Opposite: the Raison-designed Crédit Mutuel for Mini Transat winner Ian Lipinski was one of the most eagerly (for rivals, nervously) awaited Class40s in the fleet’s history, another being the Sam Manuard scow nearing completion at JPS in Brittany. Marc Lombard’s existing Lift40 scows have already set the tone with their powerful performances in the last Route du Rhum but as expected David Raison pushed the rule even harder – in particular with very hard edges at the chines and elsewhere and a flatter underbody than is seen on the Lombard designs. In fact, Crédit Mutuel’s hull is noticeably flatter even than Manuard’s new Mach 40.4 (sorry, we’re not supposed to know that yet). No one knows more about scow shapes than Raison but Manuard is a brilliant talent and Lombard’s scows are now ahead in terms of development. This will be a fascinating battle to watch. Also recently launched (above) is the latest Guillaume Verdier Imoca 60 Advens for Thomas Ruyant. Ruyant’s project is managed by former Seahorse editor Marcus Hutchinson
least 12kt of boat speed for flying and so about 14-15kt of wind [the Verdier design has quite a conservative rig]. At that point the acceleration onto the foils feels sensible but I cannot tell you exactly how much faster we go because we have not yet experienced conditions good enough for testing… But with the wind on the beam Cerfrance goes very fast. ‘Now while flying I must always steer but I can already go quite
fast in a semi-flying mode with the autopilot (when the hull is very much lifted but not flying) because the boat is very safe and very stable. ‘Arkema is especially fast between 90 and 120° off the wind
when it is up around 20kt. My boat is more versatile than Arkema though her hull is very fast in some conditions. If we are flying or “skimming” we are always faster than not flying, though there is a lot to do with the foils and the elevators on the rudders [which are permitted in the Mini rule, not in the Imoca rule]. Honestly I am quite busy sailing singlehanded!’ Tanguy can be confident that even without the foils Cerfrance
sails faster than a production Pogo 3! His main non-foiler rivals in the Mini Transat are the ex-Maximum, no865, the David Raison design that won everything in the Mini first skippered by David then by Ian Lipinski (Ian now has the brand new Raison design Class40 Crédit Mutuel). No865 is being sailed by François Jambou who is still doing well with two bullets this year at the Pornichet Select and the Mini en Mai. Also Erwan Le Méné, sailing the excellent Lombard design no800
made in 2015. Two years ago Erwan was set for a podium position, but the second leg between Las Palmas in Gran Canaria and Le
Marin saw all his hopes destroyed: ‘I hit something two days out from the Canaries. I pulled off most of the boat’s transom and she was soon beginning to fill with water... ‘I took refuge in Dakar. I deemed it wiser not to head back out
to sea as my focus was on a result. I didn’t want to set sail again eight days later, behind everyone else, on a beat to get past Cape Verde and risk breaking my boat again… I hope I’ll have luck on my side this year.’ Winner of both legs of the Transgascogne and Plastimo Lorient Mini earlier in the season, Erwan can be confident. Also a strong rival is Axel Tréhin who finished second in the
Pornichet Select and Mini en Mai on his new powerful Lombard design that looks somehow like a small Lift40. ‘I built my own new offshore bird. Her number, 945, is not a random choice: it’s the sum total of my two previous boats: 229+716,’ explains the composites expert... ‘To complete Tartine (her original name) in her entirety from
scratch took 3,292 hours (I counted!) which equates to more than 50 hours a week for 66 consecutive weeks... It was worthwhile, though, because good things take time and to realise your dreams you have to get on with the job!’ mused Axel who has already twice raced the Mini-Transat.
Baptism of fire After Jérémie Beyou’s Charal, the first new-generation monohull launched a year ago, things sped up this summer with the launch of no fewer than five new Imocas in just over six weeks… In all, eight brand new Imoca will have been built for the 2020 Vendée Globe, confirming the commanding success of a thriving Imoca class.
SEAHORSE 21
PIERRE BOURAS/DPPI
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