’24h Ultim’ Regatta 2023 for Banque Populaire XI

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What a blast these Ultim beasts. Nothing in sailing today surpass them. Photos & text by 24h Ultim official web: www.ultimsailing.com

Traccking review: www.ultimsailing.com/24h-ultim/cartographie/

Gtranslalte from source: ultimsailing.com/actualites/banque-populaire-xi-lemporte-dans-les-ultimes-longueurs/

At the end of a constant battle, Banque Populaire XI finished as the big winner of the 24H Ultim offshore course. Armel Le Cléac’h and Sébastien Josse, however, had to spare no effort not to let the honors of the finish line slip away, at 9 a.m. 13 minutes and 32 seconds this Sunday morning, after 9:13 p.m. 32 seconds of racing. 

They came close to being able to steal the courtesy from the duos formed by their tough competitors, offensive and incisive from start to finish over the 340 miles of a course built to offer all the paces. The figures at the finish, in the beautiful light of this early morning near the island of Groix, illustrate the intensity of this regatta on the waters of the northern Bay of Biscay. As proof, the three minutes and 20 seconds which separate Banque Populaire XI from Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, second, at the finish. The same goes for the 11 minutes and 31 seconds ahead of SVR-Lazartigue, who completes the podium. 

A regatta at the top of the art

The tiny differences measured this Sunday at daybreak testify to the harshness of the regatta fought by the tandems of sailors, who bickered from start to finish, with high precision maneuvers and adjustments. After setting off online and in contact on Saturday noon, the passage of the three brands, each greeted first by one of these three protagonists, further testifies to the content of this regatta contested at the highest level of performance by this trio of ‘Ultimate, at the top of the art.

As we write these lines, Actual Ultim 3, who was the first to get trapped in the very light airs arriving from the west, is struggling to overtake the virtual Morbihan mark in the south-east of the course. Considering the lack of wind which is likely to last all day on the water, it is difficult to envisage an arrival time. In these conditions, the progress of Anthony Marchand and Thierry Chabagny now depends on the saving laughs that they will manage to catch to finish, in their turn, this 24H Ultim course.

Reactions to the pontoon 

Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire XI):“It was intense from start to finish. We knew, given the conditions, that there would be a lot of maneuvers and a lot of sail changes. And then very quickly we found the three boats in contact; and it lasted until the end. A blow is one; one blow is the other. Gitana had to pass the first mark in the lead, then it was SVR, and we were the last. It was the right one, since afterwards we were able to keep the advantage. They came back until the end. We had to not give up, each maneuver counted a lot. It’s a great satisfaction for the team, it’s been a long time since we won a race. This bodes well for the rest of the season. Winning these 24 Hours Ultim here in Lorient has a special flavor. With Sébastien, it’s our first victory together, I hope it will lead to others. It was fun. We gave it our all, even if we were a little sore. The boat is great, we’ve made good progress, it’s great! 

We often found ourselves side to side, sometimes about ten meters away. We steered a lot, we did a lot of maneuvers. It was deserved, we are happy. You had to be on it until the end. We knew the wind was going to die down. Fortunately, it held on a bit, even if it could come back behind. It was even complicated to cross the line under a slightly tight gennaker. If I have to keep an image of this course, it is perhaps that of the first two hours of the race, under gennaker at an average of 35 knots with the two other boats, Actual not very far away. It was flying and that’s what makes you dream on board these boats! It was magical ! » 

Charles Cauderlier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild)   : 

“We were always close to each other, it happened a lot. There were different angles and edges to each section of the course and everyone had little pluses and minuses. And above all, the weather was very complicated. It was a great fight. I think we’ve never had such a close match in Ultim, so that’s good. Congratulations to Armel and Sébastien who sailed very well, they deserve their victory. It’s going to get harder and harder to win. For our part, we have made good progress in certain areas, we are happy. We passed the first mark in the lead, we came back at the end as well.  During the last crossing with Banque Populaire, we passed right behind them. We tried to make a small gap to overtake them but he had managed his jibe point perfectly so he stayed in front. »

François Gabart (SVR-Lazartigue): “We had a nice bubble last night so not much wind, it took us a while to move upwind. We knew there wasn’t much wind in the west, I think Actual was eaten up a bit by the bubble. The routings and weather files were uncertain for arrival times, it was not a big deal. We knew we had to go pretty fast and it wasn’t that simple, because we were upwind in light airs. In the end, we had wind and even a little more towards the end. Along Belle-Ile, the sunrise, with little air on the surface of the water and the boats flying at over 30 knots, was quite incredible.

It was good training for the Transat Jacques Vabre. We will have to be faster upwind in light winds, because we clearly had a deficit. On the other hand, in terms of maneuvers and course management, we had a good race, which bodes well. We launched the boat only 10 days ago, we are getting our bearings again, it’s running well, it’s working, it’s reassuring. »

Race time

1 – Maxi Banque Populaire XI

Arrival: 01/10/2023 at 09:13:32 FR

Race time: 21h 13min 32s

2 – Maxi Edmond de Rothschild

Arrival: 01/10/2023 at 09:16:52 FR

Race time: 21h 16min 52s

Gap to first: 03min 20s

Difference from previous: 03min 20s

3 – SVR-Lazartigue

Arrival: 01/10/2023 09:28:23 FR

Race time: 21h 28min 23s

Gap to first: 14min 51s

Difference from previous: 11min 31s