The skipper who raced the oldest boat in the Ultim fleet
Arthur Le Vaillant is a skipper from La Rochelle. In the 2022 Route du Rhum, he starts aboard Mieux — a 1998 trimaran, formerly Geronimo / Sodebo / Actual, the oldest boat in the Ultim fleet — and finishes 6th. He is also the son of Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant, three-time winner of the Transat Québec — Saint-Malo (1996, 2000, 2004).
From GDF Suez to Mieux: a career built on second-hand boats
Le Vaillant spent most of his career in Class40 between 2009 and 2018, with a triple win in 2013 aboard GDF Suez (Rolex Fastnet Race, Armen Race, Grand Prix Guyader the same year). He then moved on to a busy Class40 cycle — 2nd in the 2017 Transat Jacques Vabre in double-handed racing with Aymeric Chappellier aboard Aïna Enfance & Avenir, 4th in the 2018 Route du Rhum aboard Leyton. In 2020, he switched to Multi50 aboard Leyton (ex-Arkema 3) and won the Grand Prix de Brest that same season.
The Mieux collective: a second-hand Ultim, another race
Arthur Le Vaillant is a founding member of the Mieux collective, which advocates for more sustainable offshore racing. Instead of building a new Ultim costing tens of millions of euros, the collective salvaged Geronimo — a boat designed in 1998 — and raced it as-is. In 2022, he co-signed a manifesto in L'Équipe titled “Our beautiful sport must change.”
Career highlights
- 6th — 2022 Route du Rhum, Ultim 32/23, aboard Mieux (ex-Geronimo).
- 1st — 2020 Grand Prix de Brest, Multi50, aboard Leyton (ex-Arkema 3).
- 4th — 2018 Route du Rhum, Class40, aboard Leyton.
- 5th — 2018 Normandy Channel Race, Class40, aboard Lamotte Module Création, double-handed with Luke Berry.
- 2nd — 2017 Transat Jacques Vabre, Class40, aboard Aïna Enfance & Avenir, double-handed with Aymeric Chappellier.
- 1st — 2017 Grand Prix Guyader, Class40, aboard Imerys.
- 3rd — 2017 Les Sables — Horta, Class40, aboard Aïna Enfance & Avenir, double-handed with Aymeric Chappellier.
- 1st — 2013 Rolex Fastnet Race, Class40, aboard GDF Suez.
- 1st — 2013 Armen Race, Class40, aboard GDF Suez.
- 1st — 2013 Grand Prix Guyader, Class40, aboard GDF Suez.
- Multiple participations in the Solitaire du Figaro and Figaro circuit (2013, 2015).
