Barcelona hosts Actual Ultim 4, one of the five fastest trimarans in the world
The vessel, 32 meters long with a 34-meter mast, belongs to Actual Group, a French talent consultancy that aims to triple its turnover in Spain
The Actual Ultim 4 trimaran is 32 meters long and has a mast of 34 meters
It docked on Monday at Marina Port Vell, alongside the most impressive yachts in the Port of Barcelona. Maritime activity at this end of the city isn't particularly intense these days, so the arrival of this nautical giant is quite remarkable. The Catalan capital will host one of the five fastest and most advanced trimarans in the world, the Actual Ultim 4, all week long. Its crew was preparing it on Tuesday after its overnight crossing from Marseille.
The team director and legendary figure in ocean sailing, Yves Le Blévec, enthusiastically toured the vessel, explaining the details of the trimaran, a boat with three hulls: a central hull and two smaller side hulls. Six people travel on board, but only two can sleep while sailing. The other four are responsible for turning cranks, controlling devices, and, most uniquely, launching the foils—the wings that allow the Actual to reach top speeds of 50 knots (about 90 kilometers per hour).
170,000 hours of construction
Not so long ago, until September 2024, Barcelona became a global showcase for this technology, thanks to the America's Cup sailing regatta. With the competition now out of the city, the foiling sailboats also disappeared from Barcelona's coastline. The 32-meter-long nautical giant with a 34-meter mast has been installed just a few meters from where the Swiss and British teams' bases were located, now dismantled.
The Actual Ultim 4 has required more than 170,000 hours of high-precision work, they say. The large number of sensors located on the trimaran's carbon fiber hull allow for real-time monitoring of all data, something in which Àlex Pella, navigator and crew member, actively participates. He, along with Le Blevec, explained the advantages of a vessel that has accumulated 200,000 nautical miles on its hulls, the equivalent of circumnavigating the globe ten times.
Pella, another leading figure in ocean sailing, was still wearing a wet wetsuit on Tuesday: he was leaving the waters of Port Vell because a propeller wasn't working properly, nothing serious. Life aboard a giant of this size requires knowledge of wind, but also of mechanics. A bit of everything.
3x3 Strategic Plan
The arrival of such a technical marvel in Barcelona is in accordance with the intentions of its owner, Actual Group, a French consultancy specializing in talent acquisition. In France, there is a genuine passion for ocean sailing, and this trimaran participates in numerous competitions each year.
The company took the opportunity to present its roadmap for the Spanish market. Having achieved a turnover of three million euros to date, they now aspire to triple that figure within three years thanks to their 3x3 strategic plan. They explained that the giant trimaran, representing an investment of between 12 and 15 million euros, symbolizes the «robustness» of a group that works with more than 1,000 companies in Europe.
According to Actual Talent, the Spanish labor market is marked by a shortage of qualified professionals. The firm intends to invest 40% of its funds in recruitment processes, while another 40% will be allocated to finding executives in sectors such as technology, industry, and life sciences. The remainder will be used for an artificial intelligence platform.
