French solo skipper Anthony Marchand took fourth place on Ultim Challenge this afternoon when he sailed the ULTIM Actual Ultim 3 across the finish line off Brest at 14:08:21hrs UTC.

Marchand, who turned 39 years old during this first ever solo multihull race round the world, had to stop twice to make technical repairs, once in Cape Town after losing his port foil and in Dunedin, NZ because of problems with his starboard foil mechanism. Racing the ULTIM which as Francois Gabart’s Macif holds the world record for the fastest solo passage round the world, Marchand was deprived of the use of the foils and had adapt to achieve the best performance possible.

In the space of less than two years, ‘Antho’ has transitioned impressively from being a top competitor in the solo Figaro one design offshore class to first racing half way around the world on the IMOCA Biotherm on The Ocean Race and now completing this solo ULTIM race in an elapsed time of 64 days 1 hour 38 minutes 21 seconds. He finishes 13d 6h 20m after race winner Charles Caudrelier.

When he crossed the finish line this afternoon, to be welcomed by the members of his Actual team, his loved ones and those who support him, Anthony Marchand will no doubt flash back to the standout memory of the moment when team owner and past skipper Yves Le Blevec offered him the helm of the famous giant ULTIM. It was after they had delivered the Actual Ultim 3 back from Guadeloupe and the last Route du Rhum race which Le Blevec had just completed solo. Amazingly that was just over two years ago.

“Yves (Le Blevec) was prepared to entrust me with his boat,” he remembers. “It was at that moment that I told myself that I was capable of sailing it around the world. And the day I signed on with Actual, it was a carefully considered ‘yes’, not a knee jerk response. From then on, racing round the world was my single, clear healthy obsession, there was a year of training, there were three stages of The Ocean Race and still the big jump.”

French sailor Charles Caudrelier has emerged victorious in the Ultim Challenge, the first-ever solo multihull race around the world. Caudrelier, skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, crossed the finish line off the coast of Brest on Tuesday morning at 8:37:42 local time (UTC+1hrs), after completing the 24,260 nautical miles course in 50 days, 19 hours, 7 minutes, and 47 seconds since leaving Brest on January 7th.

The race leader, who has been unchallenged at the front of the race since January 17th, triumphed on the first edition of this unprecedented race. Although he had to slow down to avoid a massive storm at Cape Horn, at one point in the Pacific Ocean, Caudrelier was ahead of the time required to set a new all-time record for sailing solo round the world.

Caudrelier widened the gap to over 2,500 miles ahead of his nearest rival, 26-year-old Tom Laperche, after a thrilling head-to-head duel down the South Atlantic. Laperche had to retire into Cape Town with damage caused by a collision.

Ultim Challenge Race winner Charles Caudrelier Photo: Gitana

Caudrelier's victory rewards more than ten years of endeavour by the Edmond de Rothschild Gitana team. They worked initially with a MOD70 in 2011, on which they developed the multihull foiling program before launching the innovative Verdier-designed Ultim in 2017.

After his frustrating third-place finish in the Transat Jacques Vabre last autumn, which was marked by numerous damages, including problems with the steering system and a foil, Caudrelier and the Gitana team worked hard to repair and be ready for this race.

A popular and highly respected racer and leader among his peers, this is Caudrelier’s biggest solo success and finally fulfils his youthful dreams of winning a singlehanded race around the world. The victory also establishes him further as one of the best skippers among the French greats.

Along his route, Caudrelier set a new record for the Indian Ocean and then proved he knew how to moderate his pace to look after his high-tech flying ULTIM and give himself and the emblematic Gitana team the best chance of completing the course.

With a substantial lead, Caudrelier put his race on hold, sailing at very slow speeds for more than 36 hours in the eastern Pacific, to avoid a storm at Cape Horn. He also sat out Storm Louis, stopping in the safety of the Azores last week to avoid any additional risk that might have jeopardised his win.

