A technological boat
16 tons, 32 m long, 23 m wide, these are the dimensions of the Maxi Trimaran Banque Populaire, dimensions common to the Ultim 32/23 Class. The boat left the CDK shipyard in Lorient on Tuesday 27th April after a 24-month construction period. The mast and boom were installed once the boat was launched.
This new boat has a very aerodynamic design, to promote air flow, especially on the top of the roof. The Banque Populaire team has paid a lot of attention to this dimension as as Armel le Cléac'h explained to us .
"The notable evolution on our boat is the optimization of the fairing and the aero between the bow of the central hull and the transom of the central hull. There is a continuity of air flow, for better aerodynamics and especially for a plate effect. We will glue the bottom of the sails to the deck. This is what we saw on the America's Cup, with streamlined boats, for a gain in performance. This aerodynamics of the center hull deck is new."
Another feature is the size of the foils, which have doubled in size compared to the previous Ultim Banque Populaire, and which it will be possible to raise to sail in archimedean mode.
The life cell is positioned behind the rear arm, almost protected and closed for more comfort.
Maximum training before the Transat Jacques Vabre
Armel le Cléac'h, his co-skipper Kevin Escoffier and the team are now going to make Banque Populaire IX more reliable and fine-tune it by multiplying the number of sailings, before the next big event, the Transat Jacques Vabre, which will start on November 7.
