Anyone attending the spectacular boat’s launch at the Edmond de Rothschild team base in Lorient recently cannot have failed to notice the permanent smile plastered all over Caudrelier’s face as he watched the remarkable boat that he has put his heart and soul into during its prolonged development process be lowered into the water for the very first time.
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The launch was a milestone moment for the French team who believe the innovation that is baked into the new boat will transform the multihull ocean racing world forever.
Caudrelier will of course be itching to sail the boat for the first time, but he will need to remain patient as the maxi trimaran undergoes potentially weeks of intricate system checks before it can leave the dock for the first time.
In reality though – as is the way with modern high-tech racing yacht design these days – Caudrelier had already clocked up thousands of hours sailing on this remarkable boat, or more accurately, aboard its virtual digital twin.
Asked how managing a massive craft like Gitana 18 on his own differs from the bulk of his previous solo experience, which he gained back in his Figaro campaigning years sailing considerably smaller boats Caudrelier said he believed there were few fundamental differences between the two.
“For me it’s the same game,” he replied. “I don’t see much difference, except that the boat is much bigger and you have to anticipate more. The size of these boats means you can’t be late. If you don’t anticipate, with the size of the sails and everything else, you can capsize.
“So you sail with that sort of pressure on your shoulders – and that changes things a bit – but otherwise I think it’s very much like the Figaro. I feel very comfortable with the idea of sailing this boat on my own. I have never thought ‘is it possible or not?’ because in my mind I know that to manage a boat like this is all about anticipation: thinking about the next manoeuvre, tidying up the boat constantly, trying to get enough sleep. But that is the same game as on a smaller boat, for me.”
Caudrelier put all his other sailing projects on hold for the last two years as he engrossed himself in Gitana 18’s complex design process, which was led by the legendary Guillaume Verdier.
“Sometimes I just listened and watched,” he says. “But we have also spent hours and hours sailing this boat on the computer. We have been able to give a lot of feedback to the designers and they have really changed the design of the foils a lot.”
A key element to making the boat manageable across a range of conditions in the open ocean is the 126-foot mast and its complex rigging setup which includes spreaders that can be raked aft to flatten the sail and reduce power in the upper wind ranges.
“The mast is a revolution for canting wing-masts,” Caudrelier declares. “But the principle is the same as with all masts. On a Volvo boat when you want to bend the mast, it is easy to do it with a backstay and spreaders.
