Newsletter 10-2024

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OCEAN RACING

Imoca are not experiencing the crisis

Eight Imocas from the Multiplast shipyard are set to line up line up at the start of the Vendée Globe on November 10th but already some teams are already looking well beyond this race to the next cycle, indeed three new boats - including one for DMG Mori - have already been ordered from the Vannes yard. And so this seems like an opportunity to take stock of upcoming builds as well as the dynamism within the Imoca class.

In the 40 boats competing in the Vendée Globe, eight were built at Multiplast. In order of their launch years, Singchain Team Haikou and Lazare (2007), Prysmian Group and Fortinet-Best Western (2015), DMG Mori Global One (2019), Malizia-Seaexplorer and V and B-Monbana-Mayenne (hull and deck, 2022), Paprec Arkéa (2023). And the yard's general manager, Yann Penfornis, emphasizes that "Malizia and Paprec Arkéa, with their excellent track record in recent seasons, are for sure among the favourites."

Yoann Richomme (Paprec Arkéa) won The Transat CIC and the Retour à La Base and finished second in the Transat Jacques Vabre 2023 while Boris Herrmann (Malizia-Seaexplorer) won the third leg of The Ocean Race, set the 24-hour monohull record in this 2022 edition of the round-the-world race (641 miles) before finishing second in The Transat CIC and the New York Vendée races this year.

“The success of the Imoca class is undeniable,” highlights Yann Penfornis. “Usually, between 7 and 8 Imocas have been built between two editions of the Vendée Globe. But there have been 13 since 2020.” Antoine Mermod, the class president, confirms its “a good dynamism”, adding that “two new boats, Les P’tits Doudous for Armel Tripon and the boat for Elodie Bonafous, will be launched next year. Other projects are also well advanced we are quite ahead of the previous cycle, it’s a good sign!”

Among these future new build announcements, three are for 60-footers already ordered from Multiplast. In addition to DMG Mori which made the news official on Monday 30 september , two other teams have reserved a slot to build two sisterships, the building of which will start in 2025. So there are several orders already in place before the start of the Vendée Globe, something never seen before according to Yann Penfornis: “The only time it happened before a Vendée Globe was in 2020, for Charal.” If the teams are booking so early, it is mainly because “the Vendée Globe qualification process requires accumulating miles,” emphasizes Yann Penfornis. “But also because some teams want to get a jump ahead by a few months so as to be ready for the Route du Rhum 2026 and The Ocean Race 2027.”

33,000 hours of work on the new DMG Mori

DMG Mori, which had contracted Multiplast to build its current VPLP design in 2019, has once again entrusted the building of its next Imoca to the Vannes yard. “This first experience went very well,” emphasizes Kojiro Shiraishi. “When I visited Multiplast for the first time in 2018, I was quite surprised by the working environment, which was very clean and very organized. I also really appreciate their rigor.” And the Japanese skipper spoke about his future Imoca which is being designed by Guillaume Verdier: “We asked the architects to design a robust and fast boat, and to give importance to ergonomics and interior space with a view to racing The Ocean Race 2027 and then the Vendée Globe 2028.”

The construction, which will begin in November and take 18 months, will involve three people in the design office as well as around twenty in the build facility for a total of around 33,000 hours of work. This new Imoca, like all those to come, must respect the new rule voted by the Imoca class last April, which requires “reducing the carbon impact of boats by 15% compared to the 2020-2023 generation,” says Antoine Mermod, before specifying: “This includes the construction of the moulds and the hull as well as the foils. It is an open system, we do not assume what needs to be done and we challenge designers, teams and yards to offer and bring in construction methods or use less impactful materials.”

For Samuel Napoléoni, project manager at Multiplast, “This changes a lot of things and is even more restrictive for the DMG Mori project, since there is no sistership planned for the moment. In addition to influencing the materials used, this rule requires the choice of certain tooling technologies that have a potential influence on the shape of the boat. We are therefore currently working with the designers and the DMG Mori team on different projections depending on the shapes, molds, and materials that we choose.”

