Multimono, the incredible unclassifiable sailboat

He can do anything, and with panache! Before being a sailboat, the Multimono is a project of gathering around the construction then around the multimodes of navigation that it proposes. Discovery of an atypical boat.

François-Xavier Ricardou Published on January 2, 2018

The Multimono is a multi-purpose sailboat. Very difficult to describe so many combinations and tricks. It is necessary to go back to the genesis of the project to understand its foundations. Claude Martunizzi is a sports teacher. He discovers that sailing, especially rowing, is a fantastic way to communicate with young people. But the boats available on the market, like the skiffs, are too constraining to use. So he decides to design his ideal boat. On his drawing table, he lays out the sketches of a modern oar sail.

Thus began the Multimono's career. To ensure the realism of his drawings, he was helped by naval architect Pascal Conq who validated the concept. To be a sailor, the Multimono will have a V-shaped bow for the passage to the sea, its stern is flat to promote speed and take off with an outboard motor. We need to be able to seat six rowers to get the crew involved. Either by keeping the wings - pendulums in position, or by removing the set. The swim benches are then simple boards easy to store under the side benches. The pendulums stabilize the Multimono when it goes to the pile. And the tubes that support the boom at anchor? You use it as a footrest when you row.

To navigate in shallow waters and to fail, the Multimono has a pivoting daggerboard that retracts completely. To remain transportable, it does not have ballast, but ballasts of 400 liters which are filled or emptied automatically as one advances. The cockpit is very large to accommodate a sailing school, but high on the water to be self-bailing.

The mainsail has a spike so that the mast is not too big. Thus one can easily check and dismast and at the time of transport, one does not have large spars.

The idea of kit construction remains. Right from the start, Claude imagined a participatory, educational project. Users build their boat and then sail with it: the user becomes a"consumer"

The construction is made from a plywood kit delivered pre-cut. The assembly with a clever key system is now very well developed. It takes about 10 weeks of work for a single person, from assembly to finishing a boat. The kit is delivered complete with wood, resin and even spatulas to make fillet joints.

A very complete user manual is provided with the kit - also participative since the manufacturers can make it evolve. A 90 minute video also shows the boat assembly. Only hull paint is not provided. Everyone is free to make the decoration they want.

More than 10 years after its launch, 35 copies of the Multimono are sailing all over the world and 2 boats are under construction. A boat that still has no real competition... With always in the background the will to share the pleasure of sailing with the greatest number. Hence the Echo Nautic Challenge, an ambitious project to launch many construction sites before being able to gather around the Multimono. A project that Jean-Luc Van Den Heede is associated with as a sponsor and that we hope to see soon.