PRB, an IMOCA which will be led by Kevin Escoffier in the 2020 Vendée Globe

Launched in 2010, this 60-foot boat benefited from the expertise of Vincent Riou, who contributed his know-how in the design of this IMOCA. Today, this machine is helmed by Kevin Escoffier, who will be taking the start of his first Vendée Globe with a boat that will be able to keep up with the latest foilers.

Maxime Leriche Published on December 1, 2020

Victories and setbacks for the 2008 winner

Sistership to Safran, PRB was assembled at CDK in 2010. True to the philosophy of her skipper Vincent Riou, winner of the 2008 Vendée Globe, the boat is very light and combines reliable and proven solutions. This prototype, which is part of the first generation of VPLP-Verdier designs, finished 5th in the 2010 Route du Rhum, but has to abandon the 2011 Jacques Vabre due to the rupture of a structural bulkhead.

Vincent Riou sur le pont de PRB — Vincent Riou on the deck of PRB

After a refit aimed at improving the ergonomics of the cockpit, Vincent will be at the start of the 2012 Vendée Globe . But a collision with a drifting buoy in the middle of the South Atlantic forced him to divert to Brazil and retire.

Le choc avec une bouÃ©e a causÃ© de gros dÃ©gÃ¢ts — Shock with a buoy due to heavy damage..

A victory in the 2013 Jacques Vabre allows Vincent, accompanied by Jean Le Cam, to demonstrate the potential of his IMOCA. He will then have to abandon the Route du Rhum 2015 following the breakage of his sheet off Finistère. Vincent returned to success during the 2016 season, winning the Fastnet, the Azimuth challenge and the Jacques Vabre with Sébastien Col.

For the 2016 Vendée Globe, Vincent is opting not to use foils. He managed with his straight daggerboard boat to stay in the leading group for the first fortnight of the race. However, the Vendée Globe is once again refusing him. A collision with a UFO damaged his keel axis and forced him to divert towards South Africa.

Upgraded with foils

Les foils de PRB ont Ã©tÃ© dessinÃ©s par Juan K — The PRB foils were designed by Juan K

In 2018, Vincent Riou decided to give wings to his faithful 8-year-old IMOCA. The bearing plans were designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian and were built at CDK. Not wanting to rush into a choice of reach-bearing foils, Vincent decided to install multi-purpose wing plans.

Le safran en bosses de baleine de PRB — PRB's whalebone rudder

Like Corum or Arkema, it is equipped with rudders with a "whale hump" leading edge. This trick limits the surface area of the appendage, and delays the stall phase.

Thanks to these improvements, Vincent is ranked 5th in the Route du Rhum, in contact with recent foilers, despite the loss of his airfoil, an essential tool on these boats, which are very sensitive to wind variations.

An eclectic skipper

Kevin Escoffier dans le cockpit de PRB — Kevin Escoffier in the cockpit of PRB

At the end of 2018, Kevin Escoffier succeeds Vincent Riou at the helm of PRB. An accomplished sailor, Kévin has been successful on several boats around the world. The Jules Verne Trophy on Banque Pop' and a victorious Volvo Ocean Race on Dongfeng Team are among his achievements. But the sailor is as well known at sea as he is on land. He has supervised the construction of two IMOCA boats, including the winner of the 2016 edition.

And Kevin shows that he knows his stuff by finishing 2nd in the 2019 Jacques Vabre, with Nicolas Lunven. Improvements have been made to the general ergonomics of the boat. In view of the liabilities of this IMOCA, collision prevention tools have been developed on PRB. The Oskar detection system has been installed at the masthead, and a "pinger" (acoustic repellent designed to repel marine mammals) has been installed in the bulb.

With this IMOCA of the previous generation, but updated with foils, we can count on Kevin Escoffier to push this reliable machine to the maximum of its possibilities.