PhD in fluid mechanics and a PhD in geophysics on climate predictions, Dr Martin Fischer works also as a naval architect. He is considered as one of the fast multihulls specialists: he is the co-architect of Groupamas 2 and 3. His talent has also been involved for many sailboats appendages; America’s Cup yachts, Volvo Ocean Race yachts and maxi-multihulls for solo sailors…
Posts tagged composite
02
Jan 17
Jan 17
Martin Fisher
Lorient, Morbihan, Brittany, France 47º43’41″N 03º22'06″W
16
Jun 15
Jun 15
VOLVO OCEAN RACE STOPOVER IN LORIENT
Lorient, Morbihan, Brittany, France 47º43’27″N 03º21'28″W
My week during the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Lorient.
Photo assignment for Sail Corporate.
06
Mar 15
Mar 15
Trimaran Lending Club
Lorient, Morbihan, Brittany, France 47º43’46″N 03º22'19″W
Maxi Trimaran Lending Club ex Banque Populaire VII with her new color at the Cité de la voile Éric Tabarly.
20
Sep 14
Sep 14
TS 42 Imagine
Atlantic Ocean, Morbihan, Brittany, France 47º08’46″N 02º54'08″W
The TS42 Imagine Catamaran Design by Christophe Barreau and built by Marsaudon Composites.
Photo assignment for Marsaudon Composites.
10
Sep 14
Sep 14
LOICK PEYRON & THE MAXI TRIMARAN SOLO BANQUE POPULAIRE VII
Lorient, Morbihan, Brittany, France 47º40’35″N 03º23'40″W
Blue Is The New Yellow
Furthering his reputation as Mr. Multihull, Loick Peyron made a drastic change in plans for the 2014 Route du Rhum last week, switching gears from driving his Rhum Class ‘p’ti yellow’ 30′ Walter Greene designed wood trimaran with only a sextant, to helming the massive Ultime Class ‘big blue’ 100′ Banque Populaire VII maxi-trimaran, a VPLP carbon fiber designed monster outfitted with the latest technology. A difficult decision for sure, but trading up from the yellow Happy project to the impressive blue BP7 is a clear choice from a competitive racer’s perspective with Loick’s pedigree. Always looking to challenge his abilities and push it to the limits, winning the Route du Rhum has been on his bucket list for many years. So here we have the lethal combination of the best boat and the best man for the job. For the 2014 edition, Banque Populaire and Loick Peyron are a force to be reckoned with.
Words: Fred Eagle
Photo assignment for Banque Populaire.
02
Jun 14
Jun 14
Armel Le Cléac’h and the Maxi Trimaran Solo Banque Populaire VII in New York City
New York, NY, United States of America. 40º41’36″N 74º01'46″W
Armel Le Cléac’h and the Maxi Trimaran Solo Banque Populaire VII on stand by for the multihull North Atlantic solo record attempt, New York City, United States of America.
“Sometimes, from beyond the skycrapers, the cry of a tugboat finds you in your insomnia, and you remember that this desert of iron and cement is an island.”
Albert Camus
Photo assignment for Banque Populaire.
02
Dec 13
Dec 13
MC²60
Hong Kong, 香港, 22º18’05″N 114º11’59″E
The MC²60 #1 Mach² recently finished 2nd over the line in the 656 miles Hong Kong to Vietnam Race behind Ragamuffin 90 skippered by Syd Fisher with around 20 professional sailors on board. Mach² raced with only 6 crew: Renaud Bañuls the MC²60′s architect, Incidence’s Cesar Dohy who designed the sails, Bruno Laurent who commissioned the boat, Raphaël Blot, the owner and responsible for the development of the MC² catamaran series and two of his regular racing crew from his monohull days.
The MC²60 finished ahead of the three TP52, the other 90ft monohull, Chivas and a fleet of racing 40ft monohulls. The first TP52 was US based Lucky which finished 8th overall in the Transpac 2013. The other two TPs, OneSails Racing and FreeFire are regulars of the Asian racing circuit who, between themselves, have won almost every single regatta in Asia. Mach² sailed the 656 miles in 49h30mns.
Before the race, not many expected a cruising catamaran to finish ahead of the TP52s in a downhill race. In Nha Trang, many crews were thrilled by the speed reached during the downwind sail but complained about how wet of a ride it was, bailing water out of the boats all the way down with automatic life jackets activating inside the boats and being regularly showered on by seawater crasing on the deck. In response, Raphaël Blot commented :
“The only time we were showered on was when we took proper showers….We didn’t put the foul weather gear on, shorts and T-shirts only. We hear that the guys on the monohulls had a rough time; we had red wine at 20-25kts. We reached top speeds above 30kts a couple of times”.
The concept behind the MC²60 announced 2.5 years ago was to achieve an all round sailing performance similar to that of a TP52 in a cruising catamaran capable of accommodating up to 10 guests for a comfortable cruise.
“I guess we have just shown that the concept works” commented Renaud Bañuls. “Not only does the boat perform better than my own expectations, it is very easy to handle, feels safe and reaches high speed effortlessly. More impressive than the top speed above 30kts that we have reached 3-4 times was the fact that we sailed for hours under main sail and genaker at 20-28kts without pushing the boat hard”.
Blot concluded : “I am very pleased with the result. Finishing ahead of the TP52s in a downhill race is quite an achievement as catamarans have an advantage over monohulls mainly when reaching. This results validates the concept and confirms that we made the right decisions over the past 3 years, leading to a cruising catamaran that is faster than stripped out racing monohulls”
Meanwhile, the MC²60 #2 Dragon is moored in Hong Kong, getting ready for a cruise in South East Asia. Dragon and Mach² have the same interior layout but different color schemes. The semi-custom concept of the MC²60 resulted in different boat lengths and cockpit layout. Dragon is 2ft longer on the transom and carries a 3ft longer longeron in order to fly a larger mast head gennaker. While Mach² has cockpit designed for single handed operations, Dragon has a more racing oriented cockpit with winches spread out along the aft beam.
Photo assignment for MC² Catamarans.
29
Sep 13
Sep 13
Armel Le Cléac’h and the Maxi Trimaran Solo Banque Populaire VII
Marseille, France 43º17’13″N 5º20’02″E
Armel Le Cléac’h and the Maxi Trimaran Solo Banque Populaire VII before at the start of the TransMed record attempt which they just set in 18h 58min & 13sec, beating Thomas Coville’s time onboard Sodebo in the first solo multihull record time of the so called TransMed route between Marseille (France) and Carthage (Tunisia) of 25 hours 36 minutes and 36 seconds.
Photo assignment for Banque Populaire.
01
Apr 13
Apr 13
Attempt to break the absolute sailing record of the Corsica Island Tour – Yvan Bourgnon – Joris Cocaud
Porticcio, Corsica, France 41º53’33″N 8º47’43″E
Attempt to break the absolute sailing record of the Corsica (Known as the Beauty Island) Island Tour currently owned by the “TP 52 Spirit of Malouen VI”, a 52-feet-boat, in 30 hours 15 minutes & 18 seconds, on a Nacra F20 Carbon, a 20-feet-beach catamaran.
Photo assignment for Atlantis Television.