Charles Caudrelier's Ultim Challenge Solo Multihull Race Around the World Victory in Figures

Finish time: 8 h 37 min 42 sec
Race time: 50 days 19 hours 7 min 42 sec
Miles travelled: 28 938,03 miles
Actual average speed: 23,74 knots
Average speed on the Great Circle: 19,93 knots

A tantalising three hundred miles from the finish line of the first Ultim Challenge solo round the world race, French skipper Charles Caudrelier spent his 50th birthday and his 50th day of racing since leaving Brest on Sunday, 7th January, keeping his giant blue and white Verdier designed ULTIM Maxi Edmond de Rothschild on a very tight, short rein, looking to keep behind the worst of a strong low pressure system so he can close out victory early tomorrow morning in more modest, manageable conditions.

Caudrelier has been progressing at a very steady pace this afternoon, a little over 16 knots of speed in winds of around 20 knots, while the finish port of Brest and the Breton coast saw winds of 35-40kts this morning and waves of over five metres on the Bay of Biscay.

Caudrelier’s most up-to-date ETA is around 0830hrs local time on Tuesday morning (0730hrs UTC) at the finish line. Around an hour later, Caudrelier and his team should enter the narrows of Brest harbour – between 1000hrs and 1030hrs local times - before docking quai du Commandant Malbert.

Charles Caudrelier, skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, race leader of the Ultim Challenge left his Azores weather stopover at 0945hrs UTC this morning, according to race direction. He has just over 1,100 miles to go to the race finish line in Brest where he should take overall victory in the first solo multihull race around the world. The conditions for the remaining miles are expected to be tough. His finish in Brest is expected between Monday and Tuesday.

To many observers and race fans it was surprising to see the race leader stop into Horta in the Azores last Wednesday. But with a substantial lead Caudrelier and the Gitana team elected to be super safe and sit out storm Louis which buffeted the Bay of Biscay.

“It remains fairly challenging to get to Brest with 25 to 30 knots of wind, gusts of 30 to 35 knots and 6 to 7 meters of sea in the Bay of Biscay,” explained Pierre Hays from the race direction this morning. “So actually it is difficult to be able to come up with a precise ETA, we think perhaps between Monday evening and Tuesday morning”

Caudrelier still has a 1446 miles lead ahead of Thomas Coville. When he stopped it was 2100 miles but Coville is on a less direct course to the finsh, routing to the NW to get round the Azores high and come in with the low pressure train.

Sheltered in the Azores since last Wednesday, the leader of the Ultim Challenge Race Charles Caudrelier should leave today which could see him cross the finish line between Monday noon and Tuesday noon according to Race Direction. In second Thomas Coville continues to climb the North Atlantic whilst Armel Le Cléac’h in third crossed the equator yesterday. Anthony Marchand in fourth and Éric Péron, fifth, are progressing at good speeds off the Argentinian coast.

It is in the nature of long ocean races that sometimes solo skippers lose their sense of time, forgetting days and dates. But then they are summarily reminded by the wealth of data on board, the tracking, the study of the weather and messages from loved ones too. A few days before arrival, Charles Caudrelier already knows now he is a little late for what should have been the start of his winter mid term holidays he had planned with his kids. He had promised them he would be back in Brest for the start of the school holidays. He might still make it Monday, his 50th birthday. “That would be a beautiful story to tell my grandchildren”, he said yesterday.

A finish between Monday noon and Tuesday noon

He still has the 1200 miles last stretch to Brest to complete. His Gitana team press release said Caudrelier “should be able to be back racing this Saturday”.

“For the moment, the team has not given us any details about a possible re-start,” explains Pierre Hays, assistant race director. “He should leave during the day or even in the morning.”

Despite the wait in the Azores, the conditions still promise to be tough.

“It will still be fairly challenging for him to get to Brest with 25 to 30 knots of wind, gusts of 30 to 35 knots and 6 to 7 meters of sea in the Bay of Biscay.” If he starts racing again today Caudrelier should cross the finish line in Brest “between Monday noon and Tuesday noon” Hays reckons.

