Shutdown of updates to the news section of the Trimaran Projects and Multihull News blog

This blog has been a labor of love over the years but lately I'm not so keen on posting news with a busy life taking more of my time.  I'll still periodically update so it might be worth using the follow function or a website content scanning tool like Feedly.  My trimaran projects are all still very much underway with more updates to be posted over the next few months.

I'd like to thank all my readers for following along and all the positive emails and feedback I've received over the years.  The blog content as it stands will remain for its archival reference value but I'm not going to update links if they become broken as some inevitably will.  I still post shares and news regularly to the Facebook Group "The Multihull Appreciation Society" so if you're a Facebook user you might like to check it out.

I also recommend the excellent trimaran enthusiast blog "The Trimaran Journal".

http://trimaranjournal.com/

and also the World of Trimaran enthusiasts blog:

https://trienthusiasts.wordpress.com/

Cheers and all the best!

Guo Chuan sailing attempt to set a new record sailing through the North East passage in the Arctic

Chinese sailor Guo Chuan and his team are attempting a record attempt traversing the North East Passage in the Arctic on the trimaran Qingdao China (the former IDEC).

Guo Chuan Sailing website:

http://www.guochuansailing.com/en/

The tracker:

http://guochuansailing.geovoile.com/northeastpassage/2015/

Francois Gabarts' new Macif Ultime trimaran out for first test sail

Rolex Fastnet Race, multihulls home in light and variable conditions

The largest multihulls have now all finished the Fastnet Race.  Spindrift 2 took line honours but by only 20 minutes in the last few miles the MOD70 Phaedo managed to sneak into second just edging out the Prince de Bretagne Maxi 80 that claimed third place.

An article on Spindrift 2's Fastnet Race:

http://www.sail-world.com/2015-Rolex-Fastnet-Race---Thrilling-tactical-race/137607

and one that focuses on the general multihull and monohull fleet.

http://www.mysailing.com.au/news/light-winds-forgotten-big-grins-and-tight-finishes-for-fastnet-race



Phaedo3 taking part in the Rolex Fastnet Race 2015 from Ocean Images on Vimeo.

Francois Gabart's new Ultime racing trimaran "Macif" launched at Lorient

Francois Gabart's new Ultime trimaran "Macif" has been launched an impressive gallery of photos has been posted on Facebook by "Ultim Boat".

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.675681012533478.1073741843.483745085060406&type=3

A video of the launch has also been posted:

2015 Rolex Fastnet Race gets underway in very light conditions

The race has started in very light conditions this year a strong fleet of race multihulls are competing including the MOD70's Oman Sail, Phaedo and Concise 10 in the Ultimes Spindrift2 and Prince de Bretagne Maxi 80.

http://www.sail-world.com/Record-fleet-for-46th-Rolex-Fastnet-Race/137522

The tracker is here:

http://yb.tl/fastnet2015

2015 edition of the Artemis Challenge sees Musandam Oman Sail take line honours

This year the now super experienced Musandam Oman Sail crew on their much campaigned MOD70 took the win with close competition from Team Concise on the recently purchased and rebranded Paprec recyclage MOD70.  In third place was Lionel Lemonchois on his custom trimaran Prince de Bretagne Maxi 80.  Charging up close behind was the MOD70 of Team Phaedo.

More details on the following article:

http://www.artemischallenge.com/news/view/Musandam_-_Oman_Sail_win_charity_sprint_at_Cowes_Week

and some videos of the event:

Video summing up the Transpacific world record attempt by the Lending Club team

Gitana Team video of new lifting foil trials on the MOD70 trimaran Edmond de Rothschild

The Gitana team have been making progress on their implementation of a foiling solution for offshore use on the modified MOD70 trimaran Edmond de Rothschild.  In the Route du Rhum Seb Josse tested out T rudders with success and now with the addition of the lifting foil are conducting trials to test the modification under ocean conditions.  The trimaran is still running a C foil on the starboard side as a control.

From the following article on Yachting World:

http://www.yachtingworld.com/news/video-the-first-foiling-mod70-gitana-teams-edmond-de-rothschild-flies-during-her-first-trials-66373

Stand by for lift-off.
If you were impressed by the speeds of the AC45s last week off Portsmouth, check this out – the MOD70 Edmond de Rothschild is almost twice the size, has an extra hull, and is sailing, sorry flying, in the open ocean…

read more here



There is an additional press release from the Gitana Team that goes into more detail on the foil program and results so far:

http://www.gitana-team.com/en/event.news.aspx?eventid=97&newsid=1123

Lending Club team smash Los Angeles to Honolulu record

Lending Club team approaches Honolulu well ahead of record time

Offshore multihull racing legend Laurent Bourgnon lost in diving accident

One of the giants of multihull racing Laurent Bourgnon has been lost in a diving accident in French Polynesia.  He was reported missing on the 25th June and despite a comprehensive search no trace has been found.  His brother Yvan Bourgnon who recently completed a circumnavigation by a specially designed beach cat mounted his own search sadly without success.  Laurent was best known for his victories in the 1994 and 1998 in the solo Route du Rhum onboard the ORMA trimaran Primagaz.

A few additional details in the article below:

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/06/25/swiss-yachtsman-bourgnon-missing-french-Polynesia

And a tribute from his brother Yvan Bourgnon.  Vale Laurent Bourgnon.


Hommage à Laurent Bourgnon from Thomas Chabrol on Vimeo.

Update from the Lending Club team on day 2 of their Transpac record attempt

Lending Club team withdraw from Transpac race in order to challenge outright record held by Olivier de Kersauson on Geronimo

The Lending Club 2 team have officially withdrawn from the Transpac race in order to catch a more suitable weather window for their LA to Honolulu attempt.  The outright record which is currently held by Olivier de Kersauson on Geronimo at 4d 19h 31m 37s is separate to the Transpac Race record which is held by the 86′ maxi cat Explorer of with a time of 5 Days, 9 hours, 18 minutes and 26 seconds

http://www.sail-world.com/2015-Transpac---Lending-Club-2-going-early-to-beat-outright-record/136491

Maxi trimaran Lending Club2 flying hulls in San Francisco harbor