The Ultim Collective to meet challenges
The Ultim Collective was born in December 2013, at the initiative of Banque Populaire, Macif and Sodebo. The goal: to create a 4-year racing program, reserved for multihulls of 80 feet and more. This first collective of shipowners has given itself the means to pool their knowledge and experience to build a new race program, and to go on the hunt for records, with the biggest current racing boats, the Ultimes. The objective is also to plan a solo, multihull and fleet race around the world, starting in 2017. Actual and Idec have since joined the program.
The Ultim Challenge is a 4-year program, which would include a solo round-the-world race, and at least one intermediate race in the other years. These races would take place solo or double-handed. A shipowner will be able to join the group, provided that his boat is manageable, without electric or hydraulic assistance and can line up at least at the start of one race per year.
Brest to host the Ultimates single-handed round-the-world race
For 18 months, the Ultim Collective has been working on its round the world project. After a long common work and exchanges with the partner communities, it is the city of Brest that has been chosen to organize this solo round the world race. It is thanks to its experience in hosting departures and arrivals of circumnavigations, as well as its geographical location âeuros turned towards the Atlantic âeuros that the Breton port won the vote.
From now on, the four shipowners will have to work together with the city of Brest, on the organization of this world tour, which will take place in 2019. Indeed, Idec participated in the vote, but has now withdrawn from the Collective.
"When we formed the Ultim Collective, one of our major objectives was to gather the best chances of success, in order to create the first solo round the world race on our Ultims. Today is a very important step, because the 5 of us, with the Actual and Idec groups who had joined us, proceeded to the choice of the city of Brest with which we will now work closely. At the end of this vote, the Collective announces the withdrawal of Idec. I regret it, but I respect its decision. From now on, we will continue to work with 4 shipowners, and more progressively I am convinced, to make this Round the World Race, whose first edition will take place in 2019, one of the flagship events of ocean racing. We will be together, coast to coast, with the public authorities of Brest during the next Nautic to present this event in more detail. I would like to thank Actual, Banque Populaire, Idec and Macif for the quality of our discussions and, on their behalf, I would like to congratulate all the local authorities who have been exchanging with us for the last 18 months, as their involvement and the quality of their files were remarkable. We had to make a choice, which was necessarily very difficult, but I am convinced that our fruitful exchanges will be useful in the future said Patricia Brochard, president of the Ultim Collective.
