Paris (AFP)

For his first outing, the new tandem at the helm of Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier, took Sunday the victory over the iconic Anglo-Saxon crewed race, the Fastnet Race, in record time. 28 hours.

The pair of masters, composed in late April, won at the finish off Plymouth (England) after a hard-fought fight with François Gabart (Macif), who cut the line only 58 seconds after the winners.

Cammas and Caudrelier slammed the record of the biennial race, which is played on the waters of the Channel and the Celtic Sea, with 4 hours less!

They erased tablets the record of 32 hours 48 min, established in 2011 by Loïck Peyron at the helm of Banque Populaire V.

Thomas Coville (Sodebo) came in third for the inaugural race of his new gear, launched in March, and last-born in the elite Ultim category, these 32m long maxi-multihulls capable of + flying +.

The 48th edition of the Fastnet, for which 388 boats took the start, launched the new campaign Ultim, these giant + flying + new generation, very proven in 2018.

- Magic -

The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild was seriously damaged during the Route du Rhum last November and had to be out of the water for long months of repair.

The private sponsor then separated from his skipper, Sébastien Josse, before recruiting three months ago the duo of shock, composed of Cammas and Caudrelier, who each have on their track record a victory over the former Volvo Ocean Race , the race around the world crewed the most formidable.

The two sailors and four other crew members signed the first victory of this boat, launched in the summer of 2017.

"With Charles, we did our first sailing during a training session on May 26, so it's pretty recent, but we've used the weather well, with modifications on the sails. who makes the magic of these boats ", had told AFP Cammas, before departure.

"These boats are the new boats of the offshore race, it's quite catchy, I find myself 8 years ago when I was racing offshore, we get better every day and I like this part of work ", continues Cammas, who had in recent years devoted to the America's Cup.

- Revenge in November -

Caudrelier has spent the last few years in monohulls and is learning to sail on maxi-trimarans. The duo will now focus on double sailing, which they have not done yet.

The next deadline will be November 3 with the departure of Brest Atlantiques, a double race created for and by the Ultims.

An opportunity for revenge perhaps for Gabart, who dropped the victory Sunday for a handful of seconds, with on board, a team-mate surprise in the person of the Australian Jimmy Spithill, double winner of the America's Cup in replacement at the foot of the day.

Gabart, at the helm of a 2015 Ultim with which he broke the solo world tour record at the end of 2017 (42d 16h), was back in competition after finishing 2nd in the 2018 Route du Rhum at the outcome of an epic battle with Francis Joyon (Idec).

After the Ultim, the Fastnet Race awaits its winner in imoca, these monohulls of 18 m which make the beautiful days of the legendary Vendée Globe whose next edition will leave at the end of 2020.

© 2019 AFP