Growth in the IMOCA fleet set to expand other short-handed events
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World NZ/Tip & Shaft 8 Nov 17:17 NZDT
8 November 2024
Initiatives-Coeur (Sam Davies (GBR) is the top female competitor in the Vendee Globe - IMOCA - Lorient - September 11, 2024 © Jean-Marie Liot
The Ocean Race announced back in July 2018 that the IMOCA60 would join the Volvo 65 as the boat for the 2021 edition of the race, and from there on a fully crewed version of the IMOCA60 would be the raceboat for future editions of The Ocean Race.
The various dockwalks around the 40 strong IMOCA60 fleet currently based at Les Sables-d'Olonne, reveal IMOCA60 designs going back to 2008, that are going to compete in the singlehanded round the world race. The design date band ranges from 2007 through to 2023. Within the fleet there are three groups - non-foiling, partially foiling and full foilers.
The accelerating growth of the IMOCA fleet, driven out of France, where 39 of the 40 Vendee team are based, looks set to spill over into The Ocean Race, and other races based in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Eight to ten starts and finishes offer plenty of racing and commercial opportunities for the next Vendee cycle. The camaraderie in the Vendee Globe fleet stands in refreshing contrast to the highly secretive approaches of America's Cup and other pro-sailing events, with their scripted storylines and "talking points".
The Vendee Globe has always been very much in the spirit of the original Whitbread Round the World Races, which started as an adventure cruise around the world. Conceived by Anthony Churchill and was taken over by the Royal Navy Sailing Association. 17 yachts up to 80ft long crossed the start-line in September 1973. Three lives were lost.
From there the race became increasingly professional, and entries dwindled as various options were tried unsuccessfully to expand the fleet. The announcement that the IMOCA60 would be the raceboat of future editions of The Ocean Race came not a moment too soon. Drivers behind the decision were to have multi-use boats, and in many ways the event returns to its roots in 1973 - allowing a diversity of boats albeit to the same rule; a cost reduction in crew numbers; endeavours have been made to reduce the number of stopovers and compression of the route from 40,000nm to be closer to the 24,000nm of the non-stop Vendee Globe event.
The one design VO65 in its third and last round the World Race only competed in two legs of 2021 The Ocean Race conducted against the commercially frustrating backdrop of the COVID pandemic.
Yet to be seen, in The Ocean Race, is whether the media's obsession with judging a team's success solely on the basis of placing over the line in the current race, or if they and their readers can see that some are full-blown race teams, while others are development teams aimed at future race cycles, while others are in the race for the adventure of competing and finishing the course.
The Vendee Globe, and other IMOCA60 races are Open, avoiding the Gender Quota debate of other professional events - expanding the competitor base and sponsorship opportunities. Two female skippers feature in the top five spots in the 2024 IMOCA leaderboard.
Now there are several new IMOCA60s launched, with a view to competing as fully crewed - with a crew of five - and also able to be raced in the Vendee Globe, and shorter Trans Atlantic, and other solo or two-handed races around Europe and to the Arctic Circle, to provide a viable racing program for the professional teams that own the IMOCA60s or others able to charter an unused boat.
A key lesson that potential competitors in The Ocean Race can take from the Vendee Globe is that you don't have to run a top-shelf program from the outset.
More important is to get a program running within the constraints of your budget and then work up from there. Many of the sailors competing in the 2024 Vendee Globe are talking of their next step for the 2028 event, and its sub-events that are used as qualifiers.
Perhaps a little surprisingly the 40 boat limit in the Vendee Globe was over subscribed, by at least two boats. That's quite a different situation from the other crewed professional events, where organisers chase every entry they can get. The Ocean Race can never be that size, simply because there are very few stopover ports can cope with a fleet of that size, and the more manageable fleet size is 12-14 competitors.
[Confirmed by Johan Salén, Race Director of the The Ocean Race in an interview published by Tip and Shaft]
With the start of the Vendée Globe 2024 set for Sunday, November 10, the next cycle is already under way for several skippers and teams, with boat building already under way and the second-hand market coming to life. Their program for the 2028 Vendee Globe is geared round launching two years out, doing the required qualification events for the skipper, and sufficient to get the new boat fully worked out and modified where necessary. Working back from a 2028 start date, it follows that the new boats need to be launched in 2026 and construction to have started in 2025, and design started in 2024.
