Paris (AFP)
The duo François Gabart and Gwénolé Gahinet (Trimaran Macif) arrived Saturday morning in Brest after sailing for 31 days to finish second in the Brest Atlantiques, a double duel race for maxi-flying trimarans (the Ultims).
The two sailors will have 31 days 20 hours and 43 minutes to complete the race, won Wednesday by Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier (Maxi Edmond de Rothschild) in 28 days 23 hours and 24 minutes, 2 days and 21 hours difference between the two multihulls.
The race, in which four boats took part, left Brest on 5 November for a long voyage of some 14,000 nautical miles, or about 26,000 km, via Rio and Cape Town.
The Brest Atlantiques was created for and by the Ultim, an elitist class of maxi-trimarans 32 m long able to fly through their foils, side appendages that raise the boat over the water.
After Cammas / Caudrelier and Gabart / Gahinet, a boat is still in the race, that of Yves Le Blévec and Alex Pella (Actual Leader), expected on the line in the next hours.
The fourth multihull, piloted by Thomas Coville and Jean-Luc Nélias (Sodebo Ultim 3), stopped him mid-way on 22 November, after suffering damage (saffron damage, loss of the starboard float ).
Maxi Edmond de Rothschild and Trimaran Macif each made a technical stop in Brazil to repair technical damage: about ten hours in Salvador de Bahia for Cammas / Caudrelier and twenty hours in Rio for Gabart / Gahinet.
© 2019 AFP