Transatlantic Battle of Giants: Is Traditional Sailing Dead?

Ultime MACIF Leader and Winner of the Jacques Vabre 2015 -untested boat which took victory.

The Transat Jacques Vabre -one of the most prestigious regatta of the year has ended. Four classes competed, Class 40, IMOCAs, Multi 50s and the Ultimates. Glimpses of the future of sailing shined bright. Innovation in all classes pushed the limited hard but the Atlantic ocean pushed even harder. The number of ships which had to abandon the regatta was incredible. 

Ultime Class lead was taken by MACIF, Second  Sodebo Ultim. Two Ultimes abandoned that of Team Prince De Bretagne and Team Actual.  In the Multi 50 FenetreA led followed second by Ciela Village, third Arkema and La French Tech which abandoned the regatta. First Five for the IMOCA Class ranked 1: PRB, 2: Banque Populaire, 3: Queguiner, 4: Le souffle du Nord and 5: Initiatives Couer.

Just as the Rolex Fastnet, the San Francisco Rolex, the America's Cup and the Extreme 40s Sailing Series the Jacques Vabre gave us a taste of the future of sailing and it came in hands of Multihulls. Designs and innovations are happening all over the place in all classes but it is the Multihulls which have become the fastest sailing boats on this planet. Innovations are often discussed from inclass perspective and rarely discussed from an inter-class perspective but how many classes which used to dominate the ocean regattas has the history of sailing seen disappear ? Some say that comparing the pèrfomance of a Class 40 against a Multi 50 or a Ultimate is non-sense. Others who have been sailing for some years and have seen the rise of new classes and new boats which spring from standing designs disagree. 

Olympic sailing games and its evolution are a testimony of this interclass competition, laser, laser radial, windsurf and its innovations, kitesurf and its rejection, constant IMOCA evolution and the ever new and ever coming Multihulls: Catamarans and Trimarans are some of the role players in the evolution of this water stage ocean sport competition. 

Like in most international regattas this year the multihull division has had a low turn down but high impact. There were only 4 Ultimes competing in the 2015 Jacques Vabre. Only 2 Teams made it across the Atlantic. Multis 50s fleet was also had 4 Teams and only 3 made it to Brazil. By when the IMOCAs 60 fleet was half way through the Atlantic the Ultimates had already finished the Regatta. An incredible speed almost record breaking! 

As much as we love IMOCA, Class 40s, the J boats and know that they will continue to bring out the largest participation of teams for the coming years the slow Doldrums of Jacques Vabre proved that things can go slow, really slow for monohulls. The incredible speeds of Multihulls seem to be doorways into the far future of international ocean sailing sports. 

The take of the win by MACIF Team Ultime described in detail by Jacques Vabre Press Office in the report “Kings in the Lands of Giants” revealed to the world that giant multihulls are not only fit for in port fast arena regatta but can easily cut across any ocean and endure long regatta courses. They do all this while breaking record times and putting sailing innovations to the rough water tests. 

Team MACIF was the first boat of over 40 Teams which participated in the Jacques Vabre to reach the finish line in Brazil port of Itajai. Over 5.4 thousand miles in just 12 days. Will the participation of multihulls in the coming years rise in all international regattas? Yes, it is a more than likely fact.

MACIF Team managed to cross the entire Atlantic in just 12 Days, 17 Hours and 29 minutes with give or take a few more seconds. 

More amazingly and also speaking of innovations is that the MACIF boat had never been tested in such conditions and such journey. MACIF Innovations were tested in the water and the exam was taken by none other that the powerful and respectful Atlantic ocean itself. With 30 meters of span MACIF VPLP designed trimaran was sailed to success by French co-skippers François Gabart and Pascal Bidégorry. 

MACIF took victory on November 7 early into the twilight nightly hours. “French co-skippers François Gabart and Pascal Bidégorry crossed the finish line of the biennial coffee route race from Le Havre to Brazil in the dark of the Itajaí night at 05:59hrs and 27 seconds,” Jacques Vabre communicated.

When they took their winning gun their nearest rivals, Thomas Coville and Jean-Luc Nélias on Sodebo Ultim’ were 88 miles in their wake, going on to finish runners up. The IMOCA and Class 40s where in the middle of the Atlantic battling the nerves of clam wind zones.

