A cruising multihull built with flax fibre
Kaïros - founded by Roland Jourdain - combines two activities, an ocean racing team and a new materials development center. In 2013, the team built its first 7-meter trimaran, Gwalaz, in flax fiber. This boat is still used today as a test platform.
Over the years and with the evolution of surfing, paddling and sailing, a 5X catamaran from the Outremer range, designed by VPLP, will be born. This 18.28 m multihull designed for long distance cruising will be similar to the existing model, but different in terms of construction.
We Explore - the name of the boat - will be built in flax fiber directly from Normandy.
"Flax fiber has many advantages. It is produced in a short circuit, has properties close to those of fiberglass and is much less energy consuming to produce." explains Roland Jourdain.
A boat used for research
Designed for performance and speed, the catamaran will initially be minimally equipped to be fast and light. After validation of its marine capabilities, it will embark the explorers of the Explore Foundation - an endowment fund created by Roland Jourdain and Sophie Vercelletto to support exploration projects with an environmental and societal focus. The explorers will carry out research, innovation, and awareness-raising missions on board.
The boat will be built at the Outremer shipyard (Groupe Grand Large Yachting) in La Grande-Motte in September and will be launched in the summer of 2022.
"This project with Bilou is an obvious choice for Outremer because our group Grand Large Yachting is committed to building a sustainable nautical industry. It is the natural continuation of the work done with Kaïros in the framework of the BIOBAT project on the research and development of bio-sourced materials. Our ambition is that these new technologies will one day arrive on all boats and will have a positive impact on our carbon footprint. To make concrete progress, it is necessary for pioneers like Roland to commit and take risks to highlight the obstacles and overcome them. We are very proud to bring our know-how and the passion of our teams to accompany Bilou and the entire Kaïros team in this beautiful project with noble and meaningful values "concludes Xavier Desmaret, president of Outremer.
