24H ULTIM

The Final Major Test Before the Route du Rhum

From 24 to 27 September 2026, the Lorient roads transform into an arena for flying giants. The 24H ULTIM returns for what constitutes, six weeks before the start of the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe (1 November), the last full-scale dress rehearsal. Not a courtesy race. A full-load test bench, where raw performance trumps long-distance management.

A Race Born from the Desire to Battle Close to Shore

The event is the fruit of a vision shared by skipper Armel Le Cléac'h, partnered with Mathieu Sarrot and Emmanuel Bachellerie: to create a short, punchy format, readable for the public and merciless for crews. Far from transoceanic races that take boats away from the coast for weeks, the 24H ULTIM brings the spectacle as close to land as possible.

The 2025 edition marked a turning point with the opening to the Ocean Fifty class, transforming the event into a multi-class platform bringing together the fastest trimarans on the planet. In 2026, the event confirms its status as a classic of the Lorient autumn calendar, supported by Lorient Agglomération, the Brittany Region and historic partners like Banque Populaire Grand Ouest.

Four Days of High Tension

The format preserves the DNA that made it successful: spectacular speed runs followed by a 24-hour endurance race on an Atlantic loop of approximately 500 nautical miles.

The Day-by-Day Programme

• Thursday 24 September — Technical inspections, weather briefings, fleet welcome at Lorient La Base
• Friday 25 September — Speed runs in Lorient roads. Demonstrations of pure power, fine-tuning of foils and aerodynamics
• Saturday 26 September — Start of the Atlantic loop mid-day (around 12:00)
• Sunday 27 September — Finishes and prize-giving in early afternoon

The race is contested with reduced crew or in tandem, imposing a sustained pace without the recovery phases of transoceanic races. Find the complete calendar on spencer.club.

The Forces in Play: Revenge for 2025

The fleet looks set to be deep. The Ultims emerge from a season already packed with the Odyssée Ultim in May, and the scores from 2025 remain unsettled.

Ultim Class

• SVR-Lazartigue (Tom Laperche / Franck Cammas) — 2025 winners with over an hour's lead. Their platform, renowned for its refined aerodynamics, displays impressive maturity. Logical favourites.
• Banque Populaire XI (Armel Le Cléac'h / Sébastien Josse) — Second in 2025, they'll be aiming to regain psychological ascendancy before the Rhum. The reliability of their mount remains a major asset in this intense format.
• Sodebo Ultim 3 (Thomas Coville) — Third in 2025. The team uses every confrontation to validate the constant evolution of their trimaran.
• Actual Ultim 3 (Anthony Marchand) — Fourth force of the previous fleet, the team continues to play spoiler and will be aiming for the podium.

Ocean Fifty Class

The battle will be just as tight among the Fifties:

• Edenred (Manu Le Roch / Basile Bourgnon) — Category winners in 2025, title to defend
• Koesio (Erwan Le Roux) and Lazare — Second and third respectively in 2025, they arrive with challengers' appetite

The Real Stakes: Far More Than a Trophy

Ultimate Technological Validation

Less than six weeks before the Rhum, this is the last window to validate summer modifications. Teams push the machines to 100% of their potential for 24 hours, with averages often exceeding 30 knots — meaning more than 800 miles covered for the best. A controlled crash-test for foils, steering systems, the entire structural chain.

The Performance-Preservation Dilemma

The equation is cruel: perform to make an impression, but preserve the equipment. A major breakage in late September would compromise participation in the Rhum. SVR-Lazartigue knows this well — the team has had to manage structural damage in the past after intense testing phases. Each skipper navigates this knife-edge between ambition and caution.

The Spectacle at the Heart of the Sailing Valley

Coastal courses, runs visible from land: the 24H ULTIM offers the public images that only these flying machines can produce. The event strengthens the link between these futuristic machines and enthusiasts, just before the fleet disappears toward Guadeloupe for several weeks.

Compare the competing boats on Spencer to measure the gap between these two extraordinary trimaran classes.