Have you ever seen rudders like that before? Radical top-secret Gitana 18 Ultim unveiled
The new Ultim from Gitana stable sports radical foils and rudders that showcase a truly innovative approach by the team and designer Guilluame Verdier.
When the Rothschilds and Gitana team unveil a new boat, they do it properly – and last night the huge team base in Lorient, France, became the theatrical backdrop to the grand unveiling of Gitana 18, the highly anticipated new foiling Ultim.
In a dramatic ‘reveal’ a silk curtain dropped mid-press conference and the gathered guests – a couple of hundred media, technical partners, and the great and good of French ocean racing – realised they were underneath one of the most top secret boat building projects of recent years.
But perhaps even more dramatic was the boat itself – or certainly the appendages that will be fixed to it.
The radical new foils for the Ultim Gitana 18 – the flaps on the trailing edge can be trimmed independently, while the arms can also be lifted, and the rake adjusted.
The L-shaped foils of the current ocean-going trimarans have been replaced with what the team refer to as ‘Y’ foils – giant appendages with 5m span set on enormous swinging arms, that show a clear lineage from the America’s Cup.
The central ‘wing’ beneath the boat is a sculptural 3m of metal (they won’t disclose which one).
Radical rudder design
But the rudders are unlike anything seen before – an inverted ‘U’ or A-frame design. Unlike a conventional rudder, which itself turns, the double chords of the rudder are fixed, while flaps at the trailing edge control direction – all designed to overcome the deformation that the hugely loaded rudders would experience, and apparently with no drag penalty.
The rudders of the new Gitana 18 are a revolutionary A-frame or ‘U’ shape, with twin fixed stocks or chords, but adjustable flaps.
Meanwhile the rig is not only a canting wing mast, but is designed to bend to allow the crew to control the mainsail’s power – particularly in the shift between take-off and flight, and in squally conditions where the trimaran could become overpowered. It’s another element which is entirely new on this scale.
“With this new boat, we hope to achieve as close to perfect flight as possible. Ideally, we’ll be able to fly very high without ever touching the waves. We hope to be able to fly in 3m waves and reach an average sailing speed bordering on 40 knots”, explains Charles Caudrelier, the skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild Gitana 18.
The team told me that top speed potential is over 55 knots.
Gitana 18: designed to fly
The project was designed by known out-of-the-box thinker Guillaume Verdier with the 30-man in-house team at Gitana. Its primary goal is to foil for 100% of its sailing time, achieved by both decreasing the wind strength at which it can foil, while also sustaining higher average speeds at flight.
It builds on much of the knowledge, data and experience the team have gained from their previous Gitana 17 (now Actual Ultim 4), which was launched eight years ago and became the most optimised and successful of all the 100ft trimarans, winning the Transat Jacques Vabre, Route du Rhum, and Arkea Ultim Challenge, while covering over 200,000 miles of ocean.
The new Gitana 18 in the team base in Lorient
Owner Ariane de Rothschild also spoke at the launch, which she attended with her daughters. They are represented on the boat’s spectacular livery, designed by French artistic duo Florian and Michaël Quistrebert, in collaboration with the Palais de Tokyo. Gitana 18 is the 28th boat in the Rothschild/Gitana stable, which next year celebrates 150 years in the sport.
“Within my family, we’ve always enjoyed a passion for competition, performance and also one of technological disruption. It’s about being disruptive, knowing how to take risks, gauging them and managing them. This is fully in line with our philosophy,” said Ariane de Rothschild.”
The Rothschild family and Gitana team hosted a spectacular unveiling of the newest Ultim, Gitana 18, on Wednesday 3 December.
You can’t rush perfection, and the boat is definitely launching a little later than anticipated, but a project of this magnitude will take months to work up. Its first event will be the 2026 Route du Rhum, which skipper Caudrelier will be looking to defend his title in, before taking on solo around the world and crewed Jules Verne record bids.
We’ll take an in-depth look at this incredible creation in the February issue of Yachting World, out January 8th.
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