On January 17th, Lionel Péan lost his sailboat in a fire in a hangar in Port Cogolin. The boat had been totally destroyed by the fire and left Lionel Péan unarmed. However, he declared " We are touched, but not sunk." and confirmed its ambition to take part, next March, in the 900 Nautiques de Saint-Tropez.
The sistership of his VOR SFS 70
" Faced with this hard blow, we immediately asked Lionel to consider all the alternatives to the destroyed boat", explains Patrice Gilles, Founding President of SFS.
The boat that the navigator has just acquired is a 21.50 m VOR, ex Puma skippered by the American Ken Read during the Volvo Ocean Race in 2011-2012 and sistership of Groupama, the winning boat of this same edition. This new boat is due to arrive shortly in Valencia, Spain, from the United States. Since 2013, she's been used as a training boat for Team SCA, which is currently taking part in the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015. The boat, which was due to go on sale from May, was finally sold earlier. Lionel Péan contacted Team SCA directly to finalize the purchase quickly, in order to "save our 2015 season."
Characteristics FSS 2
| Architect | Juan Kouyoumdjian |
| Job-site | New England Boatworks, Newport, RI, USA |
| Launching | June 8, 2011 |
| Length | 21,50 m |
| Flotation | 21,50 m |
| Bau | 5,70 m |
| Draught | 4,50 m |
| Air draught | 31,50 m |
| Travel | 14 tons |
| Lest | 5 tons |
| Ballast (Centerline) | 1600 l |
| Upwind Sailing | 375 m2 |
| Downwind Sail | 600 m2 |
" The response from SFS has been tremendous. We lost a battle, but not the war; we're bouncing back. The will and confidence was immediately there. The response from SFS was extraordinary." reacts Lionel Péan.
Puma which will become SFS 2, will therefore be rearmed in order to be able to take the start of the first race of the programme, the 900 Nautiques de Saint-Tropez, on 21 March.
"We've got an excellent boat back, which has played a part in winning the Volvo Ocean Race in 2012 and which will enable us to maintain the level of competitiveness we achieved on the water last year on a similar boat" explains Patrice Gilles. "We won't have to relearn that boat. We'll just have to find a few modifications, but we'll be able to build on the work and experience we've accumulated." explains Lionel Péan.
Programme 2015
- March 21st : 900 Nautiques de Saint-Tropez by SFS
- 3/6 April : SNIM (Marseille) 50th anniversary
- 30 May :Bosphorus Cup (Istanbul)
- 11/19 June Giraglia
- 3/8 August Copa Del Rey (Palma)
- 17/20 September : Juris Cup (Marseille)
- 26 Sept/04 Oct : Sails of Saint-Tropez
