Armel Le Cléac'h - Maxi Banque Populaire XI
Armel Le Cléac'h is one of the race favorites. Finisher of three Vendée Globe races and winner of the 2016-2017 edition, he is still the holder of the solo monohull round-the-world record, in 74 days 3h 35 min.
In 2021, he takes the helm of Maxi Banque Populaire XI, VPLP design, a 32-meter-long, 23-meter-wide trimaran with L-shaped foils and an enclosed cockpit aft of the mast. After a lackluster Route du Rhum 2022, he won the Transat Jacques-Vabre 2023 with Sébastien Josse.
Charles Caudrelier - Maxi Edmond de Rothschild
Charles Caudrelier is another serious contender for victory. Winner of the 2017-2018 Volvo Ocean Race, a crewed round-the-world race with stopovers, he joins the Gitana Team in 2019 and shares the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild with Franck Cammas. The two men then embarked on an uninterrupted series of victories: Brest Atlantique 2019, Transat Jacques Vabre 2021, Fastnet Race in 2019 and 2021 and the Route du Rhum 2022 single-handed, breaking the event record in 6 d 19 h 47 min.
This Guillaume Verdier design, launched in 2017, is the first Ultim designed for flight. She has one of the best track records in the class.
Thomas Coville - Sodebo Ultim 3
Thomas Coville is no stranger to records and circumnavigations. Finisher of the Vendée Globe 2000-2001, he has attempted to beat the round-the-world sailing record on a trimaran 5 times. Twice, he went all the way without beating Francis Joyon's 2008 record of 57 days and 13 hours. The 6 e the 2016 attempt was the right one, with the finish line crossed on December 25 in 49 days 3 hrs 7 min.
Since 2019, he has been sailing Sodebo Ultim 3 (Renaud Bañuls and VPLP design), which is equipped with a cockpit located forward of the mast in order to lower the height of the boom, which is now almost level with the deck.
Tom Laperche - Trimaran SVR-Lazartigue
Tom Laperche is the youngest skipper in the race. At 26, he takes the helm of the SVR-Lazartigue trimaran previously skippered by François Gabart. Winner of the Solitaire du Figaro 2022, the Arkéa Ultim Challenge will be his first solo race aboard the SVR-Lazartigue trimaran, a VPLP design. The boat features a very low, closed cockpit below the deck of the central hull.
Anthony Marchand - Actual Ultim 3
At the age of 38, Anthony Marchand is tackling his first solo round-the-world race, after having shone for 9 years in the Solitaire du Figaro, first Bizuth in 2009, two stage wins and a second place in 2018.
He joined Team Actual in 2021 as Yves Le Blevec's co-skipper and took the helm in 2023 of Actual Ultim 3, formerly Macif, launched in 2015 (VPLP Design design). The boat, which finished second in the 2018 Route du Rhum after leading for most of the race, but caught in the final miles by Francis Joyon on Idec Sport, is above all the current holder of the 42-day solo round-the-world sailing record. After a lengthy refit in 2022, the boat was modified with the addition of new foils.
Éric Péron - Trimaran Adagio
At the age of 42, Éric Péron has two Olympic preparations in the 470 and a Volvo Ocean Race on the VO65 Dongfeng Race Team to his credit, as well as participation in 8 Figaro solo races.
The Trimaran Adagio is the former Sodebo Ultim, whose link arms and floats are taken from the Geronimo trimaran launched in 2001 for Olivier de Kersauson. It was with this trimaran that Thomas Coville broke the solo multihull round-the-world record in 2016 in 49 d 3 h 4 min 28 s, before being dethroned by François Gabart. In 2017, he won the Transat Jacques-Vabre with Thomas Coville and Jean-Luc Nélias, in 7 d, 22 h, 7 min and 27 s.
