Since 1876, the Gitana name has appeared regularly in yachting’s rarest circles, associated with boats that challenge convention. The lineage is inseparable from and began with the Rothschild family GitaA steel steamboat was commissioned by Baroness Julie de Rothschild when sails still ruled the seas. Today, the newest member of that storied fleet, the Gitana 18, carries on the tradition of innovation more than ever.
Years before the trimaran hit the water in February, Baroness Ariane de Rothschild resolved to extend her family’s seafaring legacy with a vessel that would test the outer limits of offshore multihull sailing. The result is a 105-foot foiling yacht designed to fly – quite literally – across the open ocean.
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Its predecessor, the Gitana 17, was launched in 2017 as a hybrid that mixed traditional trimaran sailing with foiling, lifting off the surface of the sea before settling on its hulls and rising again. Winning 10 grueling races, the boat proved it could survive offshore conditions, not just flat water or short-course races like the America’s Cup or the SailGP. Nevertheless, it was seen as a partial solution by Baroness, who was deeply involved in its development.
The new project demanded both ambition and scale, requiring a total of 200 people, 50,000 hours of study, and 200,000 man-hours to build. The effort reflects the ethos of the Gitana team founded by the Baroness and her husband, the late Benjamin de Rothschild, shortly after their marriage in 2000. Benjamin—like his father Edmund, a skilled sailor, followed by a yacht, Maxey Edmund de RothschildOfficially named — it is known that Multihull offered the greatest promise for offshore racing and acquired more than a dozen before his death in 2021. Gitana 18, however, is on another level. “We’ve just moved from racing to research,” says Baroness, adding that Gitana 18 requires a team of engineers. Proving radical new technology is still “taking a bet on this flying boat.”
Designed by Guillaume Verdier from Gitana’s in-house design office and built by CDK Technologies in Brittany, the trimaran was unveiled in December, at Rob reports in attendance. Its wide, skeletal profile is defined by Y-shaped foils — each wing more than 16 feet wide — designed to maximize lift while minimizing drag. The U-shaped rudder and central T-foil work in concert to stabilize the platform under extreme loads.
According to Captain Charles Quadrelier, these systems can allow the Gitana 18 to hover over waves reaching 10 feet with minimal hull contact, while maintaining an average speed of 40 knots. He believes the boat, providing more stability, can surpass the Gitana 17’s top speed of 51 knots. The first chance to test that theory comes in April, when the yacht makes its racing debut in a five-day Mediterranean offshore event from France to Greece.
Maxi Edmond de Rothschild – Franck Cammas / Charles Caudrelier – Transat Jacques Vabre 2021
Aesthetics haven’t been overlooked either. The striking livery of the Gitana 18 was created by French artists Florian and Michael Quistrebert in collaboration with the Palais de Tokyo. Spanning over 21,500 square feet, its graphics draw on symbolism tied to the five branches of the family and feature stylized images of mermaids representing the four daughters of Ariane.
At the unveiling, Baroness stressed that honoring the team’s legacy requires more than respect. It demands, she said, “disrupting today and seeing how much you can improve the technology.” Racing, he added, is “proof of concept,” even if the return on that investment takes months or years, as engineers refine untested components for the harsh realities of open-ocean travel. When the balance is finally achieved, the Gitana 18 could redefine not only what a boat can do offshore but how far the sport itself is willing to go.
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