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State-of-the-art technology at the service of Maxi Solo Banque Populaire IX

A veritable hi-tech machine, the Maxi Solo Banque Populaire IX trimaran, currently under construction in the CDK shipyard in Lorient, will once again bring together all the know-how and expertise of the Banque Populaire Team

The team, characterized by their audacity and ambition, has pursued months of work, research and development to the end of their innovation process and plans to launch the Maxi Solo Banque Populaire IX trimaran at the beginning of October 2017. Her skipper Armel Le Cléac'h will not be present at the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre yachting race, preferring to work on the optimization and reliability of his 32-metre trimaran by taking her out on a series of training sessions at sea. 

Ronan Lucas, Director of the Banque Populaire Team, explains how the new Maxi Solo Banque Populaire IX goes even further in the search for innovation: “Flight is in fashion! We were familiar with it in the Vendée Globe with the Mono Banque Populaire VIII, but with the new Maxi Solo Banque Populaire IX, there will be phases when the boat will literally take flight! This is the result of the transposition of what is happening on the America's Cup boats, but on the scale of a trimaran intended for round-the-world races. This requires a lot of research and development in order to achieve a system that is sufficiently advanced to be integrated on a large Maxi. Shipbuilding of this type calls for time… and takes us even further into technological innovation. Our next objectives are the Route du Rhum in 2018 and the solo round-the-world race in 2019. Rather than saying, we'll do it later when we build a new boat, we prefer to be ambitious and have the "complete kit" as soon as the boat is launched in early October.”

It is also worth mentioning the incredible work carried out by the Team Banque Populaire design department, which has been thinking for months about adapting a configuration planned for in-shore races to a boat weighing nearly 15 tons built for offshore racing: “It’s the result of development enriched over the months, which has taken a lot of time in terms of structural calculations because it involves a host of parts that must work together. We prefer to skip the Transat Jacques Vabre to make the boat more reliable and, from January 2018, to be able to cross the Atlantic," concludes Ronan Lucas.

Timetable for the Maxi Solo Banque Populaire IX:  

  • Autumn 2017: Launch and maiden voyage
  • Winter 2017/2018: Training and record attempt (Route de la Découverte)
  • Autumn 2018: Route du Rhum
  • Winter 2019/2020: single-handed round-the-world race

  • Banque Populaire
  • Corporate philanthopy and partnership
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