Martin Lange with AFP / Photo credits: LOIC VENANCE / AFP 7:53 a.m., January 19, 2024

Charles Caudrelier's Maxi Edmond de Rothschild should be the first to enter the terrible South Seas by crossing the Cape of Good Hope this Friday as part of the Ultim Challenge.  

The gap at the front of the race has never been so big.

After the major damage to the SVR-Lazartigue, Charles Caudrelier's Maxi Edmond de Rothschild set sail on Thursday at the front of the Ultim Challenge fleet, before the terrible South Seas.

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“We have a little knot in our stomach until Cape Horn”

After 12 days of racing, alone on his giant boat, Charles Caudrelier is preparing to enter a new world: the Indian Ocean.

Which could evoke paradise islands but for sailors, it is rather a certain idea of ​​hell.

"It's always a delicate moment because it's a bit like the gateway to the cold and hostile zone. The colors are sad. And above all, it's isolation, we know we're alone, "We can't count on others. We have a little knot in our stomach until we reach Cape Horn," he confided to Europe 1.

At 6:00 p.m. Thursday (5:00 p.m. GMT), the blue and white maxi-trimaran was nearly 350 miles (560 km) ahead of its first pursuer, the SVR-Lazartigue, and was advancing towards the Indian Ocean at breakneck speed, approaching the 34 knots (63 km/h) over 24 hours.

Tom Laperche collided with an unidentified object

Wednesday morning, Charles Caudrelier's sailboat crossed paths with Tom Laperche's.

Just afterwards, the latter collided with an unidentified object and significantly slowed down his pace, after notifying his team during the night.

“The collision damaged the centerboard well, causing a significant water ingress which remains stabilized. Tom Laperche is safe and assisted by his technical team to assess the damage,” the team announced in a press release Thursday morning.

At the time of the collision, the sailboat was 1,300 miles (2,000 km) from Cape Town (South Africa), which it could try to reach for repairs, before heading back to sea, at the cost of a significant loss of land. over its five competitors.

Ranking Thursday at 6:00 p.m. (GMT+1):

1. Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Charles Caudrelier) 18,009 nautical miles from the finish

2. SVR-Lazartigue (Tom Laperche) 347 miles from the first

3. Sodebo Ultim 3 (Thomas Coville) at 694 miles

4. Actual Ultim 3 (Anthony Marchand) at 1,904 miles

5. Maxi Banque Populaire XI (Armel Le Cléac'h) at 2,152 miles

6. Adagio (Eric Péron) at 2,977 miles