Charles Caudrelier wins the Arkéa Ultim Challenge after 50 days of racing

The skipper of Maxi Edmond de Rothschild reached the finish in Brest (Finistère) on Tuesday. He won the first solo round-the-world race on a trimaran.

He is the first to complete his world tour. Charles Caudrelier crossed the finish line in Brest, Tuesday February 27, after 50 days, 19 hours, 7 minutes and 42 seconds at sea, the day after his 50th birthday. Having passed the three legendary capes, the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn, he won the Arkéa Ultim Challenge, the first solo race around the world in a trimaran. Slowed down by the weather conditions at the end of the race, he remains quite far from the record for a solo round the world trip on a multihull, established by François Gabart in 2017 (42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds).

Already winner of the Route du Rhum and the Transat Jacques-Vabre (with Franck Cammas) on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, Charles Caudrelier adds this first edition of the Arkéa Ultim Challenge to an already extensive track record, including the Solitaire du Figaro and the Volvo Ocean Race. The French skipper, enjoying a comfortable lead over his pursuers, decided to limit the risks at the end of his adventure by adopting a moderate pace to arrive safely at Brest.

An endless climb

Charles Caudrelier took a decisive advantage at the end of the Atlantic descent, after ten days of racing. He had a smooth journey for a long time, maintaining a high pace throughout his tour of Antarctica, before being forced to stop in the Azores, in the North Atlantic, for more than three days to let a storm, between February 21 and 24.

After a long and grueling journey up the Atlantic, the native of Paris achieved a historic victory after effort and suffering, as he himself admitted to franceinfo on Monday: “We want to arrive, we also want it to stop. That the speed, the stress, the breakage, these things, it stops. If there wasn’t this stress, this would be easier to live with.”

Four competitors still in the race

The Arkéa Ultim Challenge is the first confrontation of the giants of the seas in the Ultim category: maxi-trimarans measuring 32 meters long and 23 wide. The race was dominated head and shoulders by the final winner, even if the young Tom Laperche (26 years old) stood up to him for a time. The skipper of the SVR-Lazartigue, a boat originally built for François Gabart, was forced to retire after eleven days of racing. It suffered damage as it approached the Cape of Good Hope due to an unidentified floating object. This is the only abandonment to deplore among the six competitors, despite the impressive speeds reached by the maxi-trimarans.

Thomas Coville (Sodebo Ultim 3) and Armel Le Cléac’h (Maxi Banque Populaire XI), currently in second and third place, also experienced major damage, forcing them to stopover for several days.