Flying Offshore, season 3
Flying Offshore is the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild’s signature from the moment she comes into the world on 17 July 2017. Indeed, upon the launch of the project, the aim of Ariane and Benjamin de Rothschild and the Gitana Team is to build and fine-tune the first offshore flying maxi-trimaran capable of pulling off the incredible technological challenge of circumnavigating the globe. Naturally, this label becomes the obvious choice to encapsulate Gitana Team’s documentary series.
A 3rd opus at the heart of the Arkea Ultim Challenge! Flying Offshore is back and for season 3, the concluding sequel given that Gitana 17 is inextricably linked to the series, the action spans seasons 2023 and 2024, culminating with the Arkea Ultim Challenge. From the preparations for this pioneering race, which prove more turbulent than one might wish, to the 50 days at sea punctuated by almost daily technical issues and unforgettable moments like rounding Cape Horn, a first for a flying boat, to a delayed consecration in Brest due to the weather giving our solo sailors a hard time… This final season is opening the doors to Gitana Team even wider, inviting us to navigate the thrills and tribulations of offshore racing.
Episode 1: a date with history
On 7 January 2024, in a new first in the history of offshore racing, a solo round the world race reserved for ULTIMs sets sail from Brest: the Arkea Ultim Challenge! It’s a radical departure from the norm and the most demanding, full-on, solo sailing adventure imaginable.
Six pioneers take the start, five of them at the helm of a giant 32-metre flying maxi-trimaran. Charles Caudrelier is the race favourite in this top-flight line-up. Despite a third place in the Transat Jacques Vabre a few months earlier, the sailor clearly ranks among the main contenders for victory. A solo round the world rookie, Charles does boast a wealth of experience of crewed circumnavigations of the globe thanks to his three participations in the Volvo Ocean Race. He also benefits from a very polished and reliable machine thanks to years of meticulous tweaking, which remains a reference having carved out a unique track record since her launch.
Beyond the racing aspect which this born competitor inevitably craves, Charles Caudrelier dreams of a planetary adventure.
In this first chapter of season 3, the skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild shares with us his doubts and the pitfalls that marked his preparation for this round the world on both a sporting and personal level. He also harnesses his joy and his eagerness to single-handedly helm Gitana 17 around this planetary Ultim course: the three main legendary capes, the Southern Ocean and over 24,000 nautical miles ahead of their bows. We also get to discover the mighty technical challenge undertaken by the members of Gitana Team, who had just two months to turn the Maxi around following a major transatlantic race and the start of the solo round the world. With all the team stepping up to the plate to miraculously make it happen, this feat is all the more impressive when you consider the technical complexity of a prototype like the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild.
Episode 2: Duelling down the Atlantic
From the first few hours out on the racetrack the sailors set an impressive pace. One and all agree that the start of this circumnavigation of the globe is more reminiscent of a transatlantic sprint than a long-haul bluewater passage around the planet. Everyone is keen to make an impression and despite the fluky conditions, which call for long hours at the helm and the utmost vigilance from the solo sailors, the giants lengthen their stride and devour the initial miles at high speed in a tightly bunched group. It’s game on in this planetary match and it promises to be a breathtaking ride.
This second episode of season 3 retraces the first quarter of the Arkea Ultim Challenge. During these first days of racing, Charles Caudrelier could have seen his dreams of a solo round the world come to an abrupt halt due to material damage. However, using the utmost discretion so as not to alert his rivals and guided by the members of Gitana’s shore crew, he demonstrates his talents as a DIY laminator; essential qualities for such a mission, where adaptation and autonomy are part of the daily routine for these extraordinary athletes.
We’ll also get the chance to discover the thrilling duel between the skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild and Tom Laperche in this descent of the Atlantic. Indeed, the youngest contender in the event proved to be a formidable adversary from Brest down to the Roaring Forties. Though his race is sadly cut short in South Africa, there is no doubt that he spiced up proceedings and fired up Charles Caudrelier’s instinct as a racer and competitor. The sailor on the Trimaran SVR-Lazartigue is the expert witness in this second chapter.
