DECKVEST 6D
Custom designs The real deal
Aren’t we all getting tired of being told about new ‘low-carbon’ boats when the tooling alone is equivalent to a coal-fired power station. Armel Tripon is doing it for real… or as well as is actually possible in 2024
In July the hull and the deck of Tripon’s new Imoca Les P’tits Doudous finally emerged from the Duqueine Atlantique shipyard… Designers VPLP and Armel first came together at the Airbus Technocentre in 2021. Armel had been in touch with Airbus which over the pandemic amassed a large stock of carbon fibre that had passed expiry for aerospace use. Armel’s motivation wasn’t to build an Imoca on the cheap, but to build a competitive boat with the smallest possible carbon footprint. The main avenues for achieving this involve choosing the right materials, but as important is the right build system. Hence using the moulds for Boris Hermann’s Malizia – tooling being a large proportion of the carbon emissions produced building a raceboat. So while the team optimised the boat to Armel’s needs, the hull
was left alone having already proved itself. Though unusable in aerospace applications, the grade of carbon
complied fully with Imoca rules, though we adjusted the pre-preg curing cycle because the resins were initially designed to polymerise at a temperature of 180° while Imoca only tolerate a maximum of 135°. And mechanically the materials tested perfectly. It’s important to understand that the technical ambitions of this
project far exceed Imoca’s own new sustainability requirements, which focus on the moulds and waste generated by the manufacture of the foils. Armel Tripon and Duqueine Atlantique really have taken a new direction. Les P’tits Doudous will be a true prototype, in the literal sense of the word, with all the beauty and risks that entails. Ultimately 70% of the build comprises out-of-date carbon, achieving a 50% reduction in emissions. Certain parts like the mast bulkhead
Custom builds BOAT
Flax 27
5.5 Metre TF35 Fly40 AC40
Musa 40 Raison 40 Dibley 40 Lift40-V3 Mach40.6 MaX 40 V2
Pogo 40S4 V2 Agité 40
X-Yachts XR Lift 45
LOA DESIGNER
8.2m Robin Zinkmann/Judel-Vrolijk Greenboats 10.1m Dave Hollom
BUILDER Composite Craft
McConaghy, China
Sangiorgio Marine, Genoa Gepeto Composites
12.18m Marc Lombard Yacht Design Gepeto Composites 12.18m Sam Manuard 12.18m David Raison
JPS Productions
12.18m Guillaume Verdier 12.18m CT Mer Forte 12.74m X-Yachts Design
Lyman Morse 46 13.95m Kevin Dibley Vismara V48 Vintage 14.6m Vismara/Villani Dazcat 1495 Arcona 50 TP52 RP52
Wallyrocket 51 Infiniti DSS 52 IRC 52 IRC 54
M&M 55 Imoca 60 Imoca 60 IRC82
Verdier 100 SW100X Wally 145 Project 404 Ferrari V-100
Structures Shipyard Mer Agité X-Yachts
13.88m Marc Lombard Yacht Design SR Structure, UK Lyman Morse
14.95m Dazcat Design 15.8m Jeppesen & Pons 15.85m Judel-Vrolijk 15.85m Reichel/Pugh 15.85m Botín Partners 15.85m Hugh Welbourn 15.85m Botín Partners
16.35m Carkeek Design Partners 16.7m Morrelli & Melvin 18.28m VPLP 18.28m Verdier 25m
Judel-Vrolijk
30.53m Guillaume Verdier 30.53m Farr Yacht Design 44.2m Frers
59.7m Malcolm McKeon 30.6m Guillaume Verdier
Vismara Marine Concepts Dazcat
Arcona Yachts
King Marine, Valencia Sail GP Technologies Wally Yachts
McConaghy Boats Sail GP Technologies Carrington Boats
Schooner Creek Boat Works Duqueine Atlantique Multiplast
King Marine, Valencia Persico
Southern Wind Shipyard Persico, Italy Royal Huisman
Persico/Soldini/Ferrari
Carbon Developments NZ JPS Productions
were made using new pre-preg but the vast majority of carbon fabric came from Airbus’s out-of-date stock. This discarded stock was an opportunity worth seizing, but could
the Les P’tits Doudous exercise be repeated…? Well, we don’t know if it can be done in exactly the same way in the future, but it sends a strong signal. Stocks of out-of-date carbon fibre are commonplace in industry and so Imoca and Airbus are meeting shortly to discuss how the two organisations collaborate in the future. Numerous isolated schemes for collecting composite materials (out-of-date fibres, offcuts, rejects etc) are appearing but now we all need to join forces. Prior to this project there existed a technological barrier, including
