solo Challenge 2023-24 seeks to be a budget-friendly solo, non-stop race around the world. Using a pursuit format for the 2023-24 race, 20 entrants from 34 to 70 feet have start times between August 26 to January 6 from A Coruña, Spain, with the first boat to return deemed the winner.

Source: GSC

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The all-female crew racing on the much-loved Maiden UK (03), rounded the infamous Cape Horn at 04:15 UTC, on 8 February 2024…

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The AC40 Class Association announced that it has received its first built slot deposit from private owners. The target is to sign up four new owners to give the class some stability outside the America’s Cup team base…

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At Point Nemo or at Constitution Dock, Hobart skippers on the ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE – Brest benefit from some unexpected, impromptu meetings…

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Three different ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE – Brest skippers spoke of their differing fortunes this evening. Thomas Coville, Anthony Marchand and Charles Caudrelier.

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(January 30, 2024; Day 24) – Charles Caudrelier, leading the 2024 Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest in the South Pacific, discusses life on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild during this solo, non-stop round-the-world race:

We get the impression that you are doing great miles and all the lights are green!


Yes, there are a lot of green lights but there is always a warning above my head. I know that what happened to Tom (Laperche) could happen to me at any moment, that I could break a part and suffer damage.

The boat is tired from a trip half way around the world. On this boat we have never gone this far. But I do feel in good shape, I have good sequences, I get an energy from being first, there is a great thing in not being stressed by a ranking. Yes, this is an ideal situation but this is a mechanical sport, there will be always aspects that cannot be controlled.

Is being able to take care of yourself a luxury?

Well, put it this way, I’m not looking for a record, I’m on the brakes all the time! When I exceed 40 knots, I get yelled at by my routers! I could go four knots faster but it’s a passage around the world, it’s long and hard. I have to pay attention to the phenomenon that is cavitation under the water which can cause micro-cracks on the appendages. And the faster you go the more monstrous the effort.. I must not take any risks and know how to take care of the beast.

You have broken several records, do these numbers interest you?

No, I don’t even look at the times. I don’t want to get into that game. It is dangerous. And after all, I won’t have a crossing of the Pacific, not as good as the one that François made on his record and his return up the Atlantic was really, really great! But we shouldn’t get locked into the wrong objective: it would be stupid to push the boat and break it. I’m not racing against the clock, even if that gets people excited and talking and even if it might make me a little happy in the end….

Listening to you, you seem in pretty good shape.

Yes I am ! Even when Tom pushed me at the start of the race, I managed to find the right balance between sleep and performance. Now I’m more in management, it’s relaxing and sometimes a little boring. But fortune smiles on me, I still have a lucky star for the moment!

We knew we had to fight to get down to the Indian Ocean first because we could “start from the front”. The team also did a very good job because I never had to slow down to make any kind of repairs. I did a little DIY here and there, and I too have had one problem a day. These are small annoyances usually but at 35 knots, they are not easy to resolve!

And when you’re bored, what do you do?

For three or four days that I’ve been sleeping pretty well, cleaning my boat. I tried watching films, I started reading a little on my tablet but I’m having a little trouble. When I relax I start to worry more. My bunk is slightly tilted and that distorts my sensations, I always have the impression of heeling, I have difficulty feeling my boat. And then I had my little problems, I have a sensor on the daggerboard that doesn’t work and I have to adjust it by feel. These things are a bit annoying but that doesn’t stop me from going fast forward!

What moments do you really enjoy?

I’m not a person given to contemplation. Sometimes there are some beautiful lights in the sky but overall it’s gray, there’s fog, wet, damp, mist and I don’t really go outside. What I like more is looking at the charts and data to optimize my trajectory, to choose the right sails. I also really enjoy anticipating, being one step ahead.

What excites me is more the process than the outcome, the result. I really enjoy steering my boat. I know where I have come from on this odyssey, the desire I had to do this exercise, to have been too afraid of it too, and now to do it by myself too. And I enjoy that the boat is well managed and to be here, more than halfway through, is very satisfying in itself.”

Details: https://arkeaultimchallengebrest.com/en

The Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest is a solo, non-stop round-the-world race for Ultim Class trimarans which have a maximum length of 32 meters and a maximum width of 23 meters.

The solo speed record around the world was set in 2017 by François Gabart (FRA) on the 30m Macif trimaran in a time of 42d 14h 40m 15s for an average speed of 21.08 knots. This yacht has been rebranded and will be raced by Marchand.

