The first ‘Ultime’ built for solo sailing was the Derek Kelsall-designed William Saurin (top), the 93-footer going afloat in 1980. The top-scoring modern solo tri has been Francis Joyon’s Irens design Idec 2 (left) – though now outclassed by giants like Banque Populaire (ex-G3). Note Idec’s extended main hull – eschewed by VPLP for François Gabart’s (above) new boat
work on the crossbeam sections: we are employing an asymmetric D-profile, akin to that of an aeroplane wing, that helps when it comes to dealing with drag but also generates a small amount of upward thrust. Nothing spectacular of course, but considering that these boats go faster and faster, aero drag is the next big ‘brake’ we need to address. This is a small step in the right direction, which is consistent with the trend to add fairing elements (simple, light panels) behind the beams to artificially extend their profile.’ Xavier reckons that for Macif’s beams to generate lift, the boat needs to travel at speeds in excess of 30kt. He also insists that it will remain marginal, and needs to be considered as a little bonus, not some- thing destined to increase performance on its own… And while we’re on the subject of aero, let’s talk sailplan: obviously, and as is the case on the Macif Imoca 60 and on Comanche, the mast (a canting spar, by the way) is set well aft. ‘This has been a consistent feature of our designs for a while now,’ comments Xavier. ‘You can go back to Groupama 2 (Orma 60), then move on to Groupama 3 and then Banque Populaire/Spindrift, and
you’ll notice it on these boats too. The more aft weight distribution improves safety and performance (notably when reaching and sailing downwind), plus it results in a narrower mainsail on a rela- tively short boom, which makes handling easier. The upwind headsails are moved back as well, but the gennakers remain on the bow. Foresails are kept to a minimum with two different gennakers, a J2 and a J3 (which essentially is a staysail). All the sails have a rather wide range of use, of course.’ Performance-wise, the VPLP team have been running their models around the globe and estimate that Francis Joyon’s record is more than within reach: ‘Francis sailed beautifully and also had a dream weather scenario,’ says Xavier. ‘He ended up covering a relatively short distance. Our latest simulations give us a circum- navigation completed in 52 to 53 days with a good breeze pattern…
‘Thanks to her relatively light weight and sharp, streamlined shapes, Macif should be very efficient in the key transi- tion phases such as the Doldrums and the St Helena high pressure zone. That’s where we hope to make up the difference; in fact, if you look at both singlehanded and fully
crewed RTW attempts, reference times in the Southern Ocean are very close. If my memory serves me right, between Francis and Banque Populaire V the difference was only three days (between Good Hope and the Horn).
‘The Atlantic portion of the trip, espe- cially when going back up on the way home, is where big gains can be made – that’s valid for future Jules Verne Trophy attempts as well as for singlehanders. François [Gabart] thinks it’s realistic to try to get very close to Banque Populaire’s time in the Southern Ocean, and it’s his ambition to do just that,’ notes Xavier. ‘Going forward my take is that there is lots of room for progress as far as single- handed RTW records are concerned; the fact that a real class is now seeing the light of day surely signals an acceleration of things on that front. If we end up with five big boats on the startline of a solo round- the-world race, as is planned for 2017 or 2019, it’d be a success… Macif, Sodebo and Banque Populaire are all backing the effort by getting involved and creating the circuit, but several other projects are now being developed as well.’ (editor’s note: more on that soon…)
q SEAHORSE 37
OLIVIER BLANCHET/DPPI
JONATHAN EASTLAND/DPPI/AJAX
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