The Ultimate Class
2019 will have been a busy year for the Ultimate class, with two races on the schedule, including one specially created for them.
Indeed, the month of April saw the birth of the Nice UltiMed, the first Mediterranean crewed race, reserved for trimarans of the Ultim 32/23 class.
Out of the four participants announced, they will finally be only three. Indeed, Armel le Cléac'h having capsized on the Maxi Banque Populaire IX off the Moroccan coast. We will therefore see Idec Sport, Actual and Sodebo Ultim' competing against each other to win the edition.
Another great race of the year: the 2018 Route du Rhum. With a particularly difficult edition, it will have caused a lot of breakage in the Ultim Class. The Maxi Banque Populaire IX will even come out of it completely destroyed.
This anniversary edition was marked by the crazy (and suspenseful!) race between François Gabart and Francis Joyon. The latter didn't let anything slip through his fingers until the very end before claiming the final victory, just a few minutes ahead of François Gabart.
Relive the 2018 Ultimate Class year
The IMOCA class
Within the IMOCA class, foils are now reliable. Although SMA euros a boat without foils euros is the he winner of the Route du Rhum 2018 euros it would be misleading to believe that foils are not the future. Indeed, if we doubted their advantages during the 2016 Vendée Globe, they are now proven, as Vincent Lauriot-Prévost told us.
Half of the Route du Rhum fleet was equipped with these appendages and the new projects all include foils. Even going as far as radical designs with huge foils, like the latest IMOCA launched in the summer of 2018, Charal, by Jeremie Beyou.
The IMOCA class is very active the IMOCA class has a lot of projects to come (no less than six boats will be launched in 2019), new projects (Corum, Banque Populaire, PRB, MASCFeuros), and new races. Indeed, the IMOCA class now has two round-the-world races on its calendar (The Ocean Race, ex-Volvo Ocean Race and the Vendée Globe).
Read the full review of 2018 in IMOCA
The Class40
Class40 is increasingly active and attracts as many professionals as amateurs. They were in fact 53 starters in the 2018 Route du Rhum, a record! The 2018 season will have started with the RORC Caribbean 600 and the 1000 miles of Les Sables. Class40 skippers are moreover the most represented on the multi-class races, which shows the attractiveness of the latter. But 2018 will also be the year of mixity with several women registered in the major races and several foreigners.
These mini "IMOCA" boats are more accessible than their big brothers in terms of budget, logistics and handling. If the rules are very strict, designers allow themselves to do some architectural research to try to get around them. Thus, after the Lift 40 #1 on Lombard plan, Carac by Louis Duc, released in 2017, the #2 was released in 2018. This sistership of Carac with a "round nose" euros with an optimized structure euros named Veedol is skippered by Yoann Richomme. He made the powder talk on this last Route du Rhum!
The performance of the latest generation of Class 40s is amazing, with the best sailors managing to make it to the middle of the IMOCA pack. Are these machines, as uncomfortable and wet as they are powerful, the future of Class40 or will they be the downfall of the sport because of the exploding costs?
The Multi50 class
The multi50 class is attractive and spectacular, but had only six boats registered for the Route du Rhum 2018 . With the capsizing of Lalou Roucayrol (Arkema), there are only five to have arrived (they have the best finish/abandonment ratio of the entire race). Despite the speed and performance of these boats, the Multi50 Class is struggling to grow. And this is not going to get any better in 2019 as there will be some changes
Armel Tripon (Réauté Chocolat) is launching an IMOCA race, Erwan Le Roux (FenêtréA Mix Buffet) has announced that he is taking a break to focus on a Vendée Globe project. Thierry Bouchard also intends to stop and has put his Multi50 Ciela Village up for sale. We will have to find new skippers to replace them.
The 2018 Route du Rhum was a good vintage for this class of multihulls with a victory won by Armel Tripon who even managed to get a Multi50 on the scratch podium for the first time behind Idec and Macif.
The Mini class
The Class Mini is still very active with many races and many (new) boats. The Mini Transat La Boulangère will take place at the end of 2019 and there will be many qualifying races to prepare for it such as the Mini Fastnet or the Azores Euro Sables.
In terms of boats, newcomers have made their appearance in the production boat category, alongside the Pogo3s which have reigned supreme in the rankings for the past 3 years. Their particularity? their scow bow in the image Maxi 6.50 from IDB Marine of the Vector 6.5 from Yacht-Service . If they are innovative in their architecture, they have not yet stolen the limelight from the Pogo 3 of Structures.
Moreover, the latter is launching the Pogo Foiler, a new mini 6.50 prototype with round bow and foils designed by Guillaume Verdier!
Volvo Ocean 65
This edition of the 2017-2018 Volvo Ocean Race will be marked by dongfeng Race Team's magnificent victory on the wire . Although he had not won a single stage throughout the 9 months of the race, but had shown a remarkable regularity, he won the last stage and the general classification!
A great reward for the skipper Charles Caudrelier, leader of the Chinese team for several years. This edition will also be marked by the dramatic disappearance of a crew member who fell overboard on the VO65 Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag.
In 2018 the organizers endorsed the decision for a new form of racing for 2020. With the departure of the sponsor Volvo Cars, the organizers are also abandoning the one-design race in favor of a rule box. Now called "The Ocean Race", it will be raced both on Volvo Ocean 65s, but also on IMOCA specially adapted for crewed racing .