Entrants:
• Charles Caudrelier (FRA), Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (2017 Verdier 32/23)
• Thomas Coville (FRA), Sodebo Ultim 3 (2019 VPLP/others 32/23)
• Tom Laperche (FRA), Trimaran SVR-Lazartigue (2021 VPLP 32/23)
• Armel Le Cléac’h (FRA), Maxi Banque Populaire XI (2021 VPLP 32/23)
• Anthony Marchand (FRA), Actual Ultim 3 (2015 VPLP 30/22)
• Éric Péron (FRA), Trimaran Adagio (2014 VPLP 31/21)*
* Only entrant without foiling appendages

Five rules from the Sailing Instructions:
• The start is January 7 from Brest, France. The start line is kept open for 168 hours and the finish line is closed after an elapsed time of 100 days after the start time, that is to say April 16, 2024.

• The skippers can communicate and exchange with their teams on shore, so they have the freedom to get weather information and be routed by their team on shore and get technical help and advice to help with technical problems.

• The solo skippers can stop but there are two distinct operations. A technical stop is unassisted and requires the sailor to drop anchor, take a mooring, or tie up alongside an anchored or moored boat with no external help. There is no time penalty for a technical stop. But for a technical stopover (escale technique) where one or more crew or technical team come on board to help, there is a mandatory 24 hours minimum. This does not apply to the start port of Brest where all means are authorized to reach or leave the port within a radius of 50 miles.

• For the first time in ocean racing, zones where there are known to be a high concentration of whales and sea mammals are determined. Establishing these zones should both protect the marine wildlife and reduce the chance of a collision. These zones are around the Azores, the Canaries, south of South Africa, the Kerguelens, and parts of the Antarctic.

• There are ice exclusion zones to protect the skippers and their boats.

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The Race to Alaska will hold its 8th edition in 2024, continuing with its 750-mile course from Port Townsend, WA to Victoria, BC. And now there is a podcast series prior to the June 9 start. In this episode, Race Boss Emeritus Daniel Evans chats with Hobie-hopefuls Tips Up and Race Boss Actual meets Sail Like a Mother.

Team Tips Up
John and Kaila have a Hobie 16. John and Kaila think that sailing a Hobie 16 is a good idea. John and Kaila might be nuts. Either that or perhaps they’ve got solid plans and tons of experience under their belts that will help them get 8 feet of boat per person to Ketchikan. Race Boss Emeritus, Daniel Evans, came out of the cave of solitude just long enough to chat with Team Tips Up about sacrifice and how they’re going to beat boats twice their size.

Team Sail Like a Mother
Let’s welcome back the good vessel Wild Card. That’s right, email-reader, the famed 2018 third-place-finishing/first-place-losing Santa Cruz 27 is here again, helmed anew by a trio whose kids will grow up with an inferiority complex due to the myriad exploits of their mothers. Meet Bri, Katie, and Melissa—the sailors of Team SLAM. Listen in as the Race Boss demands confessions, grills them on their medical preparedness, and inquires about the Mark Aberle curse.

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The America’s Cup Defender Team New Zealand was widely criticized for their decision to hold a preliminary regatta in Saudi Arabia. Their choice of overlooking the Kingdom’s oppressive policies to gain hosting fees did not sit well with everyone, but now it appears the critics are getting the last laugh.

War in the Middle East – where Houthi militants are attacking ships linked to Israel in response to that country’s attacks on Gaza – has stalled progress for Team New Zealand’s AC40 which is held up by shipping delays in the Red Sea.

While the Defender still has a testing boat in Auckland, the delay does impact the training for their teams competing in the Youth and Women’s America’s Cup. As a result of delays in getting the boat out of Jeddah, the crews would be getting on the water later than they had anticipated, with appears to be in March…

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Set to replace the current L-Foils in Season 5, the T-Foils were designed to improve the performance and control of the F50s at high speeds…

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At his current average speed, race leader Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild) should pass Cape Leeuwin later tomorrow afternoon or evening…

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At the latest report 2000hrs UTC on January 22, 2024, the race leader Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild) has stepped out to a lead of over 1400nm over Thomas Coville (Sodebo Ultim 3)

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It’s never been done before. In fact, to date only four people have ever completed a solo lap of the planet in a multihull…

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The dates for the Preliminary Regatta, Louis Vuitton Cup and the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Match have now been released…

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