If MACIF would have arrived one day and 11 hours earlier it would have broken the historical record of Transatlantic crossing for Jacques Vabre. The record holder is also a Multihull. The legendary Multi 70 of Seb Josse and Charles Caudrelier which sailed the length in just 11 days.

Still there are some that argue that comparing classes is like talking apples and oranges but after all, all fruits are fruits and all race sailboats are race sailboats. If sailing race and sailing regatta history has shown us something is that traditional sailing eventually dies off to faster and more modern boats. Teams and sponsors and sailors are constantly in search of the new boat and the innovation that will take them higher in their search for the pinnacle of sport, the limit of what can be done. In the frontline today of this history Multihulls are without a doubt making the biggest noise. Other classes are far from being abandoned and sure have many decades to give in or perhaps even more. 

IMOCAs innovations also made noise during the Jacques Vabre specially because of the wide crowd which the IMOCA Ocean Masters still mustards into these dead calm, violently tided and windy ocean waters. 

Barcelona World Race following the IMOCA fleet reported on November 2 that the new IMOCAs did not successfully pass their water baptism in high competition standards. Four out of five of the latest generation IMOCAs -those sailing under new innovations had to abandon the Jacques Vabre claiming officially technical causes. 

“It is still too early in the day to jump to conclusions but everything signals to a change of paradigm that in matters of design, which as always, will bring evolution of the class towards more secure and faster boats,” Barcelona World Race concluded. 

“The harshness of this Transat Jacques Vabre 2015 is passing costs to all classes and specially to the IMOCAs...9 monohulls of 60 feet abandoned the regatta, 45% of the fleet of 20 which left Le Havre, the highest percentage in the history of the great classic of the Two Atlantic,” Barcelona World Race prophesied. 

On November 10 the first Multi 50s arrived to Itajai. Followed by over one day in difference by the IMOCA Class and late behind the Class 40s. Multi 50s in the multihull world promises wonders. 

On the Multi 50 Team Arkema saw most the trouble. The team sailed out near Salvador de Bahia pumping water out to keep the boat safely buoyant due to sustained damages. 

Skipper of the Multi 50 FenêtréA Prysmian Erwan Leroux stated: "Aboard FenêtréA Prysmian we are under gennaker and have one reef in the mainsail, we are on starboard tack and we are sailing along the Brazilian coast. What has happened to Arkema is a shame, I hope they will repair successfully and bring the boat to Itajaí. The important thing is that Lalou can save the boat." 

Transat Jacques Vabre assures to have welcomed the Ultime class and called them the “Giant Multihulls”. “For the first time only two of the four starters finished but the match between MACIF and Sodebo Ultim has been engaging and exciting throughout,” Transat stated. 

“Victory for Gabart of MACIF means he becomes only the second sailor to win all three of France’s ‘triple crown’ of classic short handed and solo ocean races –the Vendée Globe solo nonstop around the world, the Route du Rhum solo Transatlantic and the Transat Jacques Vabre two handed Transatlantic,” Jacques Vabre ended it. 

Innovations came smoothly for MACIF. François Gabart explained that they had in fact “not too many technical problems”. “It was exceptional for a new boat like this. We had very little problems. And I have to thank our team for that, they worked for two years from the conception of the boat and it only went in the water two months ago, to be able to start, to race the course and to win.  So Bravo to the team. We are only finishing that work,” Gabart stated. 

MACIF is still in early development stages of their foil package and incredibly raced with only one foil, set for port tack. The boat is slightly shorter than Sodebo Ultim’ but 1.5 tonnes lighter and slightly narrower and is evolved for solo records and racing with a smaller, more compact pod on the main hull. 

“The boat is born, it is proven, it is good, a super boat," Pascal Bidégorry, co-skipper MACIF stated at the finish line. 

The debate on innovations and the daring discussions of inter-class pros and cons is far from over. IMOCA and Class 40s still have much to sail before the final page of this chapter is put to the rest. Meanwhile Multihulls will continue to evolve and attract every day bigger crowds, bigger teams, and bigger names. Faster, safer and powerful as always is the only tradition that rules in the ocean sports regatta competition.