3 minutes - magazine 01 | 2025
Cast off!
Bright sunshine beams over the coast of Brittany. Crisp north-westerly winds blow at 15 knots across the Atlantic off Lorient.
High speed and superb sensitivity
455 nautical miles, i.e. almost 850 kilometres, have to be covered in the 48-hour race – a stone’s throw for the skippers, who will not only be competing against each other in the Défi Azimut in September, but also preparing for the “Vendée Globe” circumnavigation in November.
High-tech and high-speed: the LTM 1110-5.2 is waiting to be deployed in the port of Lorient La Base.
The protagonists of offshore sailing have been meeting in the French coastal town of Lorient for 14 years. Three disciplines have to be mastered – the “Courreaux de Groix”, in which the skippers have to get the maximum speed out of their sailing boats over one nautical mile, a 48-hour race in which a solo loop of the Atlantic is sailed and the “Chrono Tour de Groix”, in which the crews have to prove their strategy and performance.
The preparations for the Défi Azimut require a great deal of sensitivity.
The demanding offshore regatta, which takes place every year in September, requires professional preparation. Two Liebherr mobile cranes play a key role here: they don’t just launch the eight-tonne, 18-metre-long boats in the port of Lorient La Base. They also mount the 29-metre high carbon masts on the racing sailboats with the utmost precision. French crane contractor Levouest is using two LTM 1110-5.2 mobile cranes for this project. These powerful cranes also mastered the challenging task at the 2024 regatta with flying colours and ensured that all technical requirements were met precisely on schedule.
The LTM 1110-5.2 mounts the 29-metre long carbon masts on a total of 34 racing sailboats.
Lorient, which has established itself as the centre of ocean sailing over the years, is not only the venue for many major sailing competitions, but also an important location for the maritime industry. Levouest’s expertise and the reliability of Liebherr mobile cranes make them indispensable partners here. For the skippers, the event is always an ideal opportunity to test their boats and strategies under racing conditions just a few weeks before the Vendée Globe. The Défi Azimut not only serves as a sporting endurance test, but also as a meeting place for the entire offshore community – an exciting showcase of high-tech boats and sporting ambition.
This article was published in the UpLoad magazine 01 | 2025.
