Transat Café L'Or ULTIM course shortened

Transat Café L'or Le Havre Normandie 2025 Start © Vincent Curutchet / Alea

The ULTIMs have received an amendment from the Race Committee concerning a course modification. To ensure grouped arrivals in Fort-de-France, the ULTIM course will be shortened. Ascension Island is therefore out!

The small dots formed by the San Pedro and San Paolo islands, located on the edge of the geographic equator, will now be the final course mark, to be left to starboard. The ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) for the giant trimarans is now set for November 6 in Fort-de-France.

With speeds of 15 knots since the beginning of the night, the three leading ULTIMs are gradually leaving the Doldrums behind — the same zone that Maxi Banque Populaire XI entered last night, though it has been considerably less slowed down than its predecessors. “You always think it’s over, but there’s still quite a bit of activity. It’s much better than yesterday morning at the same time, but the whole thing lasted nearly 36 hours — it was a proper Doldrums,” reported Tom Laperche this morning aboard SVR-Lazartigue during the daily check-in.

The winds remain weak at the exit of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, and progress upwind is still quite slow for the ULTIMs, which received last night’s amendment from the Race Committee changing the course. To ensure grouped arrivals in Fort-de-France, the ULTIM course has been shortened. Goodbye Ascension Island! The small specks of San Pedro and San Paolo on the edge of the equator will now be the final course mark, to be left to starboard. The ETA for the large trimarans is now November 6 in Fort-de-France.

There are still 2,500 nautical miles remaining for Sodebo Ultim 3, Actual Ultim 4, and Maxi Banque Populaire XI to challenge the lead held by SVR-Lazartigue. The blue trimaran’s slowdown at the entrance to the Doldrums lasted only 4 or 5 hours, but Tom Laperche and Franck Cammas still lost about 50 miles in the process—and quite a bit of energy: “We were stopped for a while and had to maneuver a lot. The last few hours were easier, with larger gaps between cloud masses, and we were able to get back into our watch rhythm with Franck.” The fastest of the lot was Actual Ultim 4, which completely caught up with Sodebo Ultim 3, putting everything back in play.

Although the 200 miles separating the ULTIMs from San Paolo and San Pedro likely won’t change the rankings today, the 2,200-mile final stretch — “a wide, open section where nothing is guaranteed,” says Tom Laperche — looks set to favor new attacks. Downwind, the performance of the three leading ULTIMs is very similar, and SVR will lose the advantage it holds upwind. With four boats sailing at 100% of their potential, the battle will last until the end.

Find out more at www.transatcafelor.org and track the fleet here.