trimaran ocean fifty

OCEAN FIFTY

In 2024 & 2025, Francesca will race the Ocean Fifty trimaran UpWind by MerConcept - the first female skipper to lead a team in the international racing circuit in the 24-year history of the Ocean Fifty class.

In 2024, Ten fifty-foot trimarans will be racing in a five-Act series, including an East to West transatlantic race from Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the French archipelago south of Newfoundland, to Saint Brieuc, France.

Read on to find out more about this exciting offshore racing circuit.

The Ocean Fifty Class

In 2000 a new class of boat was born - the Multi50 (renamed in 2021 to Ocean Fifty). Originally developed as a class for highly skilled amateur sailors, they competed in some of the major French offshore transatlantic races including the Route du Rhum, Transat Jacques Vabre, and Quebec St Malo race.

In 2015, the class turned professional, attracting a new level of sporting interest, and in 2021 it started its own racing circuit.

The Ocean Fifty trimarans are prototypes, which allows designers and builders to innovate within the framework of the Class rules. These are written to find the best compromise between the cost of building and equipping the boats, while pushing the sporting and technological advances while incorporating sustainability initiatives across the series.

There is the potential for a maximum number of boats in existence to be 12, with two new builds allowed each year, but only by those already members of the Class, and they must continue to participate in racing. Ten boats will race in 2024.

The Ocean Fifty trimaran

Maximum length: 15.24m/50ft

Maximum draught: 3.50m/11.48ft (from deck to waterline)

Maximum air draught: 23.77m/77.98ft (from top of the mast to waterline)

The Ocean Fifty allows a sail inventory of six sails - one mainsail, two downwind sails (spinnaker, gennaker, Code 0 etc), a J1, J2, and J3 (storm sail). The number of rudders and daggerboards is set to four and in 2017, one-design foils were allowed for the first time. All rigging and sail trims are manual - there are no electronic winches or hydraulics, autopilots are allowed, as well as stacking of the ballast.

The Ocean Fifty trimaran can be raced single-handed, double-handed, and with a crew of up to five.

The Ocean Fifty is controlled by the Class Rules, with a ‘Grandfathering Rule’, in place, which ensures that older boats do not need to make major changes to comply with updated rule changes: this avoids older boats from becoming obsolete, complying with the Class’s vision of longevity and sustainability.

The Skippers & Teams

The ten teams racing in 2024 include six experienced Ocean Fifty skippers, four rookies, and includes, for the very first time, a female skippe!

Luke Berry (FRA) - Le Rire Médecin-Lamotte 

Laurent Bourguès (FRA)   – Mon Bonnet Rose (formerly French Touch Oceans Club) 

Fabrice Cahierc (FRA) – Réalités 

Francesca Clapcich (ITA) – Upwind by MerConcept (formerly Les P’tits Doudous) 

Baptiste Hulin (FRA) – Viabilis Océans 

Erwan Le Roux (FRA) – Koesio 

Matthieu Perraut (FRA) – Inter Invest (formerly Solidaires En Peloton 2023) 

Christopher Pratt (FRA) - Wind of Trust - Fondation pour l’Enfance 

Sébastien Rogues (FRA) – Primonial 

Thibaut Vauchel-Camus (FRA) - Solidaires En Peloton

2024 racing schedule

The 2024 racing schedule has been announced and includes an east/west transatlantic race, three Grand Prix events, and one Mediterranean crossing.

Act 1: Saint-Malo, May 22-26

The Ocean Fiftys will be based from the Bas Sablons port and race both inshore and offshore for this inaugural event of the season.

Crew: five for inshore, three for offshore

Ranking: 9th /9

Act 2: Pornichet, La Baule, June 20-24

The ten teams will be based in Pornichet and racing in La Baule’s beautiful bay, a natural amphitheater for the on-water, short-course action, and a great start and finish for the 24 hour long coastal race at the weekend. 

Ranking: 8th /10

Act 3: La Route des Terre-Neuvas, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon to Saint Quay Portrieux, Departure: August 17

After a transatlantic delivery in late July or early August, the teams will set off from the French archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, south of Newfoundland, for their Atlantic race. The teams will be racing as a crew of three sailors and one onboard reporter - and are anticipated to arrive in Saint Quay Portrieux, northern Brittany, France around August 23.

