ULTIM trimarans

3rd October the Ultim trimarans were arriving Antibes having finished the 5 day race from Finisterre. We followed onboard their track on the AIS and saw them going along with 40kts+, the first ones were arriving already on the 2nd Oct evening when others came in 3rd Oct assisted by their teams respective "tug" boats. One of them had allegedly ripped their mainsail as they had encountered 70kts winds off the Spanish coast.

Banque Populaire trimaran

Forward cabin, on right one of the beds, the other 2 were below

On 4th Oct I was invited to visit an ULTIM class trimaran participating in the races across the ocean and around the world. The next day I also went out to see them doing speed trials off Antibes and foiling by the spectators maybe at 30-35kts speed.

Nav station forward

Aft space with steering wheels, winches, lines and hydraulic controls

Hydraulic cylinder

Sodebo trimaran

Banque Populaire

From the Captain onboard we were told us that the ULTIM trimaran has following specs:

- 38m main mast, 70t pressure on base, 50t pressure on falls. Main mast can be tilted and turned;

- 16t displacement, 32m LOA, 23m width. Didn't get indication of max draught but on AIS it says 5m (with foils down before foiling?). The ship foils at 20kts, goes up to 50kts speed max. 6 crew.

- Genset, 200ltr fuel (they calculate how much they need), didn't get a clear reply of the tank capacity. Wind generator. Solar panels incorporated on hull. No hydro generator. No engine propulsion either.

- Sail total approx 1000sq.m. , no spare, out on the mast was rigged main sail and 2 fore sails (on the 2 aft attachment points), the larger fore sails were stored in bags. 4 attachment points on the center hull for fore sails.

- Dryfood packages onboard, add water, boil (in microwave?). Skipper said it is not too bad, French supplier.

- Watermaker (running on genset), when flying, difficult to fill. When they "land", they make water. Didn't get indication of FW tank capacity but I think not much.

- Everything is manually run by the winches, even hydraulics. They have Harken, 6 gears winches x2pcs, hydraulics work with them too for hoisting/ lowering foils, moving mast and rigging. The highest gear is 1 turn on the handle equals 1 turn on drum and then it goes on lower ratio.

- 24v system onboard, one spare system for electronics, i.e all doubled. (I assume genset is 220V to water maker (?)). Hydraulics, I understood was 16 separate lines so I guess in case there is a leak on one line then the others are not affected.

- Autopilot is the only fully electronic eq (not sure what he meant by this as I saw all other sensors were also electronic).

- Max 5-6m waves and 35kts winds. They navigate around bad weather, with crew you have to do it (read forecasts), solo, you're allowed weatherguidance with shoresupport. One of the trimarans had 70kts winds on the way from Atlantic to Med and ripped their main sail.

- 3 Bunks, 1 on top, 2 below. Crew hotbunks whilst sailing. Skipper said they get on average 8h on the winches.

- Sailing solo it is about 2h preparation to tack, with crew is faster.

These would compete in crossing Atlantic and also doing around the world races (approx 40days).

Forward view

Foiling by

Foiling away

Some media postings about the ULTIM trimarans:

Rfi article published 1st Jan 2024

Nice-Matin article on the trimarans in Antibes published 2nd Sept 2024 (in French)

Arkea ULTIM challenge Brest published 19 Oct 2024

Ultim official website

Wikipedia

Foiling

Below I have google translated the Nice-Matin article (link above):

"This is unprecedented": why will gigantic trimarans dock in Antibes next October?

The Finistère Atlantique race will end in the city of Remparts. The boats will dock on October 3 at the Vauban port, where they will be visible to the general public.

The Ultim class boats are described as "giants of the seas", defying the limits of speed and technology. New, they can cost between 15 and 20 million euros. On Saturday, September 28, these maritime Formula 1s will leave Concarneau to arrive in Antibes five days later, on October 3, as part of the 3rd edition of the Finistère Atlantique race. A first because, until now, the sailboats followed a loop of approximately 4,000 kilometers in the Atlantic Ocean.

Foiling