The Brest Atlantiques race officially started Tuesday 5 November at 11:00 hrs, in front of the Chaussée de Sein.
The four trimarans of the Ultim 32/23 class set off at more than 30 knots, with a north-westerly wind of about thirty knots and in a heavy sea with waves 4.5 metres high.
The Trimaran Macif of François Gabart and Gwénolé Gahinet was the first to cross the line, and shifted slightly northwards ahead of the three other competitors.
The rest of the four boat fleet, Actual Leader (Yves Le Blevec / Alex Pella), Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Franck Cammas / Charles Caudrelier) and Sodebo Ultim 3 (Thomas Coville / Jean-Luc Nélias), were all at the southern end of the 2.5-mile line.
On the first day out at sea, the descent down into the Bay of Biscay was fast, with heavy waves which should however gradually die down. They should cross Cape Finisterre, at the north-western tip of Spain, after about ten hours.
The race is a 14,000-mile Atlantic loop or tour around half the globe, Brest Atlantiques will be the first large-scale head-to-head between the four major players in the Ultim 32/23 Class fleet.
The two-man crew on each multihull is accompanied only by a media man to record the race from on board.
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