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SODEBO ULTIM 3

ULTIM preview The speed kings

ULTIM
Édition 2025  |  25 October 2025 - 14h00
There will be four ULTIMS starting the TRANSAT CAFÉ L’OR taking on the longest course at 6200 nautical miles which they are expected to take around 12 days to cover. Their prescribed route to Martinque takes them into the Southern Hemisphere to a waypoint south of Ascension Island and crossing the Doldrums twice. They live up to their name as the biggest, fastest multihulls which continue to go faster each year.

For many different reasons their race programme each year is quite limited. Compared to the IMOCA or Class40, even the Ocean50 it is quite a closed, secretive world where technical advances or updates are not publicised. Only on pinnacle races like this one do advances become apparent. These four ULTIMs which have been moored in the Eure basin are the most spectacular ocean racing machines ever designed. Their masts reach 45 meters high, and their foils, which lift the 15-ton platforms, mean they can cover more than 800 miles in 24 hours.

"High speed is a huge pleasure and a stressful experience," says five times race winner Franck Cammas. "You are constantly sailing on the edge."

The 52-year-old Cammas who actually originates from Aix-en-Provence is back at again. He has already won four Transat Jacques Vabre races, all aboard multihulls, including one in the ULTIM, in 2021 when he partnered Charles Caudrelier to win on Gitana. This time he's sailing alongside 27- year-old Tom Laperche, who is a remarkable talent in this class, indeed not dissimilar to a young Cammas who previously dominated the ORMA multihull division with his Groupamas

SVR LAZARTIGUE

The Laperche-Cammas duo are impressive as is their SVR Lazartigue, the most aerodynamically advanced platform launched in 2021. Twice second in the Transat Jacques Vabre, the VPLP design, which has suffered periodic damages since it was launched, now seems to hav reached maturity. Laperche and Cammas won the Rolex Fastnet Race and the 24 Heures Ultimes, the only two trial races in 2025 for the large trimarans for whom the TRANSAT CAFE L'OR is THE big one this season.

SVR Lazartigue and Maxi Banque Populaire XI are favorites

This transatlantic race was won two years ago by the Maxi Banque Populaire XI. The Armel Le Cléac'h-Sébastien Josse duo are back to defend their title this year and many say look good for a double! Already very fast downwind, they overtook SVR Lazartigue two years ago in the South Atlantic to win in Fort-de-France, the VPLP design arrives in Le Havre with new foils designed to take off earlier and sail higher, in order to slam into the sea less and make up for their previous deficit upwind. "We have enormous experience on this boat, which we've really improved," says Armel Le Cléac'h. "I hope this will be our strength. It will come down to small things because the boats are being sailed better and better." This versatility will be essential over the 6,200-mile course, with two Doldrums passages to be dealt with. Theirs is a comprehensive challenge which should allow the four competing duos to really test themselves.

Reputed to be a notch slower than the two big favorites, Sodebo ULTIM 3 is looking for a big victory, which Thomas Coville, partnered with Benjamin Schwartz, believes is possible: "We are strong in strong winds. Sodebo takes off a little later than the others, but it's very reliable, and we've risen to the level of the best in terms of hydro and aero," says the man who has done eight Cape Horns and accumulates a really exceptional experience in oceanic multihulls.

ACTUAL ULTIM 4

Actual Ultim 4 which won the 2021 race as Gitana 17 is now skippered by Anthony Marchand and Julien Villion. The Verdier designed boat first took the gamble of flying, foiling on all points of sail in 2017. Skippered at its peak by Charles Caudrelier, who won everything aboard it between 2020 and 2024, it hasn't changed in two years but remains a sure bet in the category. Anthony Marchand, who already has experience of a Transat Jacques Vabre and a Round the World Race in an Ultim, only took over in July and arrives in Le Havre with humility: "We're only just getting to know the boat," says the man who has joined forces with Julien Villion, a former crew member of the Gitana team, known for his weather expertise. A crew not to be underestimated, given that the routing ban could allow them to exploit the competition's slight inaccuracies on this long route to Martinique.

Discover all the ULTIM duos

Interview : SVR - LAZARTIGUE - Interview : SODEBO ULTIM 4 -  Interview : MAXI BANQUE POPULAIRE XI

 

MAXI BANQUE POPULAIRE XI