Crew: three and one OBR (not allowed to sail)

Act 4: Med Max Occitanie, Port-Camargue, France to Saïdia Resort, Morocco, Departure September 29, arrive October 3

It will be the first time the Ocean Fifty trimarans have visited Morocco, for this double-handed Mediterranean leg. Departing from Port Camargue, near Montpellier, the route takes the ten trimarans past Sicily and Ibiza on a non-stop 1,500 mile (2,414km) race.

Crew: five for the inshore racing, and double-handed for the offshore

Act 5: Saint Maxime, France, October 16-20

The final Act of the 2024 season will see the fleet race in the Gulf of Saint Tropez. The teams will be based in Saint Maxime, and there will be four days of racing action, both inshore and longer offshore courses.

Crew: five for inshore and three for offshore

The Ocean Fifty program brings an interesting mix of offshore events and inshore fast racing. It's going to be exciting putting together the different crew configurations to bring onboard the right skills, at the right time, for the right events!

Francesca Clapcich

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Closeup: The Arkema 4 Racing Trimaran

• September 2nd, 2021
• Sailing Yacht

During my transfer cruise of an Excess 11 catamaran from Les Sables to Le Havre we´ve had to make a stopover in Brest due to bad weather and a case of serious sea sickness within my crew. It was there when, on one day, wind was easing a bit for a tiny time frame of some 30 minutes and I was able to cast off from the fuel station where I found refuge (and a free berth) to land the cat vis-à-vis at a proper berth alongside, not blocking the fuel station anymore. When we got up the other day, looking out of the saloon windows, I saw a huge trimaran berthed right behind us. ARKEMA 4!

And it was not just limited to this one trimaran as over the day more and more of these racing machines began to dock alongside in Brest marina, which was fascinating and a great occasion to take a look at cutting edge sailing machinery. Now that I was acting captain of a multihull myself, doing my first miles on a twin-hulled boat , I found it very intriguing to see how far this concept can be pushed and where possible differences might be.

Meet ARKEMA 4, a 50 feet racing trimaran

After drinking my morning coffee and getting dressed finally, I swung out to the pontoon and strolled around the boat. There was buzzling activity as apparently the crew having arrived so late in the night left the boat and a new crew stored their luggage on the jetty to take over. It was a fascinating look.

The trimaran is very, very sleek. Measuring 50 feet in length, which is little more than 15 metres and a width of little less than 15 metres. A racing square. This cat has been built over a period of two full years which shows the determination and care that goes into a boat like this. ARKEMA 4 is skippered by Quentin Vlamynk, once the youngest skipper (28 years of age) in this sailing series, but a serious salt by himself. He is head of a pro-team consisting of a technical crew, staff, co-skippers and care takers as well as a media crew. ARKEMA 4 is part of the Ocean Fifty Pro-Sailing Series, formerly known as Multi50.

It´s a fascinating sight and so much to see. This is what I love about sailing in French waters: You can meet so many interesting people, see so many special boats and yachts and can start so exciting conversations with the guys sailing them. No matter if they are private circumnavigators doing their own business or the stars of sailing, like these guys. So I went over and asked if I could take pictures: “Be our guest!”, the boat captain told me and smiled. Now, let´s go!

Built for maximum speed

ARKEMA 4 is kind of a brand-new trimaran incorporating some nice new ideas which make it different to most of the other boats. What can be seen immediately are the two foils in the floats and a huge forward removable daggerboard. Both are retractable for reducing unwanted drag when necessary. I reckon these are made of carbon of course.

The ARKEMA 4 sports a classy rigging. I couldn´t spot any lines or blocks which would indicate a rotating mast-system but I guess a racing trimaran in this class would have one. Everything was faired in sleek, aerodynamic panels trying to even further reduce every bit of drag created by vortexes in high speed sailing mode. Look at the cockpit: It´s as low as possible to allow a low boom and increase mainsail area. Speaking of which this trimaran has plenty of.

I checked their website and there it is said that the cockpit glass is made of a new material, Shield up Flex PMMA glazing that can withstand even hardest pounding by hard hitting waves. Thinking back to the standard acrylic glazing of my old OLIVIA this is clearly is rocket science. The ARKEMA 4 also sports a quite interesting energy management system, which consists of photovoltaic modules allocated all over the trimaran and latest technology Lithium-Ion batteries, this boat can increase energy storage of up to 50% to a prior version making it self-sustainable and not emitting one gram of CO2.

