The two sail the old Nigel Irens design that Ellen MacArthur used to set her record for the fastest single-handed circumnavigation of the world in 2005 as the "B&Q Castorama". Pilliard bought the boat, which had been neglected and left to rot on a pier in Brest, in 2017, refitted it and now wants to be the first multihull to sail against the prevailing wind direction, i.e. westwards around the world. If it succeeds, it would be the first mark for a multihull; so far, only monohulls have sailed this extreme route. The best time for monohulls is currently held by French sailing legend Jean-Luc van den Heede, who took 122 days and 14 hours in 2004.
Pilliard's project has chosen recycling as its theme, hence the boat's name "Use it Again". As many materials as possible have been recycled for the refit of the boat: The sails are re-tailored cloth from an MOD-70, PBO fibres for the rigging were refurbished by a Dutch company, winches, solar modules and hydro generators are also second-hand.
Romain Pilliard and Alex Pella set off on their record attempt from Brittany the night before last. Go to the team's website and tracker here.
In 2018, Romain Pilliard had already started with the boat in the Route du Rhum in the Ultim class and finished last. In Alex Pella, the 43-year-old has now found a prominent co-skipper for his ambitious and tough endeavour. Pella was part of the crew that set the record for the fastest circumnavigation of the world with Francis Joyon's "Idec Sport". The Spaniard has plenty of record attempts, open 60 and trimaran experience and was also part of the crew when Boris Herrmann attempted a record with Joyon, but fell short of the mark.
Until now, a multihull was considered to be too dangerous and unsuitable for the tough upwind battles against the prevailing wind direction around the world. It will be interesting to see whether the two can disprove this.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
