A mass start
It all began on January 7, 2024, when the six competitors in the race made a grouped descent of the Atlantic. A duel soon ensued with Tom Laperche and SVR-Lazartigue at the gateway to the Roaring Forties, where Charles Caudrelier clocked up three days at an average speed of almost 35 knots. He took the lead on January 17, never to relinquish it again, while his rival suffered damage and was forced to turn away towards Cape Town, before retiring from the race.
Charles Caudrelier sets sail!
After rounding the Cape of Good Hope on January 19 at 14 h 32 min 22 sec, in 12d 1h 2min and 22s, he took advantage of being ahead of a southern low-pressure system to reach the Kerguelens. With a huge lead over his rivals, who had to contend with weather systems and damage, Charles Caudrelier crossed the Indian Ocean in 8 days, 8 hours 20 minutes and 36 seconds, before rounding Cape Leeuwin on January 25 at 19 h 14 min and 05 seconds, in 18 days 5 hours 44 minutes and 5 seconds. He also set a new solo reference time.
A new Indian Ocean reference time
The sailor also improved on the Indian Ocean reference time, covering the 6,113 miles between Cape Agulhas in South Africa and the South-East Cape in 8 days 8 hours 20 minutes and 36 seconds, at an average speed of 30.7 knots.
Slow down to preserve yourself
Although he had sailed perfectly up to now, and continued his Pacific crossing at over 30 knots for 4 days, on February 1 he had to slow down to let a virulent weather system block his passage around Cape Horn. After 48 hours of slowing down, he finally rounded the mythical cape on February 6 at 18 h 08 min 40 seconds, after 30 days 4 hours 38 minutes and 40 seconds of racing.
An Atlantic crossing with 72 hours of downtime
In the end, the climb back up the Atlantic was to give the sailor the most trouble. The presence of ice and the arrival of a southern low forced him to pass to the west of the Falklands, and to temporize once more. He managed to repair a crippling technical problem and almost capsized. After a laborious climb up the South American coast, he had to brake once again. This time, he even had to stop.
On February 21, Charles Caudrelier stopped off at Horta in the Azores to allow the storm to pass off the French coast. After a 72-hour break, he finally arrived in Brest on February 27. The sailor, who joined the Gitana Team alongside Franck Cammas in 2019, has finally completed his first solo round-the-world voyage.
