A radical drawing
He's unlike any other. He interrogates and turns heads. Drawn by the cabinet of Juan Kouyoumdijian (Juan K for his friends), it shows off with its very high freeboard and its stern shapes cut with a serpentine knife.
The hull is the same as Arkea-Paprec, but the Corum design team has kept the exclusivity of the deck shapes. The cockpit is semi-enclosed, but can be completely enclosed if weather conditions require it. This wide protection protects the skipper's working area, but also lowers the centre of gravity.
The hull is fitted with bumps: the freeboards are slightly convex and allow the ballast tanks to be offset to the maximum of the gauge. Occupying the entire width of the boat, the cockpit is therefore very large. The lack of visibility is compensated for by the presence of several cameras, which allow the skipper to keep an eye on the outside.
All manoeuvres return via two central chutes, served by five winches aligned in the longitudinal axis. Corum's foredeck is concave, which enabled Juan K to lower the foot of the mast and thus gain in power and stability.
A stable and regular flight
Corum is equipped with C Foils, which are effective very early on. The idea is not to fly high, but in a stable and regular way. The rudders are designed with a "whalebone" leading edge. This trick limits the surface area of the appendage and delays the stall phase.
Rather wide compared to the protos of the 2019 generation, Juan K wanted to develop a versatile 60-footer at all paces, by cultivating at best this immutable paradox in ocean racing: to be solid, but light.
Prepared by a dream team
Backed by a dream team made up of Nicolas Lunven, Greg Evrard, Sébastien Josse and Thomas Rouxel, Nicolas has many assets to help his IMOCA shine in the coming seasons.
Like Hugo Boss, Corum prepared his Vendée Globe away from his rivals. Not having taken part in any of the races, he did not confront his rivals, except during informal speed tests off Brittany.
The team has multiplied long sessions of training, sometimes following on from each other for 15 days of sailing. The boat returned to the shipyard in September after a tough sailing off Brittany. An inspection tour highlighted the need to reinforce the forward third of the hull. Apart from this problem, on which the team communicated openly, Corum has not had any major unpleasant surprises.
Despite a late launch, serenity prevails in the Corum team: " We knew our timing was tight "explains Greg Evrard, director of Team Corum, former boss of North Sails France. « Despite this, we have not had any unpleasant surprises. We remained focused on one objective, namely to be ready for the start on 8 November. The line of conduct was not to disperse, while remaining humble and pragmatic ».
Skippered by a talented, but discreet Nicolas Troussel, Corum L'Epargne is well born, and could play the troublemaker from the first weeks of racing.
Corum l'Epargne - Nicolas Troussel
- Architect: Juan Kouyoumdjian
- Job-site : CDK technologies - Agitated Sea
- Launch date: May 15, 2020
- Width: 5.70m
- Displacement (weight): 7.9t
- Presence of foils: Yes
- Sail area upwind : 270 m2
- Sail area downwind: 535 m²