problems of cure temperature and material compatability when using carbon fibre from unusual sources… If Armel’s boat turns out well these barriers can be lifted, facilitating interactions between sailing and the giants of industry who purchase composite materials in eye- watering volume compared to our relatively humble requirements. Quentin Lucet, VPLP and Katia Merle, ecodesign specialist
q
LAUNCH COMMENTS 2020 onwards
10.6m Redondo/Kramers/May/Dubois Heol/Multiplast/Lorima/Decision 2019 onwards 11.8m Caponnetto Hueber/Pure Design Persico 12.12m Team New Zealand 12.18m Gianluca Guelfi 12.18m David Raison 12.18m Kevin Dibley
2024 onwards 2023 onwards
2023 onwards 2023 onwards 2024 2024 2024
2024 onwards 2023 onwards 2023 onwards 2025 2025 2024
2022 onwards Late 2024
2023 onwards 2023 onwards 2024 2024 2024
2024... 2024 2024 2025 2024 2025 2025 2024! 2024 2024 2024 2025
Plants, cork and recyclable Sicomin GreenPoxy resin. A good effort but more interest needed Faster in a breeze, rig tweaks quickly sorted the light-air pace. Hollom’s latest champion 5.5 15m by 11m, massive foils and rig and just 1,250kg. The tooling is still keeping warm One-design mini AC75… For those for whom the RC44 became, well, a bit of a yawn Cheaper TP52 alternative… Luca Rizzotti is keen to hear from ambitious adrenaline junkies Today’s all-round Class40 of choice but supply remains tight… and they’re not cheap ‘Faster downwind’… New 40s for Jonas Gerckens and Crédit Mutuel skipper Ian Lipinski New Zealand joins the Class40 in earnest with a sensible but pretty futuristic new offering A full update of the successful V2, one for Corentin Douget and a second for Frédéric Denis Manuard is predicting earlier planing plus improved pace at 60-1100 Mr Scow’s latest series-built offering
TWA
Quick and keenly priced. Vincent Riou’s S4 went trim-tab plus single rudder (hmm – ed) ‘More robust’ Class40 from Michel Desjoyeaux for those with round-the-world ambitions X-Yachts returns to the sharp end of the racing scene with intent. We’ve missed you, guys Zut alors! A high-performance cruiser-racer for a French owner being built in England A sailor’s yacht. Cold-moulded Douglas fir/Western red cedar. Yacht design is back to art Very classically modern… retro styled with the rig (almost) hanging off the back Ultim style A British yard with a lot to shout about. Fast exciting boats to push hard, roomy when not A yard that continues to impress as they refine their
work.Cool and in that Scandiwegan way! The new Provezza takes over from the current model in the late autumn
All-carbon high-performance push-button racer-cruiser from the ex-Core Composites team Guillermo Parada and Vasco Vascotto are both involved in Wally’s first one-design project Transpac podium put this 52-footer back on track… Now it’s over to McConaghy? Full-on no-compromise IRC racer. Looks like a TP52 with the sharp edges knocked off French owner and a blend of Ino Noir and Rán 8 for AC 2025… (the Cowes one) A new fast powercat for 49 passengers for whale watching in Maui. Sounds terrible… With help from Airbus… Tripon’s project is definitely above-average interesting Lots of secrecy but the first build slot for the 2028 Vendée Globe is bought and paid for Dangerously seductive-looking new maxi-sized racer-cruiser for European regattas A new Magic Carpet and from Verdier too… (another) impressively fast build by Persico Getting bigger and looking (even) better. And they make for the best pix too
The biggest yet from Persico. Very light at 171 tonnes. Hybrid power means silent running Aluminium hull, carbon up top… and a sloop (because one is always cheaper than two) 100ft foiler, removable bulb keel for record breaking (Yeh, yeh. Same old same old)
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