Marc Lombard: French star designer passes away

The death of Marc Lombard on 18 September 2023 has shaken the world of French shipbuilding and sailing. Sailing has lost one of its great pioneers of the last 30 years. Lombard, who was known and appreciated for both his technical skills and his human qualities, succumbed at the age of 64 to an illness that he had been battling for two years.

In addition to his family, he leaves behind a recognised design studio, which he transferred to his highly qualified employees in the form of a cooperative in 2022. To this day, under the label of Marc Lombard Yacht Design Group over 250 different models were created. These include some successes in ocean sailing, such as Jean Le Cam's Imoca "Bonduelle 2", with which he sailed to second place in the 2004 Vendée Globe. With the "TSE - 4MyPlanet" (ex-"Whirlpool" & - "Le Pingouin", among others), one of his Imoca designs from 1998 even reached the finish line in the last edition of the race around the world. In the 1980s, Lombard had previously been actively involved in the wave of large multihull racing yachts and designed some well-known vessels such as the trimaran "Ker Cadelac". Most recently, Yoann Richomme won the Route du Rhum 2022 with his Lombard Class 40 "Paprec Arkea".

As a naval architect, however, Lombard was not only influential in regatta sport, but also in the cruising sector. His collaborations with Privilège, RM, Neel-Trimarans and the Beneteau Group are particularly noteworthy. He designed Privilège catamarans for 37 years. "Marc was one of the greatest French designers, but his reputation was worldwide," reads a text from the shipyard on Instagram. We owe him a lot. The Frenchman, who studied in Southampton and was a keen sailor from a young age, opened his own design office in La Rochelle in 1982. His signature was always clearly recognisable with features such as a wide keel, pronounced chine, negative deck leap and jib boom.