 | |
| Development | |
|---|---|
| Designer | various |
| Year | 2015 |
| Name | Ultim |
| Hull | |
| LOA | 24 to 32 m |
| Beam | max 23 m |
The Ultim class (also Classe Ultime or Ultim 32/23) is class of offshore trimaran sailboats.
| | |
| Development | |
|---|---|
| Designer | various |
| Year | 2015 |
| Name | Ultim |
| Hull | |
| LOA | 24 to 32 m |
| Beam | max 23 m |
The Ultim class (also Classe Ultime or Ultim 32/23) is class of offshore trimaran sailboats.
The class three major groups of rules: [1]
On the occasion of the Route du Rhum 2010, the organization of the race decided to group together in a new category all the multihulls of 60 feet and more, with no maximum limit of size. The aim was to succeed the ORMA class of the 60-foot trimarans, to wait for the construction of the MOD 70 for the year 2011 and to open the race for large multihulls such as Groupama 3 or IDEC 2.
In June 2015, an Ultim Collective formed around the Team Banque Populaire, Macif and Sodebo teams. They decided that the overall length should be between 23 meters (minimum) and 32 meters (maximum), which excludes the MOD 70 and Spindrift 2. The Mod 70 class boats, at 21.2-meters LOA, falls short of the class minimum. Spindrift 2, originally Banque Populaire V, at 40 meters LOA, exceeds the maximum permissible LOA for the class.
The Class Ultim 32/23 (maximum length 32 meters / maximum width 23 meters) was approved by the French Sailing Federation on 29 January 2018. [2]
| Boat | Skippers | Sources | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current name | Year | Babtismal name | Former names | Notes | Current skipper* | Former skippers** | |
| Use It Again (since 2018) | 2004 | B-Q/Castorama (till 2008) | Oman Sail (2008-2009), La Boîte à Pizza (2009-2011), Région Aquitaine-Port-Médoc (2011-2018) | Romain Pilliard | |||
| IDEC Sport (since 2015) | 2006 | Groupama 3 (till 2010) | Banque populaire VII (2013-2014), Lending Club 2 (2015) | Alexia Barrier | Francis Joyon | ||
| Adagio (since 2023) | 2014 | Sodebo Ultim (till 2019) | Actual Leader (2019-2022), Mieux (2022) | Éric Peron | Arthur Le Vaillant | ||
| Actual Ultim 3 (since 2020) | 2015 | Macif (till 2019) | Anthony Marchand | Yves Le Blevec | |||
| Destroyed | 2017 | Banque populaire IX | lost at sea during 2018 Route du Rhum | Armel Le Cléac'h | [3] | ||
| Maxi Edmond de Rothschild - Gitana 17 | 2017 | Maxi Edmond de Rothschild - Gitana 17 | Charles Caudrelier | ||||
| Sodebo Ultim 3 | 2019 | Sodebo Ultim 3 | Thomas Coville | ||||
| SVR-Lazartigue | 2021 | SVR-Lazartigue | Tom Laperche | François Gabart | |||
| Banque Populaire XI | 2021 | Banque Populaire XI | Armel Le Cléac'h | ||||
| *Also: last skipper **Not exhaustive | |||||||
Originally out of class.
Originally not considered to be part of the class, among other things due to a fully closed cockpit. After legal action of the team to be included in the class, the boat went through extensive rebuilding to allow the skipper more visibility during manoeuvring on the other hand fully closed cockpits have been allowed since. [4] [5]
Lost at sea during 2018 Route du Rhum. [3]
The Gitana Team has announced a new boat to be launched in 2025. The design team consists of Guillaume Verdier and Benjamin Muyl of the Orient Express Racing Team as well as the Gitana in house design team. CDK Technologies will be main contractor for the build, while Multiplast will be involved as well. [6]
The class has been part of the Route du Rhum since 2010.
The class has been part of the Transat Jacques Vabre since 2015 (with the exception of 2019).
