Charles Caudrelier and the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild arrive back in Lorient

Charles Caudrelier and the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild arrive back in Lorient © Y.Riou / polaRYSE / GITANA SA

As Guadeloupe prepared to welcome Tom Laperche as Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe race winner, Charles Caudrelier and the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild returned to their home port of Lorient early on Saturday afternoon.

The Gitana Team skipper was forced to retire from the race just 48 hours after the start, following major damage to the flying maxi-trimaran's port foil. In a poignant coincidence, Gitana 18 docked in the Breton port just minutes after Gitana 17*, the boat aboard which Charles Caudrelier won the event four years ago.

Gitana 18: potential still to be unlocked

Lorient and the pontoons at La Base were looking their best in the Saturday afternoon sunshine as they welcomed Charles Caudrelier home. The skipper was smiling as he thanked the sailing fans who had come to greet him.

"Thank you for being here! I would certainly have preferred to arrive on the other side of the Atlantic! But I think you also must keep things in perspective... As I arrive in Lorient, my thoughts are very much with Armel and his whole team," said the skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, before reflecting on the damage sustained aboard his boat last Tuesday.

"I had a difficult start to the race because I was unwell. I caught Covid three weeks before the start and had been struggling with fatigue ever since. I wasn't operating at 100 per cent on board. On the night the damage occurred, I was trying to get some rest because we had a lot of manoeuvres ahead as we negotiated a front. Everything was going well: despite how I was feeling, the boat was well set up and fast.

"Then, at one point, I felt that something wasn't working as it had been. The port foil was no longer generating lift. At first, I thought I had got the settings wrong, but when I looked outside, even in the dark, I quickly saw that the foil's trailing edge had been torn away, taking the hydraulic lines used to adjust the foil with it. We soon realised that the damage had put victory out of reach. At that point, returning was the more prudent choice than pressing on with a boat that could no longer perform to its full potential."

Launched just eight months before the start of the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild presented the Gitana Team with a formidable challenge, both human and technical, as the skipper explained.

"Gitana 18 is a highly innovative boat and still very new. These few days of high-intensity sailing and racing have already taught us more about her, but we know there is still a long way to go before we can unlock her full potential," he said, adding: "It is important to stress that, apart from the damage to the port foil, we have had no other failures. Given the complexity of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, I really want to thank and congratulate my team."

"The result is obviously not what we had hoped for, but, like Charles, I would want to congratulate the whole Gitana Team once again. We have been working flat out for more than two years, from the build through to preparing for this first major race. The team has risen to every challenge, particularly in recent weeks, to give Charles the best possible chance at the start. We are at the beginning of this new boat's story, with a huge amount of work ahead and much still to discover. It is a challenge that motivates us all," concludes team director Cyril Dardashti.

Despite the return to Lorient, Gitana 18 will not be taken out of the water just yet. The team plans to carry out further test sails before the latest addition to the Gitana fleet heads into the shed for the winter.

Tom Laperche: an outstanding race

In just a few hours, Tom Laperche is set to fulfil a childhood dream. Like Charles Caudrelier four years ago, the young sailor is poised to win one of the most prestigious solo transatlantic races in multihull sailing, succeeding the Gitana Team skipper and joining the illustrious roll of honour of the legendary Route du Rhum.

"Tom and I spoke this morning because I wanted to congratulate him before I got ashore. He has sailed with real authority, leading from start to finish and putting together an outstanding race. He was fast all the time. His ability to maintain the pace and push hard has been impressive. I had already seen that at close quarters during the Arkéa Ultim Challenge in 2024.

"Tom is young, exceptionally talented and a quick learner. His boat is now fully developed. For me, he was the natural favourite. If I had had to back someone, it would have been him. So I am not surprised, either by the boat or by the sailor. The victory now within his reach will be a wonderful and thoroughly deserved achievement. Huge congratulations to him!"

The latest arrival estimates suggest that Charles Caudrelier's 2022 race record of 6 days, 19 hours, 47 minutes and 25 seconds is set to fall.

"I'm not particularly surprised to see my record about to be broken, and I'm certainly not upset!" he said with a smile. "The boats have made real progress and, although the weather conditions were difficult, they made for a faster crossing than four years ago. Before the start, our routing predictions were giving us times of under six days. There are still hours to be shaved off this course!"

*Gitana 17 now races as Actual Ultim 4, skippered by Anthony Marchand. He was also forced to retire from the Route du Rhum following a technical problem with his central rudder.