The Four Ultimates of The Bridge compared

The trimarans at the Chantiers pontoon © Thierry Martinez / THE BRIDGE

The Bridge will be the first race reserved for Ultimate trimarans over 81 feet (24.68 m) crewed. Beyond the race against the Queen Mary 2, it is especially the first time that we will be able to compare the performances of these giants of the seas, which are normally designed for solo racing. Here is a comparative table of the four active multihulls.

Chloé Torterat Published on June 24, 2017

They are four multihulls participating in The Bridge, the first ocean race reserved for the Ultimates in crew. Led by some great skippers, they are all of different dimensions and rankings. Two of the trimarans hold the Round the World crew (Idec Sport) and solo (Sodebo Ultim') records. On this transatlantic, they will be 6 on board (except on Actual where they will be 5) and will have to deal with weather conditions that are not necessarily optimal.

	News	Idec Sport	Macif	Sodebo Ultim'
Skipper	Yves le Blévec	Francis Joyon	François Gabart	Thomas Coville
Launching	21 June 2007	June 2006	Summer 2015	May 2014
Length	31 m	31,50 m	30 m	31 m
Width	16,55 m	22,50 m	21 m	21,20 m
Draught	3 m	5,70 m	4,50 m	4,50 m
Air draft	35 m	33,50 m	35 m	37 m
Weight	12 tons	18 tons	14.5 tonnes	15.6 tonnes
Upwind sail area	395 m2	411 m2	430 m2	444 m2
Sail surface downwind	500 m2	678 m2	650 m2	663 m2
Architect	Nigel Irens - Benoît Cabaret	Cabinet Van Peteghem - Lauriot Prévost	Van Peteghem - Lauriot Prévost	Cabinet Van Peteghem - Lauriot Prévost
Shipyard	Boat Speed (Australia)	Multiplast (France)	CDK Technologies - Multiplast (France)	Multiplast (France)
Sailboat	North Sails	North Sails	North Sails	North Sails
Decoration	JB. Epron	JB. Epron	I. Keller / JB. Epron	Designe.fr

Ship's record of achievements

News

Idec Sport

Macif

Sodebo Ultim'

Sodebo

Mediterranean Record 2012

North Atlantic Record 2007-2008

Solo distance record over 24 hours 2008

Groupama 3

Route de la Découverte (2007)

Miami-New York (2007)

North Atlantic and 24-hour record (2007)

Jules Verne Trophy from 2010 to 2012

Banque Populaire VII

Mediterranean Record, Route de La Découverte and distance covered in 24 hours

Route du Rhum (2010 - 2014)

Jules Verne Trophy 2017

Transat Jacques Vabre (2015)

Transat Bakerly (2016)

Record distance under sail in 24 hours (2016)

Jules Verne Trophy (2004)

Multihull solo round the world sailing record (2016)

Record distance under sail in 24 hours (2016)

Skippers' express rankings

Yves le Blévec	In Ultimate trimaran: 3rd in the Transat (2016). In Multi 50: winner then 2nd in the Transat Jacques Vabre (2011-2013), winner of the Vendée-St Pétersbourg (2010). In Mini 6.50: winner of the Transat 6.50 (2007). Two Jules Verne Trophies (2005 and 2002)
Francis Joyon	A crewed round the world record: the Jules Verne Trophy (2017) Solo record lines: the Route de l'Amitié, Bordeaux/Rio de Janeiro (2014), the North Atlantic (2013 and still valid) and the Route de la Découverte records, 24 hours, and around the world (beaten since) 2nd in the Route du Rhum (2010). Winner of the Transat (2000).
François Gabart	Trimaran MACIF : Winner of The Transat Bakerly 2016, winner of the Transat Jacques Vabre 2015 in doubles with Pascal Bidégorry. MACIF Monohull: Winner of the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe 2014, Winner of the 2012/2013 Vendée Globe. Figaro MACIF: French solo ocean racing champion 2010, Selected Skipper Macif 2010. World Champion Young Tornado (2004) - French Optimist Champion (1997).
Thomas Coville	8 round the world voyages, including 4 solo, 6 multihull and 2 monohull 10 round Cape Horn and over 17 transatlantic races 16 solo records and 4 crew records 4 Route du Rhum including 1 win in monohull in 1998 and 2 podiums in trimaran (2006 and 2010)