The boat
Design
Naval architects: combined expertise
Safran chose a pair of naval architects to design its new boat: Vincent Lauriot Prévost from the firm Van Peteghem & Lauriot Prévost (VPLP) and Guillaume Verdier. Specializing respectively in multihull and monohull (especially for the Vendée Globe) racing boats, the two architects wanted to jointly design a new Imoca Open 60 class monohull racing yacht.
The two architects were equal partners in this venture. VPLP was in charge of overall project supervision, as well as the design of the riggings, deck and appendages. Guillaume Verdier, already familiar with this class of boat, was in charge of the hull design, as well as supervising calculations for the structural design.
The naval architecture firm of Van Peteghem & Lauriot Prévost (VPLP) is the lead designer of multihull sailboats, custom-designed multihull cruisers and ocean racing multihulls. With the world’s best skippers at the helm, these boats have won most races in their class and set new ocean racing records.
Highlights
Biscuits Cantreau 1, 2 and 3 (Jean Le Cam), Hitachi/Bottin (Eric Tabarly), Pierre 1st (Florence Arthaud, winner of the Route du Rhum in 1990), Primagaz (Laurent Bourgnon), Groupama (Franck Camas), and more.
Guillaume Verdier is specialized in ocean racing designs, and has participated in the design of high-performance 40, 50 and 60 foot class monohull boats. Along with Yves Parlier, he designed the Médiatis-Région Aquitaine hydroplane, and also worked on refurbishment of the VMI and PRB 60’ monohulls for the 2004 Vendée Globe. Joining the k-Challenge design team in 2004, Guillaume Verdier worked on the Areva Challenge America Class boat which took part in the 32nd America’s Cup in 2007.
Highlights
PRB (Michel Desjoyeaux), winner of the 2001 Vendée Globe, Groupe 4 (Mike Golding), VMI (Sébastien Josse).
An industrial approach to competition
The construction of the Safran Open 60 ocean racer clearly reflects how the sponsor/boat owner made a successful breakthrough in this sector. On launching this project in 2005, the former Safran CEO emphasized that he hoped the Group would take a full-fledged role in the design and construction of Marc Guillemot’s new boat, including the incorporation of Safran’s own innovative technologies. Safran’s proven expertise in aerospace and electronics complemented that of the naval professionals hired for the project.
Cross-fertilizing competencies...
Building on this commitment, Safran group companies offered their skills and technologies to the Safran Sailing Team. Areas of expertise included not only applications similar to those in naval construction (structural calculations, composite materials, hydraulics, electrical systems, energy management, etc.), but also project management. According to Pascal Chadail, former project leader at Safran, “It seemed only natural to apply the same project management approach to the boat design and construction phases, as those applied by the Group’s design departments to our industrial projects.”
...for winning synergies
Based on this approach, the team has a full record of all choices made and the underlying reasons. “One of the most striking aspects of this approach is that it forces us to explain and justify everything we do, and to set it down in writing,” notes Vincent Lauriot- Prévost. “The sponsor helped us explain our decisions in concrete terms, which is a key to design decisions – and there are hundreds of interdependent decisions to be made in a project of this size.” Fellow designer Guillaume Verdier adds: “We come out ahead in the end, although it does take a lot of time.” Both naval architects firmly intend to retain this working method for their future projects.
Designing Safran
The first phase involved computer tests of about 50 different hull shapes to study water flows along the surface of the hull and its appendages and their behavior at different speeds. Three designs were selected, and models were built and tested in a tank at the Wolfson Unit for Marine Technology and Industrial Aerodynamics at the University of Southampton in Britain. More than 300 test runs were needed to select the final hull shape for the new Safran boat. During a second phase, the results of these initial tank tests were used to refine the design of the entire platform.
Deck design
The design of the deck is essential for the skipper. The configuration chosen by Marc Guillemot was built as a full-scale model and used to validate all design parameters, as well as the cockpit and interior fittings. Another advantage is that the model can list to varying degrees, thus duplicating actual conditions.
Cockpit
“Tell me how you outfit your cockpit, and I’ll tell you what kind of navigator you are…” The design of the Safran cockpit is based on Marc Guillemot’s own preferences, in addition to striving for safety, efficiency and user-friendliness. One of Marc’s prime concerns is visibility, so that he can easily keep an eye on his heading and sails, and sail from the center-line of the boat.
Sitemap
