Welcome to the Land of the Giants!
When the giant Ultims arrived on cue today, taking centre stage in the port of Brest at the heart of the ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE – Brest race village, the French public turned out in their thousands to welcome the giant multihulls and their intrepid skippers.
As if to order the winds dropped and a watery winter sun appeared. The 10,000 square metres exhibition village on the Quai Malbert came alive and thereupon started the seasonal festivities which will last until the start of this first ever solo Ultim race round the world on the 7th of January.
There will be six “Giants of the Seas” to set off from Brest, with a solitary skipper on board, who will attempt to complete a circumnavigation of the world from West to East, via the 3 capes (Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn). A human and technological challenge carried by the sailors of the Ultim 32/23 Class accompanied by their shipowners and partners.
Some have already completed the journey in a multihull and single-handed: Francis Joyon, Dame Ellen MacArthur, Thomas Coville, François Gabart; notably as part of solo round the world record sailing campaigns, but no one has ever done it in a race!
Alone, on their giant multihulls, for 40 to 50 days, the skippers will be subjected to extreme variations in weather conditions and will have to deal with wind, waves, swell and ice. Anticyclonic systems, with little wind, as well as depressions, most often causing strong winds, will punctuate the life of sailors on board and influence the trajectory strategies adopted.
Sailing around the world is above all a climatic journey: the descent of the Atlantic, the crossing of the Indian Ocean and then the Pacific until heading north again up the Atlantic…
To keep up to date with ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE BREST, please visit ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE – Brest (arkeaultimchallengebrest.com) or follow on:
