NORTH POWERED ULTIMES DOMINATE DRHEAM CUP

Team Gitana Leads the Drheam Cup With Aspirations of Shattering Jules Verne Record

After 750 miles, Maxi Edmond de Rothschild screamed across the finish line in full flight off La Trinité-Sur-Mer in Brittany at 35 knots on Tuesday. The 32-meter Ultime trimaran took line honors after 21 hours, 30 minutes, and 33 seconds of racing. They finished 2 hours ahead of their nearest competitor, Sodebo and third place Actual Leader. All three top finishing Ultimes are North Sails powered teams.

Franck Cammas said in a press release, “It was a very fine race and it was intense, which is just the way we like it. There were some tactical phases, other periods which were just a drag race and a lot of reaching at the end, as was the case during the second night when we were hunting down the cardinal mark off Rochebonne, which was great because we didn’t have conditions as quick as that in last year’s Fastnet. It was quite good being able to push the boat in these conditions. It’s never easy to permanently remain close to 40 knots like we did last night. It was a great finish. We learned a great deal from this race. It was a technical course in a small space because the English Channel and the Irish Sea aren’t very big at the end of the day given the size of our boats. That means we can run through all the different maneuvers you can do on an Ultime.”

The Drheam Cup served as an opportunity for Maxi Edmond de Rothschild to prepare for their upcoming Jules Verne Trophy record attempt. With the number of opportunities to line up against high-caliber competition dwindled as a result of Coronavirus, the team pushed to make sure they are prepared to race around the world.

Charles Caudrelier explains: “It was important to be here as you can count the number of opportunities to go racing on the fingers of one hand! This is especially true in conditions like those we encountered last night, which enable us to drive the boat at her full potential. We’re delighted with the modifications we made to the Maxi over the course of the winter. From the outside, the boat looks the same, because aside from the fairly obvious aerodynamic additions, like on the beams, you really need sharp eyes. However, the team has done a really good refit and today we are able to see the fruits of our labour. I believe we have further optimised the platform and the level of performance we’ve achieved since her relaunch has made it all worthwhile. The race format didn’t necessarily lend itself to actually training for the Jules Verne, but it gave us a chance to head offshore again and rediscover the mechanics of sailing the boat… The Drheam Cup has launched our Jules Verne Trophy record campaign!”