 
 

© Black Pepper Yachts

IN SHORT

• CRUISING.Since last July the Multiplast teams have been working on the build of the composite platform of the C.69, the very first multihull built by Black Pepper Yachts. It will head to the Nantes yard by sea in the first half of 2025, where the interior fittings and systems will be installed on this 69-foot cruising catamaran, designed by architects François Pérus and Romain Scolari.

• PROTOTYPE. Multiplast is completing the construction of an 18-meter motorboat, fully equipped and fitted out, for one of its loyal customers, Jack Setton. The construction took 16 months for this monohull based on a Mauric design, a firm that, for the record, designed a 25-meter cruising monohull for the same owner, Pioneer (launched in 1982) more than 40 years ago.

• OCEAN RACING. And another victory for Primonial! Built by Multiplast, Sébastien Rogues' Ocean Fifty, who sailed on this occasion with Jean-Baptiste Gellée, won Act 4 of Ocean Fifty Series, the Med Max, which was its first edition, between Port Camargue and Saïdia, in Morocco. A success that adds to victory in June at the Grand Prix de La Baule and in August on the Route des Terre-Neuvas. Also a good performance on this same Med Max of the Class40 Tyrolit, Clak 40 built by Multiplast, which finished second, with the Italians Matteo Sericano and Luca Rosetti at the helm.

• MARITIME TRANSPORT. Multiplast delivered two complete 1,000 m2 SolidSail rigid sails to Chantiers de l'Atlantique in early September as part of the Neoline. These sails will be installed on 76-metre carbon masts, which will equip 136-metre roll-on/roll-off cargo ships, the first of which, Neoliner Origin, will be put into service in mid-2025 on a transatlantic line between Saint-Nazaire and Baltimore (United States), via stopovers in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and Halifax (Canada). The two masts and the sails were loaded on 25 September onto a cargo ship in Saint-Nazaire bound for the Turkish shipyard RMK Marine, which is building Neoliner Origin.

• MARITIME TRANSPORT. Multiplast has completed construction on the northern car park of the Vannes site of a large hall 25 metres long (8 metres wide and 10 metres high), intended for painting all the sail panels that will equip the masts of the future Silenseas. A savoir des paquebots de croisière à voiles, commandés par Orient Express, la marque de luxe du groupe Accor.

Anais Gain, Myriam Akalay and Grégory Bertho,
members of the Quality Team (© Jean-Marie Liot)

IN THE CARBOMAN GROUP

Myriam Akalay: "An audit is an opportunity"

At the end of September, Thales, one of the Carboman group’s main customers in the aerospace and defense sector, came to Vannes to audit the Multiplast construction site. The objective was to verify that the industrial processes are mature and under control in order to guarantee the expected performance. Here is an explanation with Myriam Akalay, quality manager of the Carboman group

What audits does Thales conduct?

As part of the evaluation of their suppliers, Thales came to conduct an IPCA (Industrial Process Control Assessment) audit for three days. Even though we already have annual ISO 9001 and EN 9100 certification audits, the latter standard being specific to the aeronautics, defense and space sectors, Thales may have additional requirements compared to the EN 9100 standard. During this audit, the performance of all the company's processes is assessed, which ultimately makes them more effective and efficient.

So exactly what did they audit?

The objective of this audit was to verify the entire industrial process, from the ordering to the final production of the product, so that the latter corresponds exactly to what was ordered and that the production component parts are all identical. The three auditors first ensured compliance with the orders, whether in terms of price, deadline, specifications and/or specifications provided. They also analyzed the manufacturing records, the way in which the industrialization of products is managed or the traceability of material batches, and checked whether all the documents - material conformity certificates, inspection reports, etc. - to be provided to the customer were properly recorded and attested to the conformity of the product. They visited the workshop to check the reception, storage of raw materials, components and parts, the work environment and the way in which the teams are managed. They inspected the cleanliness and tidiness of the work areas, so that there is no pollution in our parts or forgotten foreign bodies because this can cause major risks to the products, or even to the assembly of a part. Other aspects studied: non-conformities - root cause analysis and verification of the effectiveness of the corrective and preventive actions implemented -, risk management, as well as safety, health and the environment, management of chemicals and waste.

