Offshore racing is a discipline, which requires rigour, humility, stamina and total commitment. Moreover, the greatest epics in yachting history are very often part of a long-term approach.
With the purchase of Gitana 17, Samuel Tual, President of Actual group, who has coloured the yachting landscape for nearly 20 years with Team Actual, is confirming his team’s desire to raise its game to another level and consolidate its commitment. Anthony Marchand will succeed Charles Caudrelier at the helm of this revolutionary maxi-trimaran, which has unquestionably put her stamp on time by paving the way forward for offshore flight and penning one of the finest pages in the Gitana saga thanks to some truly remarkable victories. These include the Route du Rhum in 2022 and, more recently, her victory in the Arkea Ultim Challenge, the first single-handed round the world race for these giant offshore flying multihulls.
For Ariane de Rothschild and the members of Gitana Team, parting ways with such a legendary boat inevitably comes with a twinge of sorrow but also the promise of a new craft, which will soon flesh out the wonderful long line of Gitanas, the family’s quite unique maritime passion initiated some 150 years ago.
“We are thrilled to know that Gitana 17 is now in the hands of the Actual team and we’re also delighted that this legendary boat can remain a part of the ULTIM fleet. This was an important point for our owner, Ariane de Rothschild. Having been on the sailing scene for over 20 years, the track record and the commitment demonstrated by Samuel Tual and his teams are admirable. I’m convinced that they’re going to write some very fine pages with Gitana 17. I wish them a great deal of success with this great boat… but perhaps not too much!” says Cyril Dardashti, Director of Gitana, with a smile. He continues: “Gitana 17 will be remembered as an outstanding boat in the maritime history of Ariane and Benjamin de Rothschild’s family. She is a symbol of their boldness, their passion for excellence and innovation, as well as the great trust they place in their teams. Imagining, designing and fine-tuning a machine like this has been an immense pleasure for all the team, though it has also called for a colossal amount of work and absolute commitment from everyone involved for almost a decade to ensure that the dream of flying around the world on these fabulous boats has become a reality.”
“This boat has brought us so much joy! On a personal level, Gitana 17 is the boat of my life. She has restored in me the desire to race and she has treated me to the finest single-handed victories of my career. She is legendary and she’s certainly not done with podiums! She will be a formidable rival in the future and I’m particularly pleased to see Anthony Marchand taking the helm,” admitted Charles Caudrelier.
Gitana 18 , an eagerly awaited changing of the guard
In December 2023, Ariane de Rothschild officially announced the start of construction for a new Maxi Edmond de Rothschild: Gitana 18. Since that time, alongside the teams from CDK Technologies and Team Verdier, the members of Gitana Team have been getting down to the task of bringing into the world the boat that will have the tough task of succeeding Gitana 17, “for evermore one of offshore racing’s first maxi-trimarans designed and built to fly around the world.”
Naturally, the utmost discretion surrounds the build site for this new giant measuring 32 metres long and 23 metres wide and “the boat will only really be unveiled when she exits the yard for her launch in late September of 2025,” announced Cyril Dardashti. Indeed, true to form, the five-arrow racing stable is setting the bar very high and the maxi-trimaran that is currently taking shape in the yard right now is unlikely to leave anyone indifferent, both in terms of her well-developed architectural concepts and her new specially-created graphic identity.
The key numbers and dates for the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild
– 170,000 hours of construction including 35,000 hours of studies
– 190,000 nautical miles covered since her launch
– 51.7 knots, peak speed reached
– 10 victories, 15 podiums out of 16 races contested
Verdier design created in collaboration with the Gitana Team
Track record:
2017
– 17 July: launch in Vannes
– 17 August: 1st flights offshore of Lorient
– November: participation in her 1st race, the Transat Jacques Vabre, where she finishes 2nd
2018
– November: participation in the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe, port float damage with a broken 8-metre section forward of the beam on the first night.
>> New skippers: Charles Caudrelier and Franck Cammas
2019
– June: 2nd in the ArMen Race Uship, crewed
– August: winner of the Rolex Fastnet Race, crewed
– December: winner of the Brest Atlantiques, double-handed
2020
– July: winner of the Drheam Cup, crewed
– November: 1st Jules Verne Trophy record attempt, crewed – curtailed due to damage
2021
– January: 2nd Jules Verne Trophy record attempt, crewed – curtailed due to damage (rudder on starboard float). New reference time between Ushant and the Cape of Good Hope: 11 days 14 hours and 3 minutes.
– August: winner of the Rolex Fastnet Race for the 2nd consecutive time, crewed
– November: winner of the Transat Jacques Vabre, double-handed
>> Skipper: Charles Caudrelier
2022
– July: winner of the Finistère Atlantique – Challenge – Action Enfance 2022, crewed
– September: winner of the 24h Ultim, Charles Caudrelier single-handed
– November: winner of the Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe in 6 days 19 hours 47 minutes and 25 seconds (new event record), Charles Caudrelier single-handed
2023
– February: 3rd Jules Verne Trophy record attempt, crewed – curtailed due to damage
– October: 2nd 24h Ultim, double-handed, Charles Caudrelier and Erwan Israël
– November: 3rd in the Transat Jacques Vabre, double-handed, Charles Caudrelier and Erwan Israël
2024
– February: winner of the Arkéa Ultim Challenge in 50 days 19 hours 7 minutes, 42 seconds, 1st round the world race for ULTIM, Charles Caudrelier single-handed
– September: winner of the 24h Ultim, crewed
– October: 2nd Finistère Atlantique, crewed
Livery:
> An original work designed especially for this project by the artist Cleon Peterson.
> Commission: Hugo Vitrani, curator Palais de Tokyo.
> Creation: Jean-Baptiste Epron
> The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is the 1st floating ‘against the wall’ work for the Palais de Tokyo