Francis Joyon and his crew win the Trophée Jules Verne, a sixth record for Multiplast boats on this course

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By crossing the finish line of the Trophée Jules Verne (crewed round-the-world record), Francis Joyon and his five teammates cemented an incredible accomplishment, having traversed the globe in just 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds.

40 days 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds!

40 days is almost half the time of that achieved by Bruno Peyron in 1993 on Commodore Explorer during his victory in the first Jules Verne Trophy. Such was the Joyon team's pace that on one day they averaged a speed of 37.3 knots, hit speeds of up to 48 knots in the Indian Ocean, and finished 2546 miles ahead at the finish line compared to the previous record. These few figures illustrate just how impressive a feat this was, writing the team's name into the history books and highlighting the fabulous performance of the IDEC Sport trimaran.

Multiplast delivers the AC50 at Groupama Team France to compete for the America's Cup 35th edition

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These last weeks have been quiet intense in the Multiplast yard, with the transformation of the AC45 Turbo, delivered last July to Groupama team into an AC50. This catamaran will compete in the French colours in Bermuda at the end of May, led by Franck Cammas.

Groupama Team  France were training until the 20th December in Lanveoc using the AC 45 Turbo, before sending it back to Multiplast yard at Christmas. The transformation consisted of taking off the 45 feet floats and replace them by two new 50 feet ones. These parts were built in the Decision S.A. workshop in Switzerland, ahead of time and sent by truck to Multiplast.

It was then necessary to proceed to the assembly of the two new floats and repaint them. The assembly is a delicate operation that needed more than 2,500 hours of work from Multiplast and the same amount of time for the Groupama Team, who were at the yard while the transformation took place.

Performance quest ...

Ben Wright, Franck Cammas's  Technical team Manager explains : " The modification is very demanding in terms of precision because our quest for performance is constant; we have to control the weight of the boat and make sure that all the systems are reliable. Futhermore, we must respect the rules defining the characteristics of the America's Cup boats. In parallel with the work conducted on the composite parts, which Jack Michal monitored for Multiplast, our task was to integrate the electronics, the hydraulics, but also all the new ideas collected through five months of sailing on the test boat, the AC45 Turbo".

Around the world in 49 days: Thomas Coville's amazing achievement with the Maxi-trimaran Sodebo

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It was a fantastic achievement by Thomas Coville, who sailled his Maxi-trimaran, Sodebo, arround the world in under 50 days, becoming the fastest person to do so and improving upon Francis Joyon's 2008 record by some seven days.

The numbers behind this outstanding exploit give some measure of just what an accomplishement this is :

        - Average speed: 24.09 knots

        - Time to circumnavigate the planet: 49 days, 3 hours, 7 mminutes and 38 seconds

        - Miles sailed: 28.400

For Multiplast Groupe Carboman, there are also some interesting numbers behind the achievement: 14 tons of composite material for a boat that is 31m long, 21m wide and has a 35m-high mast.

Beyond these numbers, of course, lies both a truly great sailor, Thomas Coville, who fulfilled his dream, as well as an amazing team that supported his project.

The project to transform Oliver de Kersauzon's old trimaran, Geronimo, into a magnificent machine capable of covering more than 700 miles in a day while being sailed single-handed relied, above all else, on teamwork. Team Sodebo, under the management of Jean Christophe Moussard and Elie Canivenc, the naval architect (VPLP) and Multiplast's technicians conceived and delivered the transformation over hundreds of hours of work and effort.