Top French sailing site Tip & Shaft tots up the numbers of new builds and second hand market, looking forward to the 2028 Vendee Globe cycle.
On November 8, 2020, as the 33 skippers crossed the start line of the ninth Vendée Globe, Sam Manuard was just beginning work on the design of Charal 2, with a projected launch date in July 2022. Jérémie Beyou and his team's goal was to have the new foiler ready for the Route du Rhum 2022. Four years later, with the Vendée Globe 2024 still to get under way, concrete plans for new boats for the next cycle have never been so numerous.
One is already in the water, Phil Sharp's Manuard OceansLab, which failed to qualify in time for the Vendée Globe; two others will soon be: Armel Tripon's Les P'tits Doudous, a VPLP design built in Malizia-Seaexplorer's molds, due next spring, and Elodie Bonafous' Verdier design, built in Macif Santé Prévoyance's molds, due to leave the yard in the first quarter of 2025. As for the other future IMOCA boats, Multiplast is about to start building a new Verdier design for Kojiro Shiraishi, "and after that, we're building two others for two very good teams who are doing a sistership", explains Yann Penfornis, the shipyard's general manager, without disclosing the teams in question.
Numerous players in the sector also indicate that three construction slots have been reserved at CDK Technologies. "It's not for me to make this kind of announcement," comments Yann Dollo, deputy general manager, "but we feel that interest in the IMOCA is still strong. We made five boats for this campaign, and we're capable of making as many, or even more for the next one." It has to be said that orders for new boats for the next cycle have never started so early. "This anticipation is clearly the significant fact of the new 2028 cycle," confirms Romain Ménard, director of Team Spirit Racing, the structure managing Yann Richomme's project. "There are a number of reasons for this: the Vendée Globe popularity, the length of time it takes to design and build boats, and the rise of the IMOCA circuit, which means that, in addition to selection and qualification issues, everyone is keen to take part to races that are stronger than they were before."
Anticipating The Ocean Race
Among these races, The Ocean Race, which went IMOCA in the last edition, counts for a lot in the anticipation of orders, as the start of the next one, in January 2027, requires an early start. "An IMOCA boat takes six months to design, two months to make the tooling and a year to build, which is almost 20 months.
If you want to do The Ocean Race, you have no choice but to get things started before the start of the Vendée Globe", explains Antoine Koch, architect, with the Finot-Conq firm, of two boats lining up for the start of the Vendée Globe 2024, Thomas Ruyant's Vulnerable and Yoann Richomme's Paprec Arkéa. "We're starting earlier and earlier, as the teams are also keen to spend more time on the water before the Vendée Globe, as foilers are boats which require a lot of time for reliability and fine-tuning", adds David de Prémorel, Managing Director of Finot-Conq.
Are the latter and Antoine Koch among the architects already commissioned for the new boats listed above? Neither is willing to answer, but there's little doubt that Thomas Ruyant will call on their services for his future IMOCA, announced for 2026, when construction will be entrusted to CDK. Then a boat for Boris Herrmann would be launched in the same molds - again, no one wished to comment - with both skippers aiming to take part in The Ocean Race.
Still on the CDK side, a rumor from the pontoon evokes a new IMOCA coming soon for Banque Populaire. Thierry Bouvard, director of sponsorship and patronage for Groupe BPCE, replied"No comment", while Armel Le Cléac'h, interviewed by us a month ago before the start of the Finistère Atlantique, said: "Today, the Vendée Globe remains a major event that Banque Populaire follows closely. We're not taking part this year, for reasons we know, but we're keeping a close eye on what's happening on the IMOCA circuit. We'll let this edition pass and Banque Populaire will communicate afterwards on its intentions to make, or not, a return to the event."
