After 4 months of construction, the trimaran Macif was launched again on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, in Lorient. This winter refit allowed to check all the parts of the boat, but also to improve the ergonomics. The cockpit is now fully protected, which will allow François Gabart to sail totally protected and dry.
"We partially closed the cockpit last year. We have gone further this year, with a system of portholes and composite bulkheads to better protect the helmsman. The cockpit is now completely closed. I want to be able to sail without worrying about my safety." explains the sailor, who only has to test the installation at sea.
An improvement planned for the round-the-world multihull sailing race that François Gabart is preparing to carry out at the end of the year.
Indeed, for this season, the winner of The Transat bakerly (8 days in 2016) now wishes to tackle a new challenge: to beat the brand new solo round the world record, set last December by Thomas Coville in 49 days. "Thomas' record is a huge source of inspiration and motivation for me. It might have discouraged me, but it increases my motivation tenfold."
A rhythmic preparation
In addition to the optimisation of the Macif trimaran, numerous training sessions in the M24 - a "customised" version of a Diam 24 - as well as crewed sailing sessions - Armen Race and The Bridge - will enable François Gabart to prepare for his round the world voyage.
"On its scale, the M24 is quite similar in its behaviour to the trimaran MACIF. It's a great laboratory which allows us to experiment and feed the technical development of the trimaran for the years to come. We're still only at the beginning of the oceanic multihulls that are flying, but it's interesting to have this platform to test different appendage profiles for example. It complements all the work we do in the design office with our modelling tools" details François Gabart.
The Macif trimaran team also spent its winter doing routing and computer simulations. In total, the team drew up some 35,043 forecasts! Impressive! " We have some fairly accurate evidence that it will be statistically very complicated to beat Thomas' record, but it's still possible, answers the skipper.
Finally, on 25th June, the skipper Macif will be taking part alongside 3 other maxi-trimarans in The Bridge - a crewed race against the giant liner Queen Mary 2, between Saint-Nazaire and New York.
"The set will be extraordinary. We're going to sail against Idec, who has just circumnavigated the world in 41 days with a crew.. and Sodebo who did it in 49 days alone - two boats that have marked the history of sailing", rejoices François.
2017 forecast programme for the trimaran MACIF
25 - 28 May: Armen Race
June 25: Departure from The Bridge (Crewed race between Saint-Nazaire and New York)
21 October: Start of the stand-by period for the solo round-the-world attempt
