Armel Tripon’s new Imoca 60 L’Occitane is fitted out at Black Pepper Yachts in Nantes. Never before has a new Imoca made current skippers so nervous… Designer Sam Manuard’s first Imoca demonstrates a no-compromise commitment to the scow philosophy that has just seriously dented Class40 resale values with the TJV pace of David Raison’s Crédit Mutuel and Manuard’s Banque du Léman. The sharp stem and tapered deck allow this design to satisfy Imoca rules introduced to block a full scow; but what may play a bigger part in protecting the existing fleet is that the semi-foiling nature of today’s Imocas reduces the influence of hull shapes on all-round performance. On the other hand, a big negative of the current foilers is the time lost when they decelerate violently every time the bow crashes into a wave. Manuard’s bow addresses that problem – winning the Vendée Globe is about averages not maximum speed
so that water is not trapped and can rapidly be shed in order to stay as light as possible. A clean internal structure also makes it less tiring for the skipper to move sails around. ‘There are similarities between the hull of my last Class40
(Banque du Léman) and that of the Imoca L’Occitane but there is still an important difference which is the beam/length ratio. ‘Class40s are much wider in proportion. Seen from above the
point of maximum beam is not as obvious as on the other Imocas, such as the Guillaume Verdier or VPLP boats which look quite triangular from above. Our boat is more rectangular with a less marked maximum beam… That’s what makes our boat more scow-like than the others. It’s not just the bow. ‘The width is moderate in the middle of the boat but quite imposing
at the front and back. In fact, the max width at the deck is relatively extended longitudinally. This allows us to have a lot of volume at the front and back of the boat. Also, the exposed forefoot of the bow helps the hull to operate like a waterski for better hydrodynamic motion, while the spatulated bow enables the hull to lift over the waves when reaching/surfing at high speed.’ We asked Sam the main differences between the VPLP Hugo
Boss and L’Occitane – both optimised for the Vendée Globe. The answer is radical: ‘The boats are at the opposite end of the spectrum: the hull of Hugo Boss is narrow at the waterline with a rather classical bow and a very marked maximum beam. ‘Our boat is not very wide on deck but is very full at the waterline.
We have quite powerful sections and are confident we will have a lot of dynamic stability. As you move aft from the bow our waterlines quickly reach their maximum width. ‘Our foil system also differs from Hugo Boss’s C-foils. When our
foils are fully retracted they will still stick out from the hull but they will be far above the water. They enter the hull as on Guillaume Verdier’s Apivia but they come out relatively high on the topsides. The idea is to get the centre of lift well away from the hull and minimise flow distortion. The foils are very long. The shaft is radiused but in the opposite direction to the foils of Hugo Boss. I would say that our foil concept is closer to that of Apivia than the VPLP boats like Hugo Boss or Charal.’ To finish with, the cockpit of L’Occitane is very small to keep everything within easy reach and sits very low in the boat to lower
the centre of gravity of all the deck equipment. The cockpit is also located a long way aft to clear a lot of space both on deck and inside, to be able to trim movable weight effectively and with minimum effort from the skipper. L’Occitane should be launched early in February and will race the two Imoca events next year before the Vendée Globe. There is no time to lose! Sam Manuard was also happy about the fourth-place finish of
his new Class40 scow Banque du Léman in the TJV. ‘The boat was particularly fast in the last stage of the race, and finishing behind three more experienced crews is very respectable especially after some minor problems onboard. They lost their medium spinnaker on the first night which handicapped them from then on, plus they split a headsail and had problems with the electronics. Fourth was OK for a brand new boat!’ Nicolas Groleau, founder and manager of JPS Production shipyard
in La Trinité-sur-Mer, where many Mach40s are built, is happy about the two scow-generation Class40s he has built in 2019: the Mach40.4 of Sam Manuard and the David Raison design, Crédit Mutuel. ‘They are faster than the previous Class40s, as shown during the TJV, also drier on deck, and of course more voluminous inside with the big bow. Curiously they are even more comfortable sailing upwind as soon as the boat heels onto her parallel bilges.’ To build a scow to minimum weight is technically more demanding,
so the price is about ⇔50,000 more than a conventional Mach40. Not really an obstacle for a winning boat. ‘Except in light airs and choppy seas, the scow is drastically
faster. We’ve never seen such a step in performance between two generations of Class40 before – I think new IRC boats will also be interested by the scow bow…’ added Nicolas. As we say in France: A bon entendeur salut (… a word to the wise).
Definitely the fastest Ultim On 4 December at 09h 24m 46s UTC the Maxi Edmond de Roth- schild victoriously crossed the finish line of the first edition of the Brest Atlantiques. Nicely rewarded after a circuit spanning 17,083 miles across the two Atlantic oceans, Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier, accompanied by onboard media man Yann Riou, had sailed for 28d 23h 24m 46s. Their average speed stood at 24.57kt. But this nice average speed did not mean that they had flown
SEAHORSE 23
PIERRE BOURAS/DPPI
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