A second Ollier catamaran for the race and one on option

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Tuesday March 16th. Gilles Ollier confirms the signing of a second maxi-catamaran for THE RACE, with the possibility of a third on option.
After signing a design contract with Polish skipper Roman PASZKE, Gilles Ollier and his design team secured a second order for a maxi-catamaran for THE RACE, with 1 boat confirmed and a third on option, confirming the value of the "generic" boat concept.

This new order was signed by an international group.

Construction is to start in early April in Gilles Ollier's Multiplast yard in Vannes, south Brittany, for launching in March 2000. The yard is awaiting confirmation in July for a third boat currently on option (identical to the second) construction of which is planned for September of this year as soon as the moulds become available. Technical Manager for this project will be experienced multihull skipper Jean Maurel.

This boat is the fruit of the Ollier design office's "Generic" Catamaran Research & Development programme. Gilles Ollier and his team started work on The Race project five years ago, firstly prospecting the elite of international ocean racing, followed by more than 3 years of Research & Development which has given rise to this "generic" boat concept.

The "generic" concept has a number of advantages, like a common research and development programme, but with the possibility of personalising each boat (sail plan, appendages, etc...) depending on the weather analysis and personal options of each skipper, and much of the tooling may be used by several customers, thus reducing building time and cost. The signing of these first two boats and the option for a third proves the theory of this generic approach.

A TEAM OF SPECIALISTS

Gilles Ollier has surrounded himself with a solid design team of some of the best and most experienced specialists in their field. In house, there is Gilles Ollier himself, multihull specialist for more than 20 years backed up by naval architects Yann Penfornis and Erwan Quemar, the Ollier/Multiplast team having an unequalled track record in crewed multihull racing with several unbeaten ocean records to their credit (North Atlantic and North Pacific and the Transpac Los Angeles-Honolulu) and the first Jules Verne Trophy in 1993.

Outside assistance is provided by the Ecole Centrale de Nantes (Gérard Delhommeau, tank testing and digital analysis, and Bernard Peseux, finite element structural analysis), Philippe Pallu de la Barrière and CRAIN (hydro and aerodynamics), Michel Kermarec (aerodynamics, sails), Jean-Yves Bernot (world renowned navigator and weather router), and Hervé Devaux (finite element structural analysis). Most of these specialists are also already involved in the America's Cup project currently under construction at the Multiplast yard.