Be the first to fly a boat around the world
There is no ambiguity about the objective of this sports sailing organised by Gitana: to demonstrate the flight at Ultim?!
We have therefore planned a navigation from Lorient la Base, the appointment is given at 12:00 in their new premises which are next to the buildings of the Banque Populaire team.
A team with big resources
Apart from the huge boathouse that can hold an Ultim and an Imoca, this building has all the characteristics of a start-up:
- a gym and its coach to start the day in good shape for the whole team
- very large offices with bay windows offering a view of the harbour
- a videoconference room with a giant screen
- a B. E. equipped with powerful computers and a flight simulator to progress ashore
- a fully equipped kitchen and a terrace for lunch break
No doubt about it, we're well settled at Gitana's. The major resources made available are in the search for performance and in the team we do not count our hours.
All the trades dedicated to performance are integrated into the team, it is according to them the only solution to guarantee the confidentiality of such projects.
Tiphaine Combot and Pierre Tissier, the technical director, welcomed us and introduced us to part of the technical team currently repairing a foil. We discover tools and toys such as a hydrofoil moth and a GC32.
Charles Caudrelier joins us. The skipper, a brilliant winner of the last Volvo race, shares the helm of the Ultim Gitana with Franck Cammas, also a winner of the Volvo race.
Franck is already at sea aboard the Ultim Gitana. With the 32-metre trimaran, he reaches the meeting point near the port of Groix. We will meet him in semi-rigid.
For the moment, Charles Caudrelier takes the wheel of a golf cart, we get on board to join the loading dock. First impression on the skipper: give him something to drive even a golf cart and his face changes at the first turn, it promises to be the Ultim.
At the foot of the pontoon, a large semi-rigid awaits us. In less than 10 minutes, handful in the corner, we reach the island of Groix. Clinging to the available hoops, I tell myself that it's a good warm-up for high speeds.
Suddenly, the Ultim Gitana appears before us, like a bird ready to fly, waiting for us. It is parked in front of the wind and GV is 34 m high. The semi-rigid is placed alongside one of the floats, the freeboard is impressive, you have to climb at least 2 m to reach the trampoline.
What a gigantic thing! The surface of the trampoline should not be far from a tennis court. We move to the nacelle like a Neil Amstrong on the lunar ground, by successive good ones.
It's a first Ultim flight and I'm totally excited, I'm trying to internalize, but my smile is getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
Franck Cammas welcomes us, as usual smiling and available. The crew is on manoeuvres ready to take off. Clear sky, the wind blows at 15/20 knots, the ideal conditions to fly. Fasten your seat belts!