Coville – Le Cléac’h, mixed fortunes

Further south in the Atlantic Thomas Coville and Armel Le Cléac’h are also getting closer to home. The two skippers are expected in Brest at the end of the week. The Sodebo Ultim 3 skipper pointing at the Cape Verde islands. “He has had good average speeds over the past 24 hours, slightly below 30 knots,” explains Hays. “Thomas has made good miles in recent hours with good winds for him, in a moderate easterly regime.” Coville is taking a North-East route in order to stay with the maximum wind, even if he will have to face an anticyclonic ridge which could block his route at the end of the day.

His nearest rival Banque Populaire XI, now 1,200 miles away, crossed the equator yesterday at the end of the day. But Armel Le Cléac’h is still facing a complicated doldrums. Over the last 24 hours, he has been progressing around eight knots with light winds. “His doldrums have not been favorable,” adds Hays. “He will have to wait until midday to find a trade wind regime of around 10 to 15 knots.”

Marchand and Péron, fair progress and staying focused and vigilant

The ascent of the South Atlantic continues for Anthony Marchand (Actual Ultim 3) and Éric Péron (ULTIM ADAGIO). “They have both had relatively strong winds over the last 24 hours, with 25 to 30 knots of wind. Actual had a regime of South, South-East, Adagio rather of South-West. But as they progress through the day and over the next 48 hours, it should ease to around fifteen knots.”

As they skirt the coasts of Latin America they are having to constantly watch out for the fishermen and look out for shipping traffic such as they have not really used to seeing in recent days.

Ultim Challenge race leader Charles Caudrelier and the ULTIM Maxi Edmond de Rothschild have been in the Azores port of Horta since Wednesday morning, waiting for storm Louis to leave the Bay of Biscay and a weather window to open to allow him to complete the final 1200 miles of the 24,400 nautical miles solo multihull race around the world which started on January 7th.

Louis is the name given to a very large active Atlantic depression currently sweeping Europe, from the south of Ireland to Lisbon. Louis is more than 1000 miles wide and almost 2000 miles from west to east. The leading edge of the depression has been buffeting Finistère, Morbihan and inland Brittany while Louis’ tail is still smacking the coasts of Greenland. Winds are averaging 35-45kts at the front of the system – more like 45-55 towards its centre, and the waves are between nine and 13 metres.

Accompanied by members of the Gitana technical team in the Azores, Caudrelier summed up the situation “The problem was I already had a big sea of 8-9 meters from the North-West, but it was quite long and quite beautiful. So we thought about going on - at 8-9 metres it's not so very serious, especially if there are gaps between the waves. The problem was that I couldn't go fast enough to stay in front of the second depression, I had to go at more than 30 knots and we weren't sure I could do it in these sea conditions. So that means that if I was caught by the other depression. That would mean the wind would change, changing direction 180° and could really, really build. This is often what causes the big storms we can have. It creates a very strong wind against the sea, situation with two seas crossing each other, and that is very dangerous for boats.”

Caudrelier concludes, “And so we are moving more towards a consensus, great wisdom even - even if we are all impatient - to wait for Saturday when we have the completely right window. We can afford to wait because we obviously looked at (second placed) Sodebo and the boats behind, and the weather situation means that they will be behind us, not very far, but between Thomas and me there still will be an anticyclone so there is no possibility that he can overtake me in terms of boat speed performance.”

And so the expectation is now that Caudrelier aboard his Maxi Edmond de Rothschild could set off sometime Saturday again to finish in Brest on Monday, 26th February, one day before his 50th birthday.

With less than 1,200 miles to finish the Ultim Challenge, Charles Caudrelier on the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, leader of the race since the end of January, has elected to take shelter in the Azores, thereby making a technical stopover.

The “24-hour stopover timer” was started by race management at 0504hrs UTC. His objective is to avoid a big depression approaching from the south of Iceland which is set to make the Bay of Biscay “impassable” according to his team. He will then sail in better to reach the finish in Brest.

