Arkéa Ultim Challenge: Charles Caudrelier set sail again towards Brest

After a three-day stopover in the Azores to let out a storm, navigator Charles Caudrelier, leader of the Ultim Challenge, returned to Brest on Saturday, where he is expected between Monday and Tuesday.

At 11:45 a.m. Saturday (GMT 1), the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild left the port of Horta (Portugal), heading towards the finish line located 1,188 nautical miles (2,200 km), we learned from the organizers. Arriving in the Azores on Wednesday aboard his sailboat worn out by an intense journey around the world, the sailor wanted to avoid a storm above the Bay of Biscay which lasted several days.

“The weather has been on my mind a lot these past few days, more than ever before. I wanted so badly to find a hole to come home to. But we had to be careful with this weather,” Charles Caudrelier explained to AFP. According to the latest estimates, it is now expected between Monday evening and Tuesday morning in Brest, in conditions which remain “engaged”.

“It remains fairly challenging to reach Brest with 25 to 30 knots (46 to 55 km/h) of wind, gusts of 30 to 35 knots and 6 to 7 meters of sea in the Bay of Biscay,” explained Pierre Hays of the race direction this morning.

Despite this three-day break, Caudrelier's main pursuer, Thomas Coville - on his trimaran Sodebo - was still around 1,500 nautical miles behind the leader on Saturday noon.

The Ultim Challenge, the first solo round-the-world race on multihulls, set off from Brest on January 7. There remain five sailboats entered after the abandonment at the end of January of the young Tom Laperche (SVR Lazartigue) due to major damage.