2024, Antibes the new finish port
2022 saw the birth of the Finistère Atlantique: a long, looped circuit of 3,163 miles around the North Atlantic, which took the ULTIM fleet from Concarneau to Madeira, the Canaries, then the Azores, before they powered back up towards the Glénan archipelago where the victors in the first edition were crowned. Going right to the wire, it was the crew of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild who secured the win a little over 26 minutes ahead of Banque Populaire.
Two years on, the event is back. Still contested in crewed format and setting sail from the same walled town in France’s Finistère region, this time the course will conclude in the Mediterranean, with the grand finale of the 2024 edition being decided in Antibes in the Alpes-Maritimes in 5 to 6 days’ time. As such, the five competing crews will be tackling a unique and demanding course spanning nearly 1,700 nautical miles.
In the Breton sunshine
Like the start of the offshore course in the 24H ULTIM, which took place in early September in Lorient, conditions are forecast to be very mild offshore of the Breton coast this Saturday with 5 to 6 knots of SW’ly wind on the programme. These light airs might well prompt Race Director Francis Le Goff and his teams to delay play slightly before releasing the fleet onto this long course down to the azure waters of the Mediterranean. However, this period of calm will be short-lived since another low-pressure system is already looming in the Atlantic and is set to spice up conditions out on the racetrack from the first night at sea.
Benjamin Schwartz, recent winner of the Normandy Channel Race with Fabien Delahaye, is one of two newbies aboard the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. During the Finistère Atlantique, his primary role will see him take charge of the weather strategy. Just a few hours before the start, he shared with us the outlook for the first 36 hours of racing: “The last two days have been punctuated by a series of very active low-pressure systems rolling through but today’s start will see some anticyclonic conditions temporarily returning to France’s shores. We’re hoping that a light thermal breeze will step into the breach so we can set sail. We may have to wait around until a little after 13:00 hours, the scheduled start time initially, to gently make headway upwind and extricate ourselves from the bay of Concarneau. The pace and the atmosphere are then set to change very quickly though as the first night will see us hunting down a low-pressure system in the Bay of Biscay. Depending on where we choose to tack before diving down towards Cape Finisterre, the wind may pick up to 35-40 knots with building seas. As such, the crew is in for a fair few sail changes for the start of the race. The first 36 hours are going to be lively so we’ll have to get straight into the thick of things and roll with the punches.”
Defending their title
Four of the six sailors on the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild are defending their title in this Finistère Atlantique and are well aware of how heated things are set to become out on the racetrack.
The thirty-one sailors in the starting blocks for this event are unanimous on this point: With the ULTIM fleet very evenly matched, we will likely be in for a full-on and intriguing close-contact race. Winners of the 24H ULTIM a few days ago, the crew of Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is just as motivated as ever and very much looking forward to this next race of the 2024 season. Both the event format and the timing are perfect for honing the crew as they prepare for a crack at the upcoming Jules Verne Trophy, which is due to round off their season.
The course for the Finistère Atlantique 2024
1,678 miles from Concarneau to Antibes
Crew on the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild
Charles Caudrelier
Erwan Israël
Benjamin Schwartz
Julien Villon
David Boileau
Yann Riou
Follow the race: http://www.gitana-team.com/fr/tracker/