Gitana : écurie de course au large fondée par le Baron Benjamin de Rothschild

Thursday 08 February 2024

WAYPOINT #6, Gitana Team’s round the world rendez-vous

Every Thursday, throughout the Arkea Ultim Challenge, Gitana Team is offering you a complete round-up of Charles Caudrelier and the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild’s race. Via its weekly video broadcast, you’ll discover the latest onboard footage, analysis of the weather and strategy as explained by the members of the team’s routing cell, as well as delving behind the scenes of the five-arrow racing stable whilst its flagship is out on the racetrack. Finally, this rendez-vous will round off with a long oceanic interview recorded by a different star guest. Charles will share his feelings and his sentiments with the host throughout this epic adventure.

For this sixth episode of WAYPOINT, we discover the Arkea Ultim Challenge – Brest fleet split across three oceans: Eric Peron is approaching Cape Leeuwin and will soon exit the Indian Ocean, whilst Armel le Cléac’h, Thomas Coville and Anthony Marchand are making fast headway across Pacific waters. And finally, since late afternoon on Tuesday, Charles Caudrelier has made it back into the Atlantic after 18 days in the Southern Ocean.

As is the case every week, this latest chapter of WAYPOINT starts with the images sent from on board by Charles Caudrelier: from waiting around in the Pacific to the eagerly awaited passage around Cape Horn, capped by a very solid lead over his pursuers and some breathtaking images filmed from the air by Yann Riou and Marin Le Roux.

Within the weather routing cell, the weekly debrief is provided by Julien Villion. He reviews three key points: the weather situation after Point Nemo, which forced Charles Caudrelier to put his race on hold for 48 hours, the boisterous approach to Cape Horn and finally the trajectory for the first few miles of the climb up the Atlantic with a compulsory passage through the Le Maire Strait and to the west and then the north of the Falklands.

On shore, within Gitana Team’s base in Lorient, the lives of the shore team are geared around Charles and the progress of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. Nicolas Le Griguer, the racing stable’s electronics engineer, who is permanently connected and linked to the boat, is bound to agree. Amidst the stress of a tricky section of the course, heightened by the detection of icebergs close to the tip of Chile, and the liberation of knowing the sailor is back in more hospitable waters, we venture behind the scenes of the racing stable once more.

Last week, the exchange between Yann Eliès and Charles was already proving tricky. However, this Thursday 8 February, for this fifth rollercoaster of a week, there is no live feed with the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. In fact, for several days, the connection with the boat has been chaotic and more haphazard. Fortunately, over the course of today, Charles managed to send us some in-board images, filmed during his passage around the legendary rock!

Welcome to the 6th episode of WAYPOINT!