Have you received the results of this audit?

We obtained an A- rating in industrial maturity and A in technical maturity, knowing that the ratings range from D- to A+. This is very satisfactory. We have progressed since the last assessments, since in 2014, we had a B in industrial maturity and in 2019, A- for both types of assessments

What does this type of audit bring to the company, both internally and externally?

An audit is an opportunity. The IPCA audit, a methodology created by Airbus, is recognized in the world of aeronautics, defense and space, so receiving a good rating allows us to demonstrate our level of performance and our ability to properly apply customer requirements. These audits allow us to identify risks or areas for improvement, it also forces us to improve and pushes us upwards. In a few weeks, in addition to this IPCA audit, Thales will come to carry out a new audit, focusing solely on the paint finish of the products.

© Anne Beaugé

ONE DESIGN

The Sun Fast 30 One Design has proven itself at the Mixed double-handed Offshore World Championship

From 24 September to 1 October, 22 duos representing 16 nationalities competed in the Mixed double-handee offshore World Championship. out of Lorient aboard the Sun Fast 30 One Design, a new one-design built by Jeanneau and Multiplast. That is a good opportunity to take stock.

The first five boats finished in less than ten minutes! After more than 24 hours at sea in a beautiful depression in the Breton autumn, the Mixed double-handed Offshore World Championship ended on 1 October with victory for the British duo Maggie Adamson and Cal Finlayson, who finished 65 seconds ahead of the French pair Basile Bourgnon/Elodie Bonafous. The event delighted racing enthusiasts but also demonstrated the potential of the Sun Fast 30 OD, for which this world championship was really the flagship event of the year, with a fleet of eleven boats provided by Cap Regatta.

“The boat is planing, light and easy to handle in maneuvers, which allows you to concentrate on speed and strategy for the race,” commented the winner of the event, Maggie Adamson who really was enthusiastic about the behaviour of the one-design, especially “downwind in strong winds, where we reached 23 knots surfing in 30 knots of wind!” With less than ten training sessions with her co-skipper, the sailor from Scotland appreciated the ease of handling. “Once we found a good sail setting by balancing the gennaker with the J2 and finding the right angle for the rudders, the boat was very easy!”

“The boat is very easy physically,
yet we pushed it hard!”

“What is interesting is that it is a boat with different specifications to what we are used to in ocean racing, it is very easy physically, and yet we really pushed it very hard!”, emphasizes Basile Bourgnon. The Figaro sailor is particularly pleased with the “huge amount of work done by Cap Regatta to ensure fairness between the boats, the one-design was very well respected, they took our feedback into account and there was a lot of listening to maximize the one-design”. After three weeks of intense preparation, only three kilos difference at most was recorded between the boats!

“We need to get used to this narrow hull again because the trend has been towards scows in recent years, but the basics are good,” notes Belgian Jonas Gerckens, who crossed the line in third position with Djemila Tassin, but finished fifth after a penalty linked to a technical error. The skipper, who had already competed in the Drheam-Cup in July on his Sun Fast 30 OD, mentions “a few small youthful defaults”, but is pleased to see that “it’s a boat that remains accessible, whether for young people or in a mixed double format like this!”

An observation shared by Jeremy Wilton, president of the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), one of the three clubs behind the SF30 OD (with the Yacht Club de France and the American Storm Trysail Club), and co-organizer of the world championship with the YCF and Lorient Grand Large. “The boat was put to the test in a wide range of wind and sea conditions and performed very well,” he says. “The reactions from the sailors were very positive and confirm our excellent choice for this event.” These positive comments naturally delight Louis Vaquier, who is in charge of the project at Multiplast before joining Jeanneau as area sales manager - he is also secretary general of the C30 class, which brings together the owners of the 30-foot one-design. “The results are extremely positive and validate the specifications of this boat, which had to be above all accessibility, while being fun to sail.”

CONTACT US

MULTIPLAST : Yann Penfornis This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / +33 (0)6 12 05 86 97

"If your dreams don't scare you, they are not big enough"