"His objective is to avoid a big depression approaching from the south of Iceland"

His prudent mindset has been evident for a few days. “I’m not going to sacrifice the team’s work out of impatience,” said Caudrelier on Monday. “There are races which have ended badly in the Bay of Biscay which is one of the most difficult sailing waters.”

“We are expecting 40 knots of winds, gusts of more than 50 knots, seas of 8 to 9 meters,” explains Benjamin Shwartz, one of the routers at the Gitana team. He adds: “We waited and hoped for improvements but that’s not happened. There is no question of taking the slightest risk.”

Leeward of Faial Island

Caudrelier and the team had considered waiting offshore but, they explain, “The maritime traffic in the area as well as the expected weather and in particular the heavy seas in the possible waiting zone ended up putting him off that idea" specifies a press release from the team. The option chosen is to take shelter in the Azores, in the lee of the island of Faial in Horta.

“It’s a safety choice to take shelter,” explains Guillaume Evrard from the race direction. Their intention is to stay outside the marina, in a small channel between two islands.”

Towards a very rapid return to racing

Members of the team joined Caudrelier for the technical stopover, which must last a minimum of 24 hours as stipulated in the notice of race. The race management started the “24-hour stopover time” at 0504hrs UTC “His team can bring him fresh food and can fix a few little things,” explains Evrard

Until now Caudrelier had been the only sailor on the ARKÉA ULTIM CHALLENGE-Brest not to have stopped since the start.

His stopover should be quick, “The routing unit is already hard at work to consider the next steps to allow Caudrelier to reach Brest as soon as possible” confirms the press release.

“A window of opportunity is possible with a little more manageable weather between two depressions,” says Evrard. “There was no information to this effect from the team but there is a small lull during the night from Saturday to Sunday. We can therefore imagine that he tries to cross the finish line during the night from Saturday to Sunday.”

After having to pitstop in Rio because of the loss of two of his rudders, third-placed Ultim Challenge skipper Armel Le Cléac'h is hopeful of returning to the race course sometime today.

At the end of the day yesterday, the boss of Le Cléac'h’s Banque Populaire team, Ronan Lucas, explained that two replacement rudders were “in transit”, confirming that he is hopeful that Le Cléac’h would be able to leave this Sunday.

At the same time, as he moves into his last week of racing, Ultim Challenge race leader Charles Caudrelier is particularly cautious. He may slow down to optimise his timing to account for a complicated low pressure weather situation at the end of next week.

“Our goal is to finish. If we manage to leave again, that will make up for the disappointment,” explained Armel Le Cléac’h when he arrived in Rio de Janeiro. “With the Banque Populaire team, we are quite confident in our ability to get Maxi Banque Populaire XI back on the course.”

Interviewed yesterday on the race’s Ultim Live show, Ronan Lucas, team director, explained,

“I am hopeful that Armel will be able to leave”.

Two rudders are being transported by the team to the Brazilian port. “These are substantial pieces, it was not easy to get them to Brazil,” he explained, thanking the French Embassy in Brazil and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for facilitating their task. Now everyone is working hard so that the multihull can set off again as quickly as possible, perhaps as early as today, Sunday.

“If he wants to stay in the match for second place with Thomas (Coville), he needs to be able to leave today,” underlines Guillaume Rottee, the race director. “The sooner he leaves, the less significant the gap with Sodebo Ultim 3 will be.”

In the middle of last night Thomas Coville returned to second place. After having bypassed a small depression barring his course. Coville is climbing towards the Equator and will start to hook into the trade winds which are not very strong. His passage across the Equator might be next Thursday.

“I only have one fear, that this will stop” (Caudrelier)

Charles Caudrelier is expected next Friday at the finish line in Brest. But the skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is staying very cautious: “I only have one fear, and that is that this will stop,” he said on the Ultim Live show. “We deserve the race win but we have to finish it.”

He talked about living with a sword of Damocles hanging over him, he worries about fatigue and wear and tear of the boat and equipment.

