Why the new Gitana 18 could be the fastest offshore boat ever built and how to sleep at 40 knots – on your own. PlanetSail's Matt Sheahan dives into the detail after last weekend's launch of the latest Edmond de Rothschild Maxi in Lorient.
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Gitana 18 is afloat and it's a big deal. Why? Because if the team's radical ideas work, the latest Ultim to be launched could mark a big leap forward when it comes to foiling in bigger sea states while raising the speed bar to well over 50 knots at the same time.
Following our first glimpse of Gitana 18 earlier this year we get to understand more about a project that took 250,000 hours to design and build. Now we see the real thing in the open.
Plus, what does it take to get a solo sailor into a mindset where handling a 100-foot trimaran on your own is OK? Gitana 18's skipper Charles Caudrelier explains how he has made the transition from a 36ft Figaro monohull to a giant foiling multihull and why – in his mind – the two aren't that different.
He also explains how and why he can sleep easy while doing 40 knots – with no one else aboard.
I check-in with Tudor Team Alinghi’s director for technical and sailing, New Zealand America’s Cup veteran Dave Endean – the man in charge of making sure that in AC38 the Swiss syndicate improves on its somewhat lacklustre performance in the last Cup in Barcelona.
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