High speed tri-racing: How is this feeling like?

That these behemoths are going fast like hell cannot just be seen by looking at the space-fighter design and sleek form of the boat. You can see the effects of high speed all over the boat: The foil covering the trimaran in their sponsor´s colors is peeling off at all frontal edges of the outrigger beams, large chunky of thick wrapping is simply torn off.

Well, no wonder: These trimarans go fast even in the slightest of puffs. High speed racing with up to 30 knots SOG are possible, at one occasion, as skipper Vlamynck tells, they clocked in at whopping 39 knots upwind (!) leaving Toulon. This is absolutely incredible! As generally speaking upwind performance in multihulls is considered being inferior to a mono, this figure is absolutely exciting showing the potential of such a boat.

Asking if I could come inside and take a few pics, the crew was very friendly, but refused. I knew that this answer would be coming before I asked, of course, as competition is tight and all crews want to protect their tiny secrets and tricks. It would have been very interesting to see the berths for the off-crew, the galley and the WC-arrangement as this is always very interesting. (You may browse this article on ILLBRUCK racing yacht and see how they did it back in the day)

Fighter-Jet technology meets Viking-sailing

Anyway, what fascinates me most is the fact that sailing itself is a very old, almost ancient, technology. Man has been on the seas since he came into being and seafaring was, still is, the motor of our civilization. In this, one can still see the old Papyros-rafts of the Egyptians, the Latin-sail of the Venetians or the sleek lines of the Clipper Ships even in a high tech carbon-monster like ARKEMA 4.

It is still a crew of dedicated men and women working with their bare hands, pulling lines and ropes, running through pulleys and blocks. Ancient technology beamed to the 21 st century. Although I wasn´t allowed to get onboard and take pics from the inside, I managed to sneek into ARKEMA´s cockpit standing high up on the jetty (during falling tide). Thanks to the great zoom of my Huawei´s great camera I got a peak onto the large winches and the keyboard of the running rigging.

Amazing how I as a very, very ordinary sailor can almost instantly determine which line works which sail and where to pull and veer to trim the sails. Also something that fascinates me about sailing, this universal language, no words needed, just a look onto a rope, following its path up the mast to understand which function it has. In theory, anyone who can sail, would be sailing this trimaran too. Well … in theory. We all fly in planes regularly (well, not so much anymore apoparently …) but I reckon only a tiny percentage of us won´t be lost in the cockpit of an A350. Different in boats though.

We strolled over to the other trimarans of which the whole fleet was now mooring in Brest to try and spot some differences, like the steering positions which have sometimes been solved nicely (and quite protected from aggressive spray, sometimes not so much) and tried to figure out which of them trimarans would be our favourite.

Ocean Fifty Pro-Sailing Tour in Brest

Now back in Germany for some weeks I followed the Ocean Fifty Sailing Series and I am amazed seeing Skipper Vlamynck and his ARKEMA 4 team finishing the overall series in second place. Congratulations for that, quite a nice success for a young man like him, standing his ground in high seas high speed racing against a wolfpack of such names as Erwan Le Roux or Armel Tripon.

There is of course one name that turned out unbeatable, at last in this year´s edition of Ocean Fifty Pro Sailing Series and that is Sam Goodchild. The mastermind of LEYTON trimaran managed to outpace even ARKEMA 4 and is the overall winner. I had the pleasure of talking to Sam Goodchild some years ago about the Solitaire du Figaro , a fascinating legendary race and cradle of so many pro sailing stars in France and the world.

All of those seven teams I guess will now return to their sheds. Boats will be repaired, maintained and brought up to the next level with tweaks and new equipment to be ready for 2022 edition of the Ocean Fifty Pro Sailing Series. Now that I have seen these great machines with my own eyes, spoke to their crews (although just short, but nevertheless …) I will have an eye on this fascinating niche of the sailing sport for sure.

Inspirational …

Thinking back to this encounter with the three-hulled Formula 1-racers of the oceans I can remember that they inspired me in sailing “my” own catamaran which I was taking from the Les Sables d´Olonne to Germany. The next day it seemed that weather would be good enough to get out into the English Channel with a cruising catamaran and so we decided to take off. Looking on this picture and remembering that fateful early morning, still dark, 14-17 knots wind in the marina, rain pouring down … gives me shiver still!