“My boat is not perfect, I had problems which I will show you soon,” he revealed. “I'm flying but not as well, the appendages are damaged, the aerodynamics are not perfect. We're at 80%.”

“This prudence on Charles part is completely normal and does not surprise me at all,” explains Guillaume Rottee. “We know that in a fraction of seconds, everything can change or stop. The race will only be won when he crosses the line. The risk of material damage is increased to the extent that the boats are all very tired. We must not forget that the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild had never sailed so far.”

Caudrelier will have to be vigilant especially as he will have to face complicated weather before the finish with strong northwesterly winds. The skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild spoke of a Bay of Biscay with eight metre seas and 40 knots of wind. “ I’m not going there with my boat.” He could wait for the depression to pass before him, as he had done before Cape Horn.

“The Azores anticyclone blocks his path and to his north, there are low pressure trains,” explains Rottee. “Either he crosses the anticyclone as quickly as possible and he will have no wind, or he goes out west to bypass it but that takes him closer to this particularly bad low pressure system. So as to look after his boat and himself Charles could decide to slow down next Tuesday or Wednesday.”

In the Pacific, more than 8,000 miles further west, Anthony Marchand (Actual Ultim 3) and Éric Péron (ULTIM ADAGIO) continue their progress. The situation still favours Péron who is advancing on the leading edge of a front while Marchand is in lighter breeze. And so the ULTIM ADAGIO continues to gain ground on their rival. Less than 600 miles on the direct route now separate them and the gap should narrow further, although Actual Ultim 3 should accelerate again as Marchand approaches Cape Horn. Éric shares his humor: in a video yesterday, he put a video of a roaring fireplace fire on his computer, saying “It’s warming up a little, we’re fully equipped for the big South!”

Since Friday afternoon (UTC), second-placed Ultim Challenge, solo skipper Armel Le Cléac’h has been docked in Rio de Janeiro. He should be overtaken today by Thomas Coville (3rd), who is progressing off the Brazilian coast and was 225 miles south of Rio this morning. Meanwhile, Leader Charles Caudrelier continues his ascent of the North Atlantic whilst Anthony Marchand In fourth and Éric Péron in fifth are going steadily in the Pacific Ocean.

The Maxi Banque Populaire XI is on their second Brazilian stop of this solo multihull race around the world. After pit-stopping in Recife during the descent of the Atlantic, they have been in Rio de Janeiro since yesterday. The double damages, first to the port float rudder then to the central rudder have forced the team and Armel Le Cléac’h to stop.

“We have no other option than to put the race on hold,” explained the skipper yesterday. “It’s a real blow, It is especially hard because we’ve done the hardest part.”

Race management started the 24-hour timer at 1417hrs UTC.

“The tech team arrived on site, they had equipment sent to try to repair and find solutions,” explains Guillaume Evrard from race direction. As yet the Banque Populaire team have not provided further information as to the extent of the damage, nor on the options considered. They published a series of photos on their social networks where members of the team, including Sébastien Josse, winner with Armel of the Transat Jacques Vabre, are getting busy around the maxi-trimaran.

So now there are four solo skippers still racing.

Caudrelier's fright

The leader, Charles Caudrelier, crossed out of the South Atlantic yesterday. In a video broadcast yesterday, he looked back on the last few particularly trying days.

Ultim Challenge Leader Charles Caudrelier

“I was so very tired from the squalls, I scared myself a little by broaching up to 40° of heel, something this has never happened in my entire history with this boat.” He spoke for the first time of the idea of his imminent arrival, his fierce desire to finish the job saying “I want to reward everyone for everything that has been done over the past seven years with this team and this boat”.

The skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild showed palpable emotion, something of a preview for what he should enjoy with his team in a few days .

“Right now Charles is gradually getting into the Northeast trade winds and should soon benefit from a well-established flow,” explains Guillaume Evrard. “Next Tuesday, he will have to deal with a transition zone with weaker winds before being able to head directly towards Brest where brisk conditions are expected at the finish.”

