The launch of Thomas Ruyant’s new IMOCA offers a glimpse of what the next generation of the Open 60 class is set to look like. The boat is not only the first new build in a joint three-team campaign involving Team Malizia and Banque Populaire (Vendée Globe: A hat-trick for Boris – Herrmann builds sister ships with Ruyant and Berrehar), but also the sister ship of Boris Herrmann’s forthcoming “Malizia 4”. The project was developed by the designers Antoine Koch, Finot-Conq and Gsea Design, and the boats are being built by CDK in Lorient.
“Malizia 4”: Sleeker, sharper, more versatile
What is particularly exciting is just how clearly the new yacht’s design language sets it apart from the earlier “Malizia” generation. Boris Herrmann describes the new boats as sleeker and with a more pointed bow than the previous “Malizia – Seaexplorer”. This suggests a move away from the extremely voluminous foredecks that have characterised many modern IMOCA foilers in recent years. Rather than maximising lift in the bow area, the new concept appears to focus more on balance and versatility across a wider range of wind and wave conditions.
Lessons learnt from the Ruyant boat to date
The new design draws on insights gained from Ruyant’s previous boat rather than the earlier “Malizia”. His current IMOCA served as a reference; according to Antoine Koch, its rounded hull shape offers advantages in rough seas and on broad reaches: The boat cuts through the water well and feels less rough on board. The new build addresses the areas where this concept showed weaknesses – namely when sailing close to the wind, in calm waters, and in light wind and transitional conditions.
Thomas Ruyant: “This boat incorporates our experience from two previous IMOCs, two Vendée Globes and two victories in the Transat Jacques Vabre. The new boat is going to be a real rocket – I can’t wait to put it through its paces at sea!”
A fuselage with two levels
A look at earlier Koch/Finot designs reveals the direction the design is taking. The latest generation of IMOCA boats is comparatively narrow and flat, with a striking bow section which, despite its fullness, does not follow the classic scow layout. Key features here include pronounced chines, a deep frame shape and a hull that is almost V-shaped in the fore section, softly rounded down to the waterline but nevertheless clearly contoured. In this context, Thomas Ruyant spoke of a hull with ‘two levels’: very slender at the bottom, broad at the top. Particularly striking is the pronounced chine in the bow area, which slopes gently aft in a smooth curve.
Launch of Thomas Ruyant’s new boat
Moving away from being an extreme specialist
This approach also fits in with the new sister-ship project. The aim is apparently not to create a radical specialist, but rather an IMOCA that is fast in a variety of conditions. Design Engineer Antoine Koch It describes this as an attempt to improve versatility, bridge the light-wind gap and continuously optimise performance in waves. This is based on the experience that, whilst more extreme foil boards can excel under ideal conditions, they can sometimes slow down significantly in choppy seas, thereby losing valuable average speed.
Control rather than mere radicalism
Even at a detailed level, this results in a clear design philosophy: more controllable speed development and a boat that decelerates less abruptly in waves. In the analysis of earlier Koch designs, this was precisely a key point: lower drag, a reduced wetted area and a design that is not only optimised for a few ideal wind angles of attack, but also performs more reliably on longer offshore legs. For Ruyant’s new boat and the subsequent Malizia 4, this would be a decisive step – away from the uncompromising extreme, towards a consistently faster all-round foiler.
“Malizia 4”: Joint development by three teams
The scope of the project is also noteworthy. Instead of three separate new builds, a single design is being developed for three teams. This not only saves on development costs and tooling, but, according to those involved, also significantly reduces the project’s carbon footprint. Ruyant’s boat thus marks not only the start of a new sporting cycle, but also the beginning of a more closely networked IMOCA development programme.
Fridtjof Gunkel
Rédacteur en chef adjoint de YACHT
