The project clock in the Gitana team base in Lorient has been ticking incessantly down towards the French team's first project deadline – participation in this year's singlehanded Route du Rhum – Destination Guadeloupe – just five months away.
On Monday, skipper Charles Caudrelier and a crew of sailors and technicians left the dock at dawn and headed out in search of breeze enough to get the 19-tonne giant multihull airborne for the first time.
The boat had only been fitted with its starboard hydrofoil during the previous week and since then the team had been working feverishly to make sure the 10-metre wingspan Y-shaped foil worked exactly as it should do. This first foil installation has happened later than planned – so there is no room for any mistakes.
Later that morning, sailing in winds between 10 and 13 knots, Gitana 18 was coaxed into the air off the coast of Belle-Île.
Caudrelier reflected on those first moments at the helm of the new Maxi Edmond de Rothschild:
“In the life of a boat, three months after its launch, we’re really in the phase of discovery and fine-tuning, but in my mind I’m already focused on performance and competition.
"We knew [our previous boat] Gitana 17 inside out. Here, everything is new. From Gitana 17 to Gitana 18 the feel is completely different. The boat is very stiff and responsive – which is exactly what we expected.
"On Monday, although it’s always difficult to measure the wind precisely as several factors come into play, readings off Belle-Île showed between 10 and 13 knots. After a few minutes finding the right settings, the Maxi took off and 20 minutes later our flight was stable.
"Our foils are truly the finishing touch to Gitana 18, one of the major innovations. We’ve pushed the design to the limit. These are highly technical components, unprecedented at this scale and with all the systems that it entails. These parts are arriving later than expected – we won’t hide that – but we haven’t wasted any time since the launch.
"Everything on board is so new and different – beyond the appendages that everyone’s talking about – that this period without foils has allowed us to take things step by step, without rushing things, whether it’s getting to grips with the spreader mast or the electric steering system.
"The Route du Rhum starts in five months. The deadlines are tight; we know that, and every moment counts. To be in a position to win races, Gitana 17 required two years of fine-tuning. But today we can also draw on the team’s experience and expertise, and all the planning and virtual sailing carried out using the digital twin on the simulator.
"The coming months look set to be busy, but every day I realise what a privilege it is, thanks to our owner, Ariane de Rothschild, to be where we are.”
The next phase for the project is the installation of the port foil over the next fortnight, after which Caudrelier will undertake more offshore sailing and training sessions.
