Of the 6 starters, 5 are equipped with lifting appendages (foils, load-bearing planes on the three rudders and on the daggerboard) allowing them to fly from 13/14 knots of wind, and to exceed the top speed of 45 n?uds?!
The last one - UseItAgain - is a 75-foot Irens-Cabaret plan (formerly Ellen MacArthur's Castorama) led by Romain Pilliard. Born in 2003, and with a skipper who is discovering the sport of racing, he does not play in the same category. Its main objective is to reach the end with a boat in good condition, to share its history and to convey its message in favour of the circular economy.
Despite the pure potential of boats and their reliability, the sailors' know-how takes on all its importance "The performance curves practically follow the chronology of boat launching, but the timing of the experiment is inversely proportional," notes François Gabart.
As such, Francis Joyon - a veteran of the group - on board a 12-year-old trimaran is the one with the longest experience in multihulls: a double victory in the Route du Rhum, record holder of the Jules Verne Trophy (ex Groupama 3, ex Banque populaire VII) "In multi, you have to have a solid head and experience is an asset: there is so much nonsense to do on these bateaux?!"
Thomas Coville, multiple repeat offenders around the globe alone the winner of the last Transat Jacques Vabre, is on the same wavelength, despite Sodebo Ultim''s slight speed deficit "I'm in the opposite position from four years ago. I'm an outsider, but they know that if they make the slightest mistake, I'll eat them."
François Gabart is at the crossroads of the two curves - performance and experience - and is in the prognosticators' favour. The solo round the world record holder knows his boat by heart and the latter has just been made more reliable . This will be the first time François Gabart will be sailing a multihull on board Macif on the Route du Rhum, but his ambitions are clear, as he explains "I will do everything to take first place in Guadeloupe, because I know the challenge is extremely high, but that's also what makes it particularly exciting."
Sébastien Josse - on his 2017 Verdier plan, which has been extensively tested and made reliable - is an aircraft from chasse?! But as Armel le Cléac'h told us when his trimaran Banque Populaire was launched, the skipper of Edmond de Rothschild did not sail as much as he wanted. But these latest internships in Port-La-Forêt confirm the boat's full potential. However, the interested party weighs "In solo racing, it's first of all the man and his way of approaching the thing that make the difference and that, on the race, it can't be predicted."
Finally, Armel le Cléac'h has the most recent boat in the fleet and probably the fastest. But with his capsizing in the spring of 2018, the sailor did not have enough time to train. His boat was repaired and returned to the water late, in August 2018, and as he told us the same day," we're clearly not in the favorites ".
It will also be his first solo Atlantic crossing in a multihull " multihull This is a real first date for us. And we start with Alpe d'Huez, a pass outside catégorie?!" armel le Cléac'h concluded.
