Five Giants return to "fly" in Antibes for the Tour de Méditerranée!

Not the quantity but what quality! A line-up that makes you dream with five "ULTIM" skippers skippered by the cream of French sailors. Armel Le Cléac'h on Banque Populaire, Thomas Coville on Sodebo, Tom Laperche on SVR-Lazartigue, Anthony Marchand on Actual and Charles Caudrelier on Gitana will offer an exceptional show in 2026 (from April 29 to May 10) during the Odyssey ULTIM, the first round of the Mediterranean in this class. "A dream cast" for the co-founder of CapMed and organizer of the event, Patrick Gilliot. " We wanted to offer something new in Antibes, accessible to the general public."

A highly anticipated event for enthusiasts who had already enjoyed themselves last October when the Giants of the Seas arrived for the Finistère Atlantique Concarneau-Antibes race. A human and technological challenge in the footsteps of Homer's Odyssey.

A race full of twists and turns

For the Odyssey ULTIM, the program is enticing with a departure from Antibes on May 3 for a 5-day crossing (2,000 miles or 3,704 km). "We can have very strong winds or calm moments ," explains Francis Le Goff, the race director. Our only constraint is to reach Olympia, which is the DNA of the race. Then, if the weather permits, we could consider going around Malta, heading to the Balearic Islands before returning to Antibes." The sailors will be expected at the finish line on Friday, May 8.

"You have to constantly question yourself, it can bounce back all the time. You have to be on your toes mentally, technically and sportingly. It's really a completely different exercise and that's what excited me last time. This new event is an opening to the Mediterranean basin, rejoices Thomas Coville of Sodebo whose boat should be relaunched on Friday . I loved the welcome here last October. It was warm, enthusiastic, generous. The Odyssey ULTIM? We're expecting unpredictable weather and a course that's not easy to manage but to cover at crazy speeds. The field is even tighter. We'll have to be consistent, with a certain notion of strategic risk-taking. We're happy to create, to build a story with the organizers, the city. There's so much to write."

For Anthony Marchand, skipper of Actual, we can expect anything in this new event: "We dream of victory with Actual 4 in a beautiful, unpredictable Mediterranean."

The ULTIM Odyssey lasts 12 days, including runs off the ramparts on May 1st and 2nd, meetings with the skippers and, of course, the race in the Mediterranean.

"We are committed to a two-year cycle with SVR-Lazartigue ," says Tom Laperche, who has taken over from François Gabart. "We have plenty of ingredients to work well and we are delighted to return to the Mediterranean to launch 2026. With the highlight being the solo Route du Rhum at the end of the year. We want to progress together with innovations on the boat. In the Mediterranean, we talk about unforeseen circumstances. There is an element of luck that we have to manage to align. It is stimulating in terms of strategy. The ULTIM should sail again at the end of the month, beginning of July after 3 months in the yard."

Franck Cammas will join Laperche for the double-handed transatlantic race Café l'Or (October 26) and should be part of the adventure for the Odyssée ULTIM.

Before heading back to train on a simulator or at sea, the five skippers defined the new Antibes event in one word: " Adventure (Le Cléac'h), blue (Caudrelier), sharing (Coville), historic (Laperche) and unpredictable (Marchand)".