Would it be possible for Banque Populaire and Franck Cammas, who confirms that the IMOCA is currently his "priority project, as long as it's on a new boat and with the means to win the two major events, The Ocean Race and the Vendée Globe", to team up? "I know Ronan Lucas (director of Team Banque Populaire) very well, he's almost a childhood friend, but no comment," smiles Cammas, "who is looking for partners".
New boats will no longer be protected
As for the two sisterships mentioned by Yann Penfornis for Multiplast, rumors are rife, notably about a new boat for Yoann Richomme (the first has already been built in Vannes). One thing is certain: the winner of The Transat CIC 2024, who will compete in The Ocean Race Europe in 2025, makes no secret of his ambitions to continue after his first Vendée Globe, and in particular to compete in The Ocean Race in 2027. "Yoann and the team have a real appetite for the project, and it's also resonating strongly with the sponsors, because you're talking about eight to ten starts and finishes, plus the in-shore events, so there are plenty of opportunities to activate the partnership", confirms Romain Ménard.
Interviewed in Pos. Report last Tuesday, Paprec Group Managing Director Sébastien Petithuguenin commented: "On these projects, you can't buy time, so we're in the process of projecting what a new boat could be, and decisions on whether or not to build one are currently being made." Other skippers who have announced their intention to build a new IMOCA include Louis Burton, who did so in April, presumably with Sam Manuard. "We haven't started the work phase yet, but the will is there, and it will get under way in due course", says the architect.
With a view to the Vendée Globe 2028, new boats will in any case no longer be exempt from selection process, the new qualification/selection rules will be unveiled by the SAEM Vendée, the race organizer, during the week preceding the start of the 2024 edition. "The new system has brought many positive benefits, with more people at the start of the races, and better-prepared boats and sailors, On the other hand, we've seen some limitations, between Louis Burton's two dismastings, injuries and Clarisse (Crémer)'s maternity leave, there have also been a lot of races that have put a strain on the skippers, and the idea is to come up with a project that responds to these limitations", comments IMOCA class president Antoine Mermod.
The second-hand market is starting
This exemption will perhaps boost a second-hand market that is more than quivering - 18 boats are for sale to date on the IMOCA website - with strong interest in the foilers of the 2020 and 2024 generations that are or will be on the market. According to our information, 11th Hour Racing Team has already pre-empted the current Malizia-Seaexplorer for Francesca Clapcich - when contacted, the latter replied that she was "exploring options, but nothing is confirmed yet". Other coveted boats include Thomas Ruyant's two Vulnerables (on the market at the end of 2025) and Sam Goodchild's, as well as DMG Mori Global One (Verdier's 2019 design, priced at "around €4 million", according to the Japanese team). Or even those from the 2016 generation and updated, such as Damien Seguin's current Groupe Apicil. The price range can go from €750,000 for Louis Duc's current boat to €5 million, or even more, for the latest generation.
Potential buyers include Canadian Scott Shawyer, who is first looking to sell the former Acciona (€1.35m), Edouard Golbery, looking for partners to launch in 2026, or Gaston Morvan, fresh French Elite ocean racing champion and not far from the goal. "I'm still half a budget short of what's needed to sail four great seasons from 2025, with a project to buy a 2024-generation hydrofoil boat." Among the skippers whom Tip & Shaft contacted to find out their post-Vendée Globe intentions, many are keen to sign up for a new cycle. This is the case for Maxime Sorel, whose partners will stop after the 2024 Vendée Globe, and who wants to continue on his current boat (Verdier design from 2022), or for Sébastien Marsset, Fabrice Amedeo or Louis Duc, but on higher-performance IMOCA boats - "I'd love to get into foilers", confides the latter.
Some also have their sights set on The Ocean Race, such as Yannick Bestaven, who "would then like to accompany a skipper for the Vendée Globe 2028", Alan Roura with the Swiss Offshore Team, and Romain Attanasio, who is worried, however, that "the economy is getting tighter for all sorts of reasons".
Finally, there are those who have no immediate plans to set sail again, like Tanguy Le Turquais, who confides: "I don't want the Vendée Globe to become routine and something normal."
For the full story including embedded references not included above www.tipandshaft.com/imoca/imoca-le-cycle-2025-2028-a-deja-commence
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