This manoeuvre was and still is the most exciting, the worst in terms of tension, the most complicated in terms of wind, pressure and drift of my whole sailing career. In front of me a trimaran, behind me a trimaran, next no me vis-à-vis boats moored in second row, further minimizing space to steer my boat through. I cannot imagine the catastrophe if I would have hit one of these …

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Route du Rhum: Ocean Fifty, small, flying and powerful

Renamed Ocean Fifty in 2021, this homogeneous class includes 8 skippers who can all win the Route du Rhum. Capable of covering 500 miles in 24 hours, they should reach Guadeloupe quickly after the Ultims, if the weather conditions are right...

High-performance trimaransâeuros¦ and foils

The Ocean Fifty Class brings together trimarans of 15.24 m in length and as much width, meeting a strict rule, allowing to control budgets, but not prohibiting certain innovations in architecture or construction. It has also undergone a profound conversion in 2016 and welcomes more and more sailors. Six in 2018, they will be eight on the starting line in 2022, the entire class.

Now equipped with foils, these small boats have gained about 20% on the reach with regular peaks of over 35 knots. Some even exceeded the 40 knot mark.

Previously named Multi50 , the class has made a change in 2021 with a new name, Ocean Fifty and a new program, the Pro Sailing Tour . Each year, the class battles it out in crewed coastal regattas over several legs.

Weather permitting, the Multi50s should arrive in Guadeloupe shortly after the Ultims, after 8 to 10 days of racing. This was not the case in 2018, as the race was marked by difficult conditions. The reference time is still 11 days 5 hours and 13 minutes.

A tough boat to sail single-handed

Although Ocean Fifty is a human-sized boat, it is still quite tough. Firstly because we sail very exposed on board, as Erwan Le Roux , president of the class and winner of the 2014 Route du Rhum explained: "They are small boats, human size, but outside, it's the karcher. Compared to the Ultims, we are hyper exposed." Some sailors have also worked on the ergonomics of their boat to try to sail more dry.

Sailing an Ocean Fifty single-handed is also a challenge that the skippers in this class are aware of, as Quentin Vlamynck on Arkema explained to us: " The Route du Rhum is the most mythical race in the Ocean Fifty class. It is the most extreme race in our calendar. " Getting caught in an oversold condition is enough to cause a capsize, as Sam Goodchild on Leyton details: "I'm a bit apprehensive. Of all the boats that start the Route du Rhum, the Ocean Fifty are the most dangerous. Even the Ultim class friends were surprised by the commitment. "Lalou Roucayrol had moreover paid the price in the 2018 Route du Rhum by capsizing .

A homogeneous level

Despite the differences between the older boats, and the recent boats, notably Koesio , launched in 2021, the level is truly homogeneous in Ocean Fifty . If some of them are really at ease with a crew on the Pro Sailing Tour and can be considered as favorites, like Quentin Vlamynck on Arkema , winner in 2022 and Sam Goodchild on Leyton, winner in 2021, others love solo sailing and know their boat inside out.

Armel Tripon on Les P'tits Doudous will come to challenge for his title before moving on to the IMOCA circuit. Erwan Le Roux is the most experienced of the class and sails on Koesio , the latest addition to the fleet. Sébastien Rogues is sailing on an old boat, he has launched the construction of a new one, but has managed to win the Transat Jacques Vabre 2021. Thibaut Vauchel Camus on Solidaires En Peloton - ARSEP knows his boat by heart and loves these offshore conditions and speed . In fact, he has the 24-hour record . If Gilles Lamiré on Groupe GCA - 1001 Sourires does not particularly like the crew , he knows the road. Finally, Eric Péron komilfo, a newcomer on the circuit has years of experience in Figaro and many other media...

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Ocean Fifty

There’s something new in 50-foot trimarans: the Multi50 class is becoming the Ocean Fifty class and, specifically, is launching the Pro Sailing Tour. 

