After 13 months of work, the IMOCA 60 CHARAL was launched on Tuesday 21 August 2018 in Port-la-Forêt. After leaving the CDK Technologies yard where he spent more than a year, the foiling monohull in its silvery livery was placed on the multihull slab. The"fault" to his large foils which would bring the width of the 60 feet of Jeremie Beyou to 9 m. He was then craned into the pit to install the keel.
On Tuesday, the IMOCA 60 CHARAL was deposited on the multihull slab at Port-la-Forêt, before being grilled in the pit to install the bright red keel, which had been positioned the day before. For this long-awaited launch - the sponsor having communicated little on this new boat - there were numerous walkers on the pontoons and the team on foot to launch and then get out of the water this giant of more than 18 m. A show that always leaves admiration! To see a 7 ton boat flying in the air is not the most common thing...
The boat will be launched on Wednesday 22 August to Lorient, where it will be masted. During one week static tests at 90° will be programmed then the first navigations will come.
According to the Charal Sailing Team, the foils installed on the IMOCA Charal would be the largest installed on a monohull. A choice explained by the skipper, 3 e of the Vendée Globe 2016-2017 "Our choice was to make foils that push hard, to get maximum power and lift (lifting effect). The shaft is very long, the tip too, and it has a bend with two surfaces, with two different angles, which accentuates the visual impression. They are also relatively thick, because we are going to exert quite a lot of camber forces on the tip. If the boat gives the impression of being so wide, it's because you can't sail up both foils at the same time: there will always be one at the bottom."
The hull also required a lot of research, since it was designed around the foils, as Pierre-François Dargnies, Charal Sailing Team technical director explains "Since the idea was to use the foils to get the power, we had to design a hull that limits drag, knowing that the gauge does not allow total flight. This results in a very innovative hull, with a very frigated bow, a very rounded and closed transom."
Photo credits: Bateaux.com