The class has been part of the Rolex Fastnet Race since 2019.
In January 2023, the start of the first solo tour of the Ultimes, the Arkéa Ultim Challenge - Brest, was announced for 7 January 2024, with six participants. The maxi-trimarans will perform the round the world from west to east by the three capes (Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn), about a distance of 21,760 miles from Brest to Brest. The organization of this race was entrusted to OC Sport Pen Duick. [7]
| Skipper | Boat | Result | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Sail Nr. | Designer | Builder | Pos. | Time | ||
 Charles Caudrelier (FRA) | Maxi Edmond de Rothschild | FRA 17 | Guillaume Verdier | Multiplast | 1 | 50d 19h 7m 42s | [9] |
| Thomas Coville (FRA) | Sodebo Ultim 3 | FRA 73 | Sodebo Design | Multiplast | 2 | 53d 1h 12m 40s | [10] |
| Armel Le Cléac'h (FRA) | Maxi Banque Populaire XI | FRA 11 | VPLP Design | CDK Technologies | 3 | 56d 8h 1m 31s | [11] |
| Anthony Marchand (FRA) | Actual Ultim 3 | FRA 53 | VPLP Design | CDK Technologie-Multiplast | 4 | 64d 1hr 38m 21s | [12] |
| Éric Péron (FRA) | Adagio | - | VPLP Design | Multiplast | 5 | 66d 1h 14m 27s | [13] |
| Tom Laperche (FRA) | SVR Lazartigue | - | VPLP Design | Multiplast CDK Technologies | DNF | [14] | |
In its Jules-Verne Trophy record in 2009-2010, the Trimaran Groupama 3 in the hands of Franck Cammas travelled 798 nautical miles in 24 hours on February 13, 2010 featuring 17 days at more than 600 miles, including 10 days at more than 700 miles.
In its Jules-Verne trophy record in 2016-2017, the Idec Sports trimaran in the hands of Francis Joyon travelled 894 nautical miles in 24 hours, [15] with 10 consecutive days at 809 miles/24 h. Francis Joyon doubled Cape Horn, 16 days after hooking the first depression off South America, and after a trajectory of nearly 12,000 miles above an average of 30 knots (730.16 hours a day over 16 days). He then showed an increase in performance between 30 and 40% compared to the peak of Louck Peyron's record five years earlier. Leaving the Southern Seas with a 4-day 6-hour 35-minute lead on the previous record of Louck Peyron, Francis Joyon and his crew regained the equivalent of 2,800 miles at the record for this episode.
During the return after his victory at the Transat Jacques-Vabre 2021, Charles Caudrelier broke two unofficial records on the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild: in training in false-solo, he made a point at 50.7 knots, and traveled 880 miles in 24 hours at the average speed of 36.6 knots. The latter record may not be certified for lack of adequate equipment on board. [16]
A multihull is a boat or ship with more than one hull, whereas a vessel with a single hull is a monohull. The most common multihulls are catamarans, and trimarans. There are other types, with four or more hulls, but such examples are very rare and tend to be specialised for particular functions.
A trimaran is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recreation or racing; others are ferries or warships. They originated from the traditional double-outrigger hulls of the Austronesian cultures of Maritime Southeast Asia; particularly in the Philippines and Eastern Indonesia, where it remains the dominant hull design of traditional fishing boats. Double-outriggers are derived from the older catamaran and single-outrigger boat designs.
The Jules Verne Trophy is a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions on the size of the crew provided the vessel has registered with the organization and paid an entry fee. A vessel holding the Jules Verne trophy will not necessarily hold the absolute round the world record. The trophy was first awarded to the first yacht which sailed around the world in less than 80 days. The name of the award is a reference to the Jules Verne novel Around the World in Eighty Days in which Phileas Fogg traverses the planet in 80 days. The current holder is IDEC Sport skippered by Francis Joyon in 40 days 23 hours 30 minutes 30 seconds.
