We found Marc Vuilliomenet! For some amateurs of beautiful wooden boats, this name must speak to them. Marc is the creator, animator and designer of the MV-Boat shipyard. Since 1988, based in Saint-Raphaël, he has been building Cap Corse, Pointus, Classic 6.50, MV 500, Ebihen, Zen, Classic Power and Petit Pois... All these boats stand out for their modern wooden construction with a beautiful varnished finish.
But for 6 years, MV-Boat had disappeared from the radar of the shipyards. It was mothballed by Marc in order to move to a new workshop. Now in the Gers (32), at the foot of the Pyrenees, MV-Boat has a large workshop of 200 m2 and above all a private pond to test its new boats.
It is precisely to navigate on this pond that Marc started building a new boat: La Clémente. This name is a reference to the boats on Lake Geneva (where Marc is from) which were used to transport rocks for the construction of the city of Geneva. To design La Clémente, Marc was inspired by the lines, adapting them to offer performance and stability to this hull which measures only 5.00 m.
Thus the bow is pinched to penetrate the water well and the boat is bulging at the beam to offer stability when boarding. The stern on the other hand is slim and narrow to present an elegant transom.
This sail-oar has a main sail and a small jib (11 m2 of sail area). A propulsion with an electric motor is also envisaged.
The construction is a combination of strip planking and moulded wood. Indeed, to give the shape, Marc makes a first skin in strip planking with 8 mm mahogany slats laid directly on the couples, but to allow the varnished wood finish, he will then lay two 3 mm mahogany sheets glued under vacuum. A solution that offers both solidity and a perfect exterior finish without the need to build a mould.
Although Marc drew his plans on software, it is also with the 1/5 scale model that he refines his project and validates the different stages of construction. The first version of La Clémente should be sailing this summer 2021 and will then be offered for sale with all the customizations available to the user, who will be sure to have a unique and chic sailboat.
