Brest Atlantiques: The winner Ultim expected early morning Wednesday

Paris (AFP)

Largely at the head of the race, the boat crossed by Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild) should be the first to cut the line, Wednesday at sunrise, Brest Atlantiques, double-ended race for maxi-trimarans' flying '(the Ultim).

"It will soften towards the end of the race, but we plan an arrival at dawn on Wednesday, with an entry into the harbor of Brest mid-morning," told AFP race director, Jacques Caraes.

The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is making his way to his point of arrival, sailing very fast and not making a stop on Saturday and Sunday, according to the race director.

"The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has a shorter route, he does not have to go around the Azores anticyclone." The two boats behind him, Macif and Actual, have no other opportunities to circumvent this high, "he said.

According to the latest estimates, there are more than 24 hours between Cammas / Caudrelier duo of his two pursuers, one skippered by François Gabart and Gwnénolé Gahinet, and the other by Yves Le Blévec and Alex Pella (Actual Leader) .

"It's very tight between Macif and Actual, they are expected in the afternoon of Friday, even in the evening.There is less than 2, 3 hours difference between them two," he said. precise.

If Cammas and Caudrelier spend Wednesday morning the finish line, they will have 30 days to complete the Brest Atlantiques.

This double race was created for and by the elitist class of the Ultim, a category of unusual boats, maxi-trimarans of 32 m long able to fly thanks to their foils (side appendages that raise the boat over the water).

The fleet of four boats departed on November 5 for a 14,000 nautical mile (about 26,000 km) loop through Rio and Cape Town.

The sailboat skippered by Thomas Coville and Jean-Luc Nélias (Sodebo Ultim 3), launched last March, was damaged (saffron damage, loss of the rear of the starboard float), which forced the sailors to the abandonment on November 22nd. They are currently sailing the Atlantic and should arrive in Lorient around December 12th.

© 2019 AFP