Among the most extreme and captivating craft in offshore sailing are the boats of the Ultim class – 100-foot-long trimarans, most of them fully foiling, designed to race around the world either single-handed or with a small crew.
There are currently only seven of these astonishing yachts in existence, and they’re reserved for the elite: highly experienced sailors with serious silverware to their names.
At just 28 years old, Tom Laperche is skipper of the newest Ultim afloat: SVR-Lazartigue. In short, he’s climbing the ranks faster than anyone before him. Like so many of France’s top sailors, Tom hails from Brittany – specifically La Trinité-sur-Mer, a small town on Quiberon Bay long regarded as the beating heart of the country’s offshore multihull scene.