Episode 3: Part of a chain reaction
Monitoring progress from land 24/7 during single-handed races, Gitana's shore crew anticipates and keeps a close eye on any potential problems that Charles Caudrelier may encounter along the way. What is less well known though is that another cell, in charge of weather routing, also has its finger on the pulse of any developments and on-board data in order to help the skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild plot the best possible course according to the vagaries of the weather. Prohibited during crewed races, this valuable tool is generally permitted in solo sailing, essentially for safety reasons. This third episode explores behind the scenes of the work of Erwan Israël, Benjamin Schwartz and Julien Villion; a trio who are as integral to daily performance as they are to the end result. Throughout Charles’ fifty days out on the racetrack, these experts in weather analysis work out of a house rented for the occasion close to Gitana’s base so that they can work at the same rhythm as the skipper. Akin to a crew, they effectively take it in turns to be on watch to support him throughout his circumnavigation of the globe.
Venturing beyond the stories of trajectories and the expert negotiation of weather systems, this third episode allows us to probe a little deeper into the personality of Charles Caudrelier, a hard-working sailor who is very demanding and hard on himself at the helm of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. It also shows us how vital the trusting relationship forged between the routing team and the sailor is to the success of the project. Behind any individual sporting achievement there is always a collective success, a fact brilliantly highlighted by this dive into the routing cell, a key component in this chain reaction.
Episode 4: guardian angels
Whilst the solo sailor plays their part at sea, back on shore the members of the shore crew, who are in constant contact with the sailor, keep a careful look out, ready to intervene at any moment, albeit remotely, to help them resolve an issue or hop onto a plane and join them anywhere around the globe if the situation calls for it. Engineers, hydraulics specialists, naval architects, electronics engineers, composite specialists… they can all offer support to Charles Caudrelier whatever the domain. Indeed, this is another side to offshore racers, which gives these solo sailors such a unique profile as a top-flight athlete. Their discipline is a high-tech mechanical sport but when they set sail on a race like the Arkea Ultim Challenge, their ability to cope with and resolve any damage by themselves is also a guarantee of success.
During one of his victorious Vendée Globes, Michel Desjoyeaux invented a now very well-known saying in this particular environment: “a round the world is one damned hassle a day!” The skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild shares this sentiment after his experience of circumnavigating the planet in 50 days. Whilst discretion, or as some may say ‘radio silence’, is a prerequisite when the solo sailor is out on the racetrack, so as not to provide rivals with any strategic advantage, this first solo round the world on ULTIMs certainly had its share of doubts and damage aboard Gitana 17. The fourth chapter of Flying offshore gives us an insight into these highs and lows, which spiced up the days and nights of the members of Gitana throughout this epic passage.
This penultimate episode of season 3 notably gives us the low-down on the damage Charles encountered with his mainsail in the climb back up the Atlantic, an incident that could well have cost him the victory which seemed destined to be his.
Episode 5: Trailblazers forever!
On 27 February at 08h 37min 42s local time, the backdrop a glittering sunrise, Charles Caudrelier crossed the finish line of the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest. At the helm of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, the skipper of Gitana Team completed his first solo round the world in 50 days 19 hours 7 minutes, 42 seconds and secured victory in this majestic race for pioneers. In front of a sizeable crowd of locals who were waiting dockside in Brest’s commercial port to rightfully pay tribute to this remarkable feat, the sailor shares this consecration with Ariane de Rothschild and all the team, which was created in the year 2000 by Benjamin de Rothschild.
In this fifth episode of the season, we relive the story of the final few miles leading to Brest and the precious moments of this victorious arrival after such an epic voyage around the world, punctuated by an emotional Charles Caudrelier surrounded by his nearest and dearest, combined with the beaming smiles of the members of Gitana, who finally got a chance to express their delight.
Naturally, the final chapter of Flying Offshore also shines a spotlight on the incredible machine that is the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. It is a fitting tribute to the first maxi-trimaran for offshore racing, designed to fly in the open ocean, a pioneer of her generation. Indeed, in 2017, Gitana 17 was a veritable trailblazer and with this historic victory she has definitively rewritten the history books. Through her victories as well as her failures, we look back at the giant’s genesis and her raison d’être: her first flights, her first victories and also the commitment and passion of an entire collective lending credibility to the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild.
Charles Caudrelier’s victory in the Arkea Ultim Challenge comes down to her maturity and to the talent of a sailor, who patiently waited for his chance to secure this wonderful accolade, and to an owner and a team who, 10 years ago, boldly embarked on an unprecedented and ambitious architectural adventure in a bid to perpetuate the epic Gitana saga.