A promising start to a career
This 60-footer was designed by the VPLP and Guillaume Verdier architectural firms. It was built from the Foncia 2 mold, at the CDK Technologies yard in Port-la-Forêt, taking advantage of Michel Desjoyeaux's feedback and meticulous fine-tuning.
In his first race on Macif, François finished 4th in the 2011 Transat Jacques-Vabre, in a duo with Sébastien Col, before winning the Transat B to B, the "return" regatta of the Jacques-Vabre, also a qualifier for the Vendée Globe. Right from the start of the 2012 Vendée Globe, François established himself among the leaders. He twice broke the 24-hour solo monohull distance record, first on November 30 (482.91 miles at an average speed of 20.1 knots), then on December 10 (545.3 miles at an average speed of 22.72 knots).
Sailing in close contact with Armel Le Cléac'h, he won the 7th edition of the Vendée Globe, becoming at 29 the youngest winner of the event and setting a new record by reducing by six days the previous time held by Michel Desjoyeaux in the 2008 edition.
François proves the success of his IMOCA by winning the Route du Rhum 2014 aboard the same boat.
An incredible rescue
After being taken over by Paul Meilhat, this 60-footer had to abandon the 2015 Jacques Vabre due to a broken keel fin. Repaired in the West Indies, Paul took the start of the Transat Saint-Barth / Port-la-Forêt. However, a serious injury during a maneuver forced him to be evacuated, leaving the yacht adrift off the Azores. The boat drifted for almost three weeks before a team led by Adrien Hardy managed to board the boat off Ireland.
After drifting 1200 miles, the rigging suffered damage and the 60-footer took on a significant amount of water. However, her structure remained intact, and Paul managed to get her back in shape to take part in the Vendée Globe 2016. Unfortunately, a broken keel cylinder forced him to abandon the race in the middle of the Pacific, and he diverted to Tahiti.
Paul eventually demonstrated his talent aboard this IMOCA by winning the 2018 Route du Rhum, ahead of Yann Eliès and Alex Thomson.
Clarisse finishes her 1 er Vendée Globe
The boat is taken over by the Banque Populaire team and undergoes a complete overhaul at the Lorient base. In a duo with Armel Le Cléac'h, Clarisse finishes 6th in the 2019 edition of the Transat Jacques-Vabre. To validate her qualification for the Vendée Globe, the sailor completed her first solo transatlantic race, from Salvador de Bahia to Lorient. To guarantee a high level of reliability, the boat remains in its original configuration with straight daggerboards. The team focused mainly on improving the boat's ergonomics. Clarisse explains:
"We modified the winch column to have a better grip, which allows me to develop more power. We've also installed slide systems to ease passage on deck and added two batteries to avoid any electrical problems."
On board this ultra-prepared machine, Clarisse finished in 12th place e of the 2020 edition.
The ideal support for 1 er Benjamin Ferré's Vendée Globe
After his 3 e place in the Mini, Benjamin Ferré has taken a giant step forward by launching himself directly onto the IMOCA circuit. To this end, he has bought the boat, which will be owned by Banque Populaire in 2021. In collaboration with Jean Le Cam's team, he is carrying out meticulous technical preparations on a proto that has benefited from the expertise of the Banque Populaire staff.
On board, he has achieved promising results in the daggerboard fleet, including a fine 15th place e place in the Route du Rhum 2022. But on The Transat, he was the victim of an avaire on the keel sail, accompanied by an ingress of water.
He demonstrated his ability to cope with major technical damage by bringing the boat back after a scale in the Azores. Aboard this reliable, optimized IMOCA, he's looking above all to get back to Les Sables, without depriving himself of a good place in the daggerboard fleet.
