They were hundreds, this Thursday, on the quays of the port of Concarneau (Finistère), close to the MerConcept site of François Gabart. At the heart of this turmoil, a sublime deep blue trimaran, a four-year project, the culmination of "40 months of work, or 150,000 hours", as the team of the young Finistère skipper of 38 repeated. years old, very moved. The very one who, despite his "young age", won the greatest prizes (Route du Rhum, Transat Jacques-Vabre), and, with his trimaran "Macif", had even succeeded, in 2017, less than one year after the single-handed round-the-world record, much followed by the general public of Thomas Coville, to dethrone the latter… by seven days (in 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds)!
At the end of the morning, the new trimaran “SVR-Lazartigue” - its new sponsor -, equipped with the best technologies, of which almost all the parts were designed by companies in Brittany (CDK Technologies, Magma Composites, Multiplast, North Sails, Lorima , etc.), was launched.
We had to crane this giant of the seas, which is 32 m long and 23 m wide, and weighs around 15 t - knowing that each of its foils weighs nearly 400 kg.
Next stop, the Transat Jacques-Vabre in November
"I am very enthusiastic and very impatient, a big technical job awaits us when we start to test it on the water, from next week", slips François Gabart with a smile.
“Next step for us: the Transat Jacques-Vabre in November;
but also challenges ahead: the Route du Rhum in 2022, the Ultim solo round-the-world tour from Brest in 2023, and the ultimate goal of the Jules Verne trophy to go below the 40-day record ”.
Didier Tabary, President of Kresk Développement, the main financier of the project, says he is "very confident in this new ship", "especially as François is one of the best, if not the best of his generation".
The trimaran will be officially baptized, still in Concarneau, on September 21.
