Brest Atlantiques

14,000 miles, two legendary waypoints, zero stopovers. The Brest Atlantiques returns in November 2027 to unleash the world's largest trimarans on an Atlantic loop spanning both hemispheres. After the resounding success of the 2024 ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE — 1.25 million TV viewers, 230,000 visitors packed onto the Brest waterfront — the Ultim class is back at it in doublehanded format, the ideal configuration to push these flying machines to their maximum potential.

A format built for giants

The Brest Atlantiques is neither a classic transatlantic nor a round-the-world race. It's a formidable hybrid, tailor-made for Ultim 32/23s — trimarans measuring 32 meters long by 23 meters wide, all equipped with foils, capable of flying above the water for days on end.

The inaugural 2019 edition laid the groundwork. Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier, aboard Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Gitana 17), completed the course in 28 days, 23 hours, and 24 minutes — an average speed of 24.57 knots over the ground. A demonstration of reliability as much as speed, validating the ability of large foiling trimarans to hold up over very long distances.

For 2027, the race will be sailed doublehanded (two skippers per boat), accompanied by an onboard mediaman — a reporter who is not allowed to touch the maneuvers or intervene in performance. Two pairs of hands on deck ensures the ability to maintain flight 24 hours a day, where solo racing imposes constant compromises between sleep and performance.

The Atlantic triangle: Brest – Rio – Cape Town – Brest

The course is one of the most demanding on the offshore circuit. No simple East-West crossing: the Brest Atlantiques draws an immense triangle across the Atlantic, with two waypoints laden with symbolism and weather traps.

Descent to Rio de Janeiro

First leg of the race: the Ultims leave the Breton headland, negotiate the Bay of Biscay, surf the Portuguese trade winds, then face the dreaded Doldrums — that intertropical convergence zone where the wind drops without warning or explodes in violent squalls. The waypoint is at the Cagarras Islands, off Ipanema beach. As race director Jacques Caraës noted during the first edition, this passage can "slow the boats and tighten the gaps," reshuffling the deck before what follows.

Crossing to Cape Town

Then it's due east for a crossing of the South Atlantic to Robben Island, the historic prison island of Nelson Mandela. This section exposes the fleet to low-pressure systems coming from the west and imposes a major tactical choice: rounding the St. Helena high-pressure system to the north or south, depending on current weather models.

Return to Brest

The final leg is anything but straight. Teams must climb back up the African coast, cross the Doldrums a second time, then play with the Azores high to reach Brittany. 14,000 miles in total, with no scheduled technical stopovers — though stops for repairs remain possible, as Sodebo and Actual demonstrated in 2019.

The fleet: five machines, five philosophies

The Ultim class has undergone a considerable technological leap since 2019. Teams have accumulated hundreds of thousands of miles in flight mode, and the new generation of boats is pushing the boundaries of engineering.

• Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Gitana 18) — Charles Caudrelier: Successor to the Gitana 17 that won in 2019, this entirely new trimaran is announced with 450 sensors (compared to 300 on its predecessor), a spreader-bar mast optimized for aerodynamics, and 200,000 hours of construction. Launch expected late 2026 or early 2027.

• Banque Populaire XI — Armel Le Cléac'h: Winner of the 2023 Transat Jacques Vabre, this boat combines versatility and reliability. Le Cléac'h remains one of the surest bets on the offshore circuit.

• SVR-Lazartigue — Tom Laperche: Revolutionary design with a cockpit integrated into the central hull, exceptional pure speed potential. Laperche embodies the new generation, capable of disrupting established hierarchies.

• Sodebo Ultim 3 — Thomas Coville: Highly optimized boat since its 2019 launch, skippered by a class veteran who knows this course inside and out.

• Actual Ultim 4 — Anthony Marchand: The former Gitana 17, the very boat that won in 2019, purchased by the Actual team in 2025. A machine that has already proven everything, now in the hands of a skipper determined to write his own story.

Final participation will depend on each owner's technical and logistical choices as the start approaches.

Find detailed boat profiles and compare their specifications on spencer.club.

Three stakes for November 2027

Reliability versus speed

This is the perpetual equation of the Ultim class. Over 14,000 miles without technical assistance, the ability to maintain flight over time makes the difference between the podium and retirement. Foils remain vulnerable to UFOs (Unidentified Floating Objects) — drifting containers, tree trunks, fishing nets. In 2019, unplanned technical stops upended the standings. With boats getting ever faster, the margin for error shrinks with every additional knot.

Dress rehearsal before the round-the-world

The start is set for November 3, 2027, one year after the 2026 Route du Rhum and a few months before the 2028 ARKEA ULTIM CHALLENGE — the next solo round-the-world race. For the teams, the Brest Atlantiques will be the full-scale testing ground: validate final modifications, test material durability, identify weaknesses before the ultimate challenge.

An exceptional year for Brest

The start coincides with the post-Brest Maritime Festival period (July 2027), cementing an extraordinary year for the Finistère metropolis. After drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors during previous editions, Brest confirms its status as the capital of ocean records.

Follow the complete Ultim season calendar and Brest Atlantiques news on spencer.club.