The tension is gradually building: Boris Herrmann's new "Seaexplorer" will be officially unveiled on 19 July, and the boat is due to start its first test runs just a few days later. In a record-breaking construction time of less than a year, the German will then start with the new foiler at the Route du Rhum transatlantic regatta in St Malo in November.
YACHT had the opportunity to visit the Multiplast shipyard in Vannes last week to get an impression of the progress of construction. The hull and deck have now been joined, all the bulkheads and structures glued, and the deckhouse of the fully enclosed cockpit half assembled. Still in a matt black, rough carbon finish on arrival, the boat was then coated in white with primer on the second day. However, the final colour design is a well-kept secret until the launch.
Anyone entering the construction hall will find themselves in an anthill-like bustle. 30 boat builders, ten from the team and 20 from the Multiplast shipyard, are laminating, sawing, screwing and sanding in every nook and cranny of the Imoca. Construction plans hang on the bulkheads, LED light chains wind through them like lindworms, illuminating the black carbon fibre cave. Hoses for dust extraction protrude from the ship like arteries. Everything still looks raw, there are no fittings, winches, electrics or anything else installed inside. Rudders, foils, the second half of the cockpit roof - all this is still missing. It's hard to imagine that the work will be completed in just under three weeks. And yet everyone in the team is confident. Whoever you ask: "We'll make the launch date!" We must. Nobody counts the overtime and all-nighters here.
Standing in front of the boat, you immediately notice that it will be different from all other Open 60s currently sailing or under construction - at least as far as we know. The blunt bow, which, when you stand directly in front of the boat, looks enormously round and voluminous, almost brute, points the way. Herrmann had already announced in the big YACHT interview (issue 2/2022) that his boat would be extreme. "The bow has a lot of rocker (keel jump, ed.), we want to have the nose out of the swell in the fast reach conditions in the Southern Ocean." The bow should go as high as possible over the waves and have plenty of buoyancy reserve. "With a hull length of 18 or 23 metres, our boat only has a waterline of around 14 metres." In fact, you have to bend down low at the front to see where the waterline starts at the bow - it is very, very, very far aft. Anyone who remembers old rules such as the maximum line of the waterline will be surprised. But different rules apply to foilers.
The next thing you notice is the cockpit roof. It is far forward, practically directly behind the mast, and almost looks like a centre cockpit. Two round Plexiglas domes at the ends look out at you like funny frog eyes, and there are lots of windows. Unlike the competition, Herrmann does not want to rely on cameras; the view of the sails and the sea must be available for a quick overview and fast reaction. The cockpit is completely closed in the centre, a bit like Alex Thomson's last "Hugo Boss", only next to it there are two narrow walkways leading to the stern. "The closed cockpit was necessary because we wanted the smallest keel bomb," Boris explains later. To ensure that the righting moment is still sufficient for the prescribed 90-degree heeling test, they need the volume of the deckhouse. This saved several hundred kilos of weight in the bomb. A good trade-off. Nevertheless, the boat is not a lightweight, but rather at the heavier end of the spectrum. Boris didn't want to risk the kind of structural problems that have recently befallen many teams, who then have to return to the shipyard and carry out costly retrofitting. A logistical and financial nightmare during the sailing campaign period.
The detailed report on the shipyard visit in Vannes can be found in YACHT, issue 15/2022, which will be published on 13 July.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
