The ULTIM arms race is accelerating—and the Route du Rhum 2026 could become the greatest battle of giant ocean-racing trimarans we have ever seen.
New boats, new foils, new rudders, new rigs and completely different ideas about how to fly across an ocean at more than 40 knots. In this episode of Sea Wolves Report, we analyse the fastest sailing machines on Earth and ask which team is building the strongest weapon for the Route du Rhum.
On 1 November 2026, the fleet will leave Saint-Malo for the legendary solo transatlantic race to Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe. For the ULTIM skippers, it will be an all-out sprint of approximately 3,542 nautical miles across the North Atlantic.
We take an in-depth look at:
Gitana 18 — Charles Caudrelier’s radical new-generation flying machine
SVR-Lazartigue — Tom Laperche and one of the most complete racing packages in the fleet
Banque Populaire XI — Armel Le Cléac’h’s heavily developed and battle-tested ULTIM
Sodebo Ultim 3 — Thomas Coville’s record-breaking trimaran, now armed with another major technical upgrade
Actual Ultim 4 — Anthony Marchand and the former Gitana 17, still one of the most successful ocean-racing trimarans ever built
We also examine the challenge facing Louis Burton and Alexia Barrier aboard previous-generation ULTIMs—and why reliability, skipper experience and control in rough seas may prove more important than outright maximum speed.
Which boat will take off earliest?
Which one can maintain stable flight through a real Atlantic sea state?
Can the new Gitana immediately defeat the perfected machines of SVR-Lazartigue and Banque Populaire?
And could the former Gitana embarrass its own successor?
Five major design philosophies are preparing for battle.
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Which ULTIM would you place your money on? Let us know in the comments.
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