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Published 16/03/2021

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Fast Track to the Fifties

• By Emily Caroe
• February 13, 2024

MerConcept, the high-performance hub for offshore sailing and sustainable technologies based in Concarneau, France, announced the launch of its racing program to provide female sailors with experience in offshore multihull racing. UpWind by MerConcept will recruit, train, and support a squad of six female sailors as they compete in the Ocean Fifty offshore sailing circuit this year, with the ambition to have a female skipper on the starting line in a multihull for the 2026 Route du Rhum.

Backed by Founding Sponsor 11th Hour Racing, UpWind by MerConcept’s overarching goal is to be a driving force in the transformation of offshore sailing. UpWind’s vision is for the sport to become a more inclusive and diverse community, providing equal opportunities for everyone while increasing the pool of female talent available for selection to join mixed multihull crews for record-setting challenges like the Jules Verne Trophy.

MerConcept is based in the heart of the international offshore sailing world in Brittany, France, and was founded by François Gabart, the fastest person to sail around the world. “Our mission at UpWind is to support and empower female sailors to excel in high-performance, multihull offshore racing, breaking down barriers, and creating a welcoming and safe space for everyone,” Gabart said. “Teams perform at their best when they comprise diverse talent. A first step to achieving this is to support the growth in the critical mass of talented female sailors with offshore multihull experience so that all teams taking on challenges like the Jules Verne Trophy will have mixed crews in the future. As the sailing industry, we have to change the status quo, and at MerConcept, we are excited to be part of the solution.”

The application process to join the program is now open, and female sailors from anywhere in the world are invited to apply by completing the form on the UpWind by MerConcept by March 24, 2024.

Cécile Andrieu, MerConcept’s Director of Racing, outlined the candidates they are looking to recruit. “We’re very excited to launch our worldwide call for applications today. The spirit of UpWind is both performance and diversity and therefore we’re open to a wide range of profiles and backgrounds. Ideally, our applicants will have some good racing experience, whether it is offshore, inshore, match-racing, or Olympics, and have a genuine desire to get involved and bring this new racing team to life.

“At the end of selection week, we hope to have recruited two groups. A performance-focused squad to take part in the Grand Prix and transatlantic races and a second which will support in the training and on deliveries, with a view to gaining valuable sailing experience and miles for their CV.”

Francesca Clapcich , the only Italian to win The Ocean Race – racing as part of the winning crew with 11th Hour Racing Team in 2022-23 – has been appointed as the Skipper, leading the sailing squad.

“Francesca is the perfect skipper for UpWind by MerConcept,” Gabart said. “Her sailing CV is impressive, with experience at the Olympics, the Women’s America’s Cup, the Solitaire du Figaro, and The Ocean Race. She is competitive and driven on the water and is a champion for supporting women in the sport at all levels. We are really pleased she will be leading what we hope will be a truly international squad of female sailors.”

At the end of 2023, MerConcept acquired the Ocean Fifty trimaran previously owned by Armel Tripon, which is currently undergoing a complete refit. The boat is scheduled to be launched at the end of March. The race schedule for the 2024 Ocean Fifty circuit is still to be officially announced and is anticipated to include four events between June and October, including a transatlantic race from west to east.

“The Ocean Fifty is the ideal high-performance training and racing trimaran for UpWind by MerConcept,” Clapcich said. “The platform is big enough that can have a rotation of sailors throughout the campaign, allowing more access and opportunities for the sailors to get hands-on experience on the boat.

“When racing, the series has long offshore courses as well as short inshore, round-the-buoys-style racing, so we’ll need the skills and ability to quickly switch between the two modes. It’s going to be a lot of hands-on learning, and I can’t wait to see the application process open and get started.”

A shortlist of 12 applicants will be invited to Concarneau to be put through their paces during a selection week in April, with the aim of identifying six female sailors to join the team.

11th Hour Racing has joined UpWind by MerConcept as the Founding Sponsor as the Newport, RI, USA-based organization broadens its ocean health-focused work to include diversity, opportunity, and access in sailing.

Michelle Carnevale, president of 11th Hour Racing, said, “Sponsoring MerConcept signifies our commitment to increasing diversity in high-performance sailing and aims to set a precedent for other sports organizations. For more than a decade, our sponsorships have centered around sports, strategic innovation, and sustainable technologies. UpWind by MerConcept marks a substantial progression for women in sailing, and we look forward to witnessing its positive influence on the future of ocean racing.”

