Launching of Maxi Banque Populaire IX
The Maxi Banque Populaire IX finally hit the water at 12:20 pm on Monday 30th October 2017, at the Lorient base. This new-generation racing maxi-multihull, whose project started in March 2015, is part of the Ultime collective project, created in 2013 and whose culmination will be a single-handed circumnavigation of the world by these giant trimarans in 2019.
"The experience I had on the previous Banque Populaire VII trimaran allows me to visualise what awaits me with this new boat. What changes are the speed and the weight. The more you lift the boat with the foils, the faster it accelerates. You feel like you're gliding, it becomes high-flying and you're going to have to master the steering to ensure your safety. We have tried to go further in the small details to constantly improve ourselves. My paw on this giant is the cockpit. We spent time with the team to optimise the manoeuvres and life on board. In multihulls, as the sails are bigger and heavier, taking a reef can take four times longer than in IMOCA monohulls. You have to anticipate the right settings so as not to be overtaken by the machine. It's another equally exciting exercise" says Armel Le Cléac'h.
A maxi-trimaran that draws all the experience of Banque de la Voile
Two years and 135,000 hours of work and a budget of 10,000 euros will have been necessary to make this large multihull, 32 m long, 23 m wide, 30 m high and 14 tonnes, designed for single-handed navigation, see the light of day.
"If we compare the Maxi Banque Populaire IX with the Maxi Banque Populaire VII, it will have the same power, but will be two tons lighter with almost identical sail areas" explains Ronan Lucas, director of Team Banque Populaire.
The architects and the Team's design office have also worked to push their skills in terms of trimarans to the limit. Banque Populaire IX is equipped with a tilting wing mast and mobile appendages, notably foils, which will enable it to fly over the water. They have also optimised the righting torque - the combined effect of weight and Archimedes' thrust or the point of equilibrium at heel - which is essential on such a multihull. As well as performance in light airs.
As a result, although wider (23 m), this new trimaran is lighter and with the same righting torque as Banque Populaire VII, winner of the Route du Rhum in 2014. However, the major innovation lies both in its three rudders fitted with bearing surfaces at its ends, as well as in its foils enabling the boat to fly at very high speed. It is not the foils themselves that are the novelty, but the fact that they can be adjusted in real time while sailing, as on the catamarans in the last America's Cup.
A technology that required very complex development, both on the control systems and on the structure of the wells housing them. On an ocean-going machine designed to be driven single-handed, the mobile foils must be able to be retracted or even fixed manually depending on the sea and wind conditions, without the trimaran being handicapped in navigating in a conventional manner. And these demanding manoeuvres will have to be carried out by one man alone, a major challenge on this new generation of multihulls.
"Flying is in the air these days, we were on first-name terms on the Vendée Globe with the Mono Banque Populaire VIII. With this 14-tonne giant, there will be times when we'll be able to fly the whole boat. This kind of construction takes us even further in terms of technological innovation, leading to more load-bearing appendages. We want our Ultim to perform well whatever the type of regatta and the weather conditions" says Ronan Lucas.
Making the boat reliable at sea
From now on, it is in the hands of Armel le Cléac'h and his team that the Maxi Banque Populaire IX will begin a development phase.
"This trimaran has complex systems, so getting to grips with it is not going to be easy. This winter will be dedicated to a series of tests and adjustments at sea. After that, the idea is to sail offshore in various conditions to make the boat more reliable. We want to carry out several transatlantic races before the summer to rack up as many miles as possible before the Route du Rhum in November 2018" explains the winner of the last Vendée Globe.