Coville…..busy busy busy

And so Thomas Coville could regain the second place as he had during the crossing of the Indian Ocean. He was just over 250 miles from the latitude of Rio de Janeiro, where Armel Le Cléac’h stopped.

“Thomas is expecting a small depression off the coast of Cabo Frio,” explains Evrard. “He will have to negotiate a wind shift and turn with the depression, which will involve a lot of manoeuvres and transitions to end up upwind in 15 to 20 knots. It's going to be a busy day!”

In the Pacific, Anthony Marchand has been moving at around fifteen knots for the past 24 hours. He is currently going through a depression. “He still has to be patient so as not to get caught up in it,” explains the Assistant Race Director, “His sea conditions will be not very pleasant with downwind conditions. It’s up to him to find the right tempo to anticipate his approach to Cape Horn.” Marchand’s passage of his third Cape is expected next Wednesday.

Anthony Marchand on the Actual Ultim 3

Some 940 miles further west, Éric Péron continues to gain ground on fourth placed Marchand. The skipper of ULTIM ADAGIO skirts the ZEA (ice exclusion zone) sailing fast always ahead of a depression.

“He went close to the ZEA to hold on as long as possible in the westerly wind,” added Evrard, “He will probably do a series of gybes along the ZEA.”

Péron is going fast and it shows, surges up to 35 knots with around 20 knots of wind and an average which currently fluctuates between 28 and 30 knots. Right now his Saturday is going well on the oldest boat in the fleet.

Second placed skipper on the Ultim Challenge Race Armel Le Cléach is a few miles from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil early this Friday afternoon, set to meet members of his shore team at the start of a technical stopover which is required as he has damaged or lost the main hull rudder and the port rudder of his ULTIM in two separate incidents earlier this week.

The Banque Populaire team reported this afternoon, “Armel Le Cléac'h and the Maxi Banque Populaire XI suffered two major rudder damages in 48 hours, which have now disrupted the rest of the race as he requires a new technical stopover. On Tuesday February 13 around midday UTC the Maxi Banque Populaire port float had a collision. Maxi Banque Populaire XI was sailing at more than 30 knots on starboard tack when the port rudder hit a log, causing the complete loss of the appendage.”

The team statement continues, “While there were still nearly 6,000 miles to go to reach Brest, the equivalent of two transatlantic races, Armel Le Cléac'h sailed for a few hours on starboard on the central rudder and confirmed his desire to continue the race without making a stopover, despite the absence of the port rudder which would have been mainly used on the route to Brittany. Without this appendage, safety on board was not in question and the boat was OK, although this required slower speeds.”

Armel Le Cléach on Maxi Banque Populaire XI approaches Rio de Janeiro for a technical stopover in the Ultim Challenge due to two rudder collisions

Le Cléac'h himself takes up the story, “I was sailing along Argentina, downwind, in always fast conditions. I was emerging from a very busy 24 hours with a depression which had deepened with very unstable wind and gusts which reached up to 50 knots. I heard a violent impact on the port rudder. I caught a glimpse of a wooden log. The impact was very violent, the rudder was largely torn off. It was a real setback. But even if that was a difficult moment, we knew that it was possible to continue sailing without a rudder. The weather would not have been so bad and we could still get to Brest.”

A second blow makes the stopover necessary

But then on Thursday February 15 around 0830hrs UTC Le Cléac'h experienced a sudden breakage of the central rudder of the Maxi Banque Populaire XI off the Brazilian coast, without any shock being felt on board. “I heard a loud “crack”, mechanically the rudder had just given way,” he explains. “Quickly, we had to adapt because on board everything had become so much more complicated”.

These two successive damages now require the skipper of the Banque de la Voile to make this technical stopover so the team can precisely diagnose the situation and to consider the next possible steps for their round the world race. “Now the boat is difficult to control with only one rudder allowing us to steer. We have no other option than to put the race on hold and stop,” Le Cléac'h assures.