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Renewal phase in the Ocean Fifty class

• 21 February 2023

After the Ultims, the Mini 6.50, the Figaro and the Class40, Tip & Shaft is continuing its pre-season review of the key classes of 2023,  now looking at the Ocean Fifty . And we find a class which, as is often the case in a post-Rum year,  is active with newcomers and a few leavers. 

The post-Route du Rhum year is often synonymous with transition for the Ocean Fifty class , the classic single-handed transat to Guadeloupe representing the pinnacle for these projects. This is the case again this year, with a transfer window still in progress , to the point that two months before the start of the season, it is difficult to know how many boats will take part to the Pro Sailing Tour then to the other races on the calendar.

If there is uncertainty it does not concern Sébastien Rogues , whose partners, lead by Primonial, have signed until the end of 2026 with a new boat ready for the start grid (Romaric Neyhousser design, built at Multiplast in the moulds of Arkema 4 ), nor does it concern Erwan Le Roux , whose contract with Koesio expires at the end of 2023. “But we are looking beyond that” , confides Le Roux who is still president of the class. And  Thibaut Vauchel-Camus ( Solidaires en Peloton-Arsep ), certain to be a starter this season, talks of “the desire” to embark again on a new four-year cycle with his partners.

Joining these lynchpins of the class  three new skippers are arriving this year , with the next Route du Rhum on the horizon. The first is Fabrice Cahierc who launched the current Koesio (originally Planet Warriors) in March 2021, before finally stepping aside, “for personal reasons” , explains the former entrepreneur now a full-time professional skipper.  He adds: “Having brought back the boat from the 2021 Jacques Vabre with Erwan (Le Roux), well that really reignited the flame. So I decided to go with a new boat ”. 

And so he has an optimized version of the VPLP design, built at CDK Technologies and which will be christened at the end of June in Nantes, where the headquarters of the Réalités company is. Fabrice Cahierc has them on board supporting him “at least until the Route du Rhum 2026.” For what budget? “Excluding depreciation, it’s around 800,000 euros per season , as for the boat [which Réalités is an owner, editor’s note] , it’s 3.5 million euros , but if you want to be safe all in you have to say 4 million.” 

Saint Malo is a key centre

Based in Saint-Malo, Fabrice Cahierc will have two newcomers there too, as well as Thibaut Vauchel-Camus. There is Luke Berry , from Class40, whose project has not yet been formalized, and a skipper sailing in the colours of the Breton company Viabilis – an official partner of the last Route du Rhum, and of Arnaud Pennarun in Rhum Mono. The skipper will be supported by BE Racing , the structure of Louis Burton and Servane Escoffier.

“The project came together just before the Route du Rhum,” says Servane Escoffier. “We received a phone call telling us that Viabilis wanted to do more and had a preference for an Ocean Fifty. It turns out that on our side, we had made the decision to get into this class by buying a boat. We had planned a visit of Leyton [former Sam Goodchild’s Ocean Fifty, this latter now in Imoca, ed’s note] in Saint-Malo, so the boss of Viabilis came with us, we were all very motivated, the project is up and running for at least four years! “ 

BE Racing had one question outstanding, to find a skipper, hence a selection launched at the beginning of January which is now on the verge of completion. “We received 45 applications,   continues Servane Escoffier , we retained six CVs and today we have three finalists left, we will announce the skipper and all the details of the project around March 6.”

Opportunities available

So that means six Ocean Fifty for the second part of the season – Réalités and the new Primonial will be launched at the end of May. But will they be joined by the four other existing boats in the class? Winner of the Pro Sailing Tour last year and second in the Transat Jacques Vabre, Quentin Vlamynck is not sure to do it again . “We [Lalou Multi, the operation of Lalou Roucayrol, NDLR] were at the end of the contract with Arkema. They had already told us in March 2022 that they would not be renewing. We almost signed a partner last summer, but it didn’t work out, so we’re continuing our search,” explains Vlamynck.  “We will do everything so that the boat, which we own, goes racing, because it is important for the class. We could charter it or sell it, or join forces with another skipper for the Jacques Vabre, we give ourselves a big month to think things over.

