Route du Rhum Dockwalk Part 2. The Fabulous ULTIMs, Dockside music and General Fleet

The start of the Route du Rhum 2022 will be given from the Pointe du Grouin in Saint-Malo at 13:02. On the starting line will be gathered the largest number of skippers in the history of the race. They are 138 sailors to participate in this 12 e edition, divided in the 6 main classes of the event. Among them, professionals, but also amateurs who will live the dream of their life, mainly in the Rhum Mono and Rhum Multi classes, but also in Class40.

Among the competitors, there will be 7 women, in the IMOCA, Class40 and Rhum Mono classes, but also 14 different nationalities, that is to say 20% of foreigners. Proof of the ever-growing internationalization of ocean racing.

The Ultim Class includes the largest multihulls in ocean racing: 32 m long and 23 m wide. Equipped with hydrofoils, these flying machines are capable of crossing the ocean in less than a week. Between older, but truly optimized boats and new, technologically advanced models, the game is likely to be tight in the Route du Rhum. Will the record be broken?
Par Chloé Torterat
Par Chloé Torterat
Published on October 25, 2022
Four years of technological developments for flying boats
Ultims are the most powerful boats in ocean racing. With a length of 32 meters and a width of 23 meters, they sail on three hulls, but above all, they fly, for longer periods, with amazing average speeds!

The 2018 Route du Rhum saw the birth of the first truly flying Ultims this was the case for the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild and Banque Populaire IX. Of course, the result was not convincing, as the first boat had to give up after tearing its float and the second boat had capsized. Today, three new flying boats have been added to the class. In four years, technology has allowed us to work on the load-bearing planes, but also on the aerodynamics to reduce the drag in the air, like SVR-Lazartigue, François Gabart’s trimaran, which created controversy within the class for the choice of its cockpit position.

On this 2022 edition, they will be eight sailors trying to win, and why not break the current race record set by Francis Joyon in 2018: 7 days, 14 hours, 21 minutes. As Francis Le Goff, the race director, said, if conditions allow it, then the race time could fall below 7 days.