This Wednesday, November 5, at 22 h 13 min 58 sec local time (3 h 13 min 58 in Paris), Tom Laperche and Franck Cammas were the first to cross the ULTIM finish line in Fort-de-France Bay for the 17th edition of the Transat Café L'Or 2025 Le Havre Normandie.
Appearing out of a moody Caribbean night to break the Fort-de-France finish line first at 22 h 13 min 58 sec local time (UTC minus 4 hours), 28-year-old Laperche and 52-year-old co-skipper Cammas win the ULTIM division of the famous biennial double-handed race from Le Havre to Martinique.
Their elapsed time for the 6670 nautical miles course from the French Channel port to Martinique, via a turning mark at the Saint Peter and Saint Paul islets in the South Atlantic, is 10 days, 13 hours, 3 minutes, and 58 seconds.
Laperche and Cammas have led the race since Armel Le Cléac'h and Seb Josse on Banque Populaire XI, 2023's race winners, had to pitstop in Lorient to make a rudder repair early on the first morning of the race. After finishing twice in succession, in 2021 and 2023, this is Laperche's first big Transatlantic race win with the giant blue trimaran. Cammas, who first tasted victory on this classic race in 2001, sets a new record as the only sailor to have now won five times. They actually covered 6490.10 miles at an average speed of 25.65 knots (over the water).