Armel Tripon , who has not given up on his Imoca project with a boat built with reused carbon, explains that his Ocean Fifty Les Ptis Doudous “is potentially for sale, but the idea is to at least the Pro Sailing Tour before possibly organizing some kind of handover”.   Gilles Lamiré’s trimaran, which he is bringing back from the West Indies, is for sale – Marsail, Christopher Pratt’s company, is in the running -, while Eric Péron , who is looking for partners to accompany him on the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest, is looking to charter his out – 200,000 euros a year – ready to sail. “My decision will be made in a month: if I can’t finance the Ultim, I will stay in Ocean Fifty.” says Peron

The Pro Sailing Tour seeks a balance

This uncertainty on the grid largely explains why the class has only finalised his programme 2023 last week, particularly on that of the Pro Sailing Tour , a circuit launched in 2021. “We knew that the post-Route du Rhum year was going to bring a lot of changes. We need to have a certain minimum number of boats because of the conditions the host cities, we hope for 5 to 7″ , explains Julien Mauriat, president of Upswing Prod, which along with Keneo in 2022, organizes the circuit.

The calendar will have two major sections: a first in the Mediterranean, which will pass through La Seyne-sur-Mer (8-11 May), Bonifacio (13-16 May) and Alghero (Sardinia, May 18-21), a second in the Atlantic and the Channel with a regatta in Saint-Nazaire as part of The Arch (June 1-4) and a final rush between Cowes and Brest (10- 14 June). The season, excluding the Pro Sailing Tour, will continue with the Trophée des Multihulls Baie de Saint-Brieuc, from July 12 to 16, the Fastnet and the Transat Jacques Vabre.

For its third season, the Pro Sailing Tour is based on a budget of around 2 million euros , which Julien Mauriat hopes will be “balanced” by the end of the year, thanks to the arrival of six new partners , which will be announced mid-March.  “Our economic model is being structured, the objective is to get closer to a balance between 40% of the budget by the cities, 60% by private partners and the broadcasters of our series.”  Broadcast in France by the Canal + group – and in 189 countries -, this series, whose season 2 is expected in early May, does it appeal to viewers? “We have no audience figures, but a real satisfaction from the direction of the programs of Canal + , which makes them return to the series this year” , responds the boss of Upswing Prod.

Stéphane Vidal , boss of Primonial, the title partner of Sébastien Rogues, comments: “It’s really great to watch the series, but it is seen by few people in France, it’s a shame, everything like the fact that it comes out a year later”. But the fact is it works for them, hence the extension of his partnership for four more years with the winner of the TJV 2021 proves it. He is “very happy with the positioning of the class in the general ecosystem of sailing , it is on a human level, well regulated, with no big arms race and a very good atmosphere.” The only pitfall in his eyes, the lack of real visibility on the sailing calendar which makes it difficult to organize public relations at events.

These are things the organizer and the class are aware of and they promise to communicate by next fall on the 2024 calendar. “That’s the big job we have to do right now. We know that we can improve, but we can see that the class is attracting people, which shows that we’re on the right track overall ,” says its president Erwan Le Roux.

Photo: Alexis Courcoux

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Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Amazing rescue: Ocean 50 trimaran sails home on one float

• Helen Fretter
• November 29, 2023

Luke Berry and Antoine Joubert were racing in the Transat Jacques Vabre when their Ocean 50 trimaran suddenly dismasted and lost its port float. In an extraordinary rescue effort, Berry and Joubert were able to not only save the boat, but then sail it home to St Malo under jury rig, on just one float: proa-style

Luke Berry and his co-skipper Antoine Joubert were competing in the Transat Jacques Vabre on the Ocean 50 trimaran Le Rire Médecin-Lamotte when the boat suddenly dismasted and lost its port float. 

In an extraordinary effort, assisted by French salvage expert Adrien Hardy, Berry and Joubert were able to save not only the boat, but all its parts. After being towed to Spain they then sailed home to St Malo under jury rig, on just one float: proa-style, as Berry explained to Yachting World .

The incident happened just hours after the Ocean 50 fleet restarted the Transat Jacques Vabre from Lorient on November 6, racing in 25-30 knots and 5m waves. 

Extreme conditions for Le Rire Médecin-Lamotte and the Ocean 50 fleet at the start of the 2023 Transat Jacques Vabre. Photo: Vincent Olivaud/Le Rire Médecin-Lamotte

“At the start, everybody was quite conservative. We were very conservative going through that front.

