Gitana XV first home in Tour de Belle Ile, race report by the Daily Sail

The Seb Josse-skippered foiler sets a new record in the Tour de Belle Ile

From the following article on the Daily sail posted on Saturday May 9th 2015, Author: James Boyd, Location: France

 

http://www.thedailysail.com/inshore/15/67994/0/tour-de-belle-ile-2015-race-report      

France's equivalent to our own Round the Island Race - the Tour de Belle-Ile set sail yesterday at 10:00 local from the Baie de Quiberon, with almost 500 boats, taking on the annual lap of Belle-Ile.

This race, the eighth that has been held, was won on the water by the foil-born Multi 70 Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, which overtook her less optimised sisterships Oman Sail and Paprec Recyclage. Skipper Sébastien Josse and his crew managed to establish a new race record for the course, while in the monohulls it was Paul Meilhat's new IMOCA 60 SMA (ex-MACIF) that was first home.

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Gitana team relaunch MOD70 trimaran with experimental lifting foil setup

From the following update on the Gitana team website:

 

http://www.gitana-team.com/en/event.news.aspx?eventid=95&newsid=1109

 

In refit since her return from the West Indies back in December, the Multi70 Edmond de Rothschild left the cosy atmosphere of her technical base in Lorient this Wednesday morning to return to the liquid element. Benefiting from the first tide of the day and the summery weather, it didn’t take long for the members of Gitana Team to release the carbon machine, which is now safely tied to the dock at the Keroman submarine base. This launch is synonymous with the start of phase two of a project initiated in early 2014 by the team created by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild: namely the mission to make the Multi70 the first flying trimaran on the offshore racing circuit.

An adventure in two chapters

Back in 2014, true to its philosophy, the team created in 2000 by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild paved the way by opting to kit out its 70-foot trimaran with lifting surfaces on the float rudders. The aim at that time was to participate in the 10^th edition of the famous Route du Rhum and hence cross the Atlantic singlehanded. It was a bold challenge! Indeed, besides the technical development required by such a project, on the water the human commitment was significant since Sébastien Josse would have to compete against the giants of the Ultime class; the largest of which measured twice the size of the Multi70…

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