Francis Joyon is a French professional sailboat racer and yachtsman. Joyon and his crew currently hold the Jules Verne Trophy for circumnavigation, on IDEC SPORT, nearly five days less than the previous reference time. He held the record for the fastest single-handed sailing circumnavigation from 2008 to 2016.
The Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (STAR) is an east-to-west yacht race across the North Atlantic. When inaugurated in 1960, it was the first single-handed ocean yacht race; it is run from Plymouth in England to Newport, Rhode Island in the United States, and has generally been held on a four yearly basis.
Franck Cammas is a French yachtsman. He has lived in Brittany since his victory in the Challenge Espoir Crédit Agricole in 1994. After completing a two-year maths course for the ‘Grandes écoles’, as well as a piano academy, Franck Cammas finally opted for a career in sailing. In 1997, at the age of 24, he won the Solitaire du Figaro and a year later helmed his first trimaran christened Groupama. Despite his late entry into competition, he is one of the most talented and respected sailors in the Ocean Racing Multihull Association world.
The Transat Jacques Vabre is a yachting race that follows the historic coffee trading route between France and Brazil. It is named after a French brand of coffee.
Speed sailing records are sanctioned, since 1972, by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC). Records are measured either by average speed over a specified distance or by total distance traveled during a specified time interval. The three most sought after records are the:
Groupama 3 is a Ultim class high performance racing sailing trimaran designed for transoceanic record-setting IDEC SPORTBanque Populaire VII, Lending Club 2, IDEC 3). She is one of the world's fastest ocean-going sailing vessels and the current holder of the Jules Verne Trophy for circumnavigation of the world. She was originally skippered by French yachtsman Franck Cammas, with a crew of ten and sponsored by the French insurance company Groupama. She is currently skippered by Françis Joyon.
Banque Populaire V, is an offshore-racing trimaran which was originally run by Team Banque Populaire. It was Team Banque Populaire's fifth boat designed to set oceanic records. She was launched on 4 October 2008 in Nantes, France. She holds multiple records for sailing over set courses, as well as the record for distance sailed in 24 hours by any class of sailing boat, 908.2 nm.
Geronimo is a French trimaran designed to break great offshore records. It was skippered by the French yachtsman Olivier de Kersauson. It was launched on Saturday 29 September 2001 in Brest, France by Marie Tabarly.
Pascal Bidegorry is a French sailor.
The first around the world sailing record for circumnavigation of the world can be attributed to the surviving crew of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition, including the last captain Juan Sebastián Elcano who completed their journey in 1522.
Loïck Peyron is a French yachtsman, younger brother of the yachtsman Bruno Peyron.
VPLP design is a French-based naval architectural firm founded by Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prévost, responsible for designing some of the world's most innovative racing boats. Their designs presently hold many of the World Speed Sailing records.
The Tour de Belle-Ile is a nautical event created in 2008 by eol and open to all sailing yachts measuring 6,50m or more.
Thomas Coville is a French yacht racer.
Alex Pella is a Spanish yachtsman. In 2014 he became the first and only Spanish to win a transoceanic single-handed race, the Route du Rhum. Alex Pella made history once again, on 26 January 2017, when he broke, with the rest of the team, the absolute round-the-world speed sailing record, known as the Jules Verne Trophy., aboard the sophisticated maxi-multihull IDEC 3. They circumnavigated the planet in 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds.
CDK Technologies is a boat building company now located in Lorient (France) with a primary site in marine hub of Port-la-Forêt. It was founded in 1984, it specializes in the construction of prototype sailboats for offshore racing.
Arkéa Ultim Challenge-Brest is a solo race around the world for giant Ultim class trimarans organised by the Société OC Sport Pen Duick, a subsidiary of the French group Télégramme. The course is identical to that of the Vendée Globe, with the difference that the start is given in Brest. The first edition of the race was held in 2024.