“As usual, it’s always behind the front that it’s the most difficult because you’ve got cross waves and still quite gusty winds. We had two reefs and the J3, nearly the smallest amount of sail you can have. But we were sailing quite far off the wind, about 70 degrees. At 70 degrees, these boats go very, very fast. They can go up to 25-30 knots as soon as you start to bear away.

“The boat was going quite fast and it was actually quite difficult to slow her down. And at one point she just jumped off the wave and when she landed, the whole thing collapsed.”

Luke Berry’s Ocean 50 trimaran Le Ride Médecin-Lamott e sailing under jury rig after being dismasted and losing the port float in the Transat Jacques Vabre.

Both the port hull sheared off and the rig came down simultaneously. “The beam that links both the hulls snapped to leeward, meaning the leeward float detached itself from the boat. Normally in these conditions, the boat should capsize. But in this case, the dismasting actually saved us.

“We don’t know why – was it the general impact of the wave or was it because the leeward hull broke and then there was less tension in the leeward shroud? However, the mast collapsed.

“This is something that I’ve experienced before. So I know that you’ve got to secure as much as possible, if you want to have any chance of getting your mast or your sails back.

“A lot of people in these conditions cut everything and get it all as far away as possible because you don’t want the mast or the foil or the hull to puncture the middle hull of the boat. That would have been the worst case scenario and I was definitely worried about that. But we secured as much as possible, so it was bashing as little as possible against the central hull.”

Berry alerted the race committee who in turn notified ocean rescue expert Adrien Hardy, was shadowing the Ocean 50 fleet on his 35m/115ft trimaran Merida as far as Madeira, part of a class-organised initiative that teams subscribe to. Merida arrived just two hours later in the early morning.

The ocean-going trimaran Merida was shadowing the Ocean 50 class as a rescue vessel. Photo: Oceanic Assistance

“It was still pitch black and there was 4 metres swell and 25 knots of wind. We talked on the VHF and assessed the situation, then [Hardy’s team] put their wetsuits on, they put their RIB in the water and they came on board to help us. 

“The first thing was to get rid of the free float, but it’s not just attached by the carbon beams, it’s also attached by the whole net, which is lots of little bits of Dyneema lashing. So we had to cut all of it to completely free it, and take the shrouds off.

“We’d done a lot of work already, but we were quite exhausted by the time they came. So we managed to get rid of the float, and attach it so we didn’t lose it.

“I couldn’t quite see how we were going to get the mast back on board because there was a sail trailing behind it. We got the middle of the mast with some winches and some bits of rope.

“T hen for the top section, Adrien dove into the water a couple of metres down and attached this big buoy – they used them in retrieving shipwrecks – and inflated it with an oxygen cylinder to bring the mast to the surface. Then we managed to retrieve that and lift it up under both beams.” 

The Ocean 50 was re-rigged with a Hobie cat and Mini 650 sail

Merida towed the disabled trimaran to port in Northern Spain, with the broken float towing behind the Ocean 50. Berry and Joubert then spent a couple of days preparing the boat to sail back to St Malo.

“We had the idea of putting the hull onto the existing beams and what was left of the platform, so we had a phone call with the naval architects to see where and if it was structurally viable to be able to transport it. 

“Then we used the bottom of the mast to make a jury rig. We had a Hobie 15 sail for the main, we used our J3 for the foresail – which we put upside down so that the clew was at the right height – and a Mini 650 sail. We managed to put up a third sail because we had a lot of downwind sailing to give us some extra surface area.”

Luke Berry and Antoine Joubert safely ashore

After waiting for a weather window, the pair had a couple of days to cross the Bay of Biscay between two fronts on their hobbled trimaran.

“It was on one tack to West Brittany, but then the problem was to get to North Brittany, it was on the other tack, so we weren’t quite sure how that was going to work out. What we did was put a lot of weight to starboard to compensate for the fact that it was lacking a hull, and that went okay. We had up to 25-30 knots of wind and big waves, but it stayed in place.”

Having safely arrived in St Malo, Berry is now working through non-destructive testing to establish the damage to the boat. “It’s very disappointing, for us because we were doing well in the race. And in fact three Ocean 50s in total, broke, so that was a bit of shame for the class because it’s a very good class.

“We have some fierce racing and these are really good boats. But unfortunately, this Transat Jaques Vabre wasn’t for us.”

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