Oryx Quest. 50 % of the fleet built by Multiplast !
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This is the first non-stop round the world sailing race starting from the Middle East in Doha (Qatar) exactly. The race was imagined by British sailor Tracy Edwards and will line up four famous maxi multihulls, two of which were built by Multiplast : Doha 2006 et Geronimo.
The first multi - Doha 2006 - is skippered by British yachtsman Brian Thompson. The catamaran was formerly named Club Med and won The Race 2001, first of the 3 sisterships to take a top three place in the race (Innovation Explorer 2 / Team Adventure 3). The second mutli is the 34-meter trimaran Geronimo skippered by French yachtsman Olivier de Kersauson who currently holds the Jules Verne Trophy.

Both boats will have a tough job on their hands fiercely defending these references during approximately fifty five days against strong competition. First, Cheyenne holder of the all-time record round the world (58 days) and to a lesser extent the smallest ship entered – Deadelus (30–metres long) – former winner of the Jules Verne Trophy and skippered by Peter Blake under the name Enza. Brian Thompson remains confident in his ship with whom he recently broke several records: 24 hours (694.78 miles) now held by maxi catamaran Orange II (706,2 miles). Orange II is also a maxi multihull built by Multiplast in 2003 and designed by the Gilles Ollier Design Team. And later the records round the British Isles and Cowed / Dinard race. "...She is an amazing boat, I think we stand a strong chance of winning ..." says Brian Thompson. This assessment should be heeded knowing that the British skipper was watch captain on Cheyenne...
As for Olivier de Kersauson, Geronimo called in at the Multiplast yard for a refit last autumn for her latest evolution: to install the canting systems for the mast. Geronimo is the first maxi multihull to be equipped with this system.

Start on 5th February.

Oryx is a real race round the world and the course is partly innovative. The descent of the Persian Gulf down to Cape Leeuwin (Australia) and the way back from Good Hope Cape to Doha via Mauritius has never been done before. The new course implies new weather conditions as well as new tactical and strategic approaches during at least one third of the 21 000 miles.
The regatta promises to be exciting as it will be the first confrontation ever to take place between a maxi-trimaran (Geronimo) and maxi-catamarans.
Multiplast will be following the progression of its two yachts which have proved to be reliable. Each boat has already sailed more than twice round the world.
Doha 2006 and Geronimo are part of the 6 maxi multihulls above 30 m long that Multiplast has built since 2000. This includes Innovation Explorer (33 m), Team Adventure (32 m), Orange II (37 m) and Groupama III (32 m),currently under construction.

Repères

Doha 2006 / Cata 33,50 m. Ex Club Med, vainqueur de The Race en 62j 06h 56' 33"
Geronimo / Tri 34 m / Détenteur du Trophée Jules Verne en 63j 13h 59' 46"