The all-carbon boat has been out of the composite and structural phase for 15 days. All the equipment - fittings and hydraulics - is currently being fitted on board, before the painting and finishing work. The boatyard is supervised by Pierre-Emmanuel Hérissé, Technical Director of Team Banque Populaire, as he explains: "We are very pleased to be able to work on this boat In addition to the architectural team around VPLP and Martin Fisher, close to 100 people worked on the construction, between the team, CDK and the subcontractors, for composite parts, tooling, assembly, sails, deck fittings... for a total of more than 135,000 hours. And right now, up until the launch, nearly 50 people are working on and below deck." Things are looking good. The decision not to line up for the Transat Jacques Vabre in early November was not an easy one. As these boats are now very complicated to build compared to conventional multihulls, we had to have the time to calmly put everything in place to complete our innovation process. We mustn't forget that the goal remains the Route du Rhum in November 2018, then the round the world race a year later."Team Banque Populaire, the CDK Technologies shipyard and the subcontracting companies have done a really impressive job. After the Vendée Globe, I needed to take a breather and recharge my batteries. Having such a team behind you, in whom I have blind faith, allows you to find the energy you need for this type of project. We're really looking forward to sailing and making the first flights on board rejoices Armel Le Cléac'h, his skipper.
A real technological challenge
The construction of this giant trimaran was a real challenge for the Banque Populaire team. Two years and 135,000 hours of work have been necessary since the end of 2015 to launch the Maxi Banque Populaire IX. And even if the end of the refit had to be postponed in order to benefit from a flying boat that was operational from the start, the team doesn't regret it, as Ronan Lucas, Director of Team Banque Populaire explains. "Rudders with bearing surfaces, and movable foils that can be adjusted for cant (the angulation of the foil from inside to outside and vice versa) and rake (the angle of incidence from bow to stern and sharp and vice versa) in navigation as on the boats of the last America's Cup, require a lot of tuning and time to make everything reliable"
" We're not losing sight of the fact that Banque Populaire IX is going around the world. And if there is a failure in the hydraulic system, it must be possible to manually lock and freeze the appendages in order to navigate in a conventional way. This is what adds a lot of complexity to the whole thing." says Ronan Lucas. "We also decided to keep a good view of the front of the boat, so that the skipper can see into the distance when he's steering and when he's on standby can rest safely. So we made this choice of life cell, and grouped all the winches together, so that by extending the arm, he has access to all the manoeuvres"
A design for solo use
The 32 m trimaran has a futuristic cockpit, with a nose like an airliner, in line with its deck plan. This design, already seen Banque Populaire V has nevertheless been adapted for solo sailing, to avoid Armel le Cléac'h having to run to one side or the other to shock a sheet or take a risk. Even though the Maxi Banque Populaire IX is designed primarily for single-handed sailing, it can be used with a crew with slightly rounder hull shapes on the bow of the floats.
"It's a great opportunity to test the Maxi Banque Populaire IX in a regatta, but also to take on my little friends in an Ultim before meeting them on the start line of the Route du Rhum" explains Armel le Cléac'h.
The next major events
16 October 2017 (subject to weather conditions)
Launching of Maxi Banque Populaire IX
January-February 2018
Record attempt of the Route de la Découverte
May 2018
Nice Ultimed
November 2018
Route du Rhum
December 2019
Single-handed circumnavigation of the world
