JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #112 - April/May 2017 - 10

NEWS yachting

The all-carbon "Ferrari" of sailing,
built in French shipyards
The VPLP dream team has many racing feats to its credit, as well as innovations that focus on sailing performance, luxury, and the pleasure of being
close to nature. Now it is embarking on a another challenging project with the
Gunboat 68.

PLP Design, the naval
architecture firm based
in Vannes and Paris, is
making its impression on the
world of competitive sailing by
raking in all the top trophies. It
is also having spectacular success in the cruise, racing and
superyacht catamaran markets. VPLP naval architects
have a world-class reputation,
and VPLP's naval engineering teams represent the acme
of multihull design. They have
designed Spindrift, the world's
fastest sailboat; Hemisphere,
the world's largest catamaran;
and Comanche, the world's
fastest monohull.
With a number of recent victories (Vendée-Globe, Route
du Rhum, the solo round
the world) under its belt,
the firm is teeming with projects. Builders are awarding
it the most high-tech architectural projects of the day,
like the Gunboat 68, which
is taking VPLP down to the
Mediterranean Sea to apply
the expertise of its two offices:
Paris for yachting, and Vannes
for racing.

Luxury and sportsmanship
for a successful French group
In late 2016, the Grand Large
Yachting (GLY) group (comprising Outremer, Garcia and
Allures), based in the Grande
Motte on the Mediterranean
coast, bought out Gunboat,
the American luxury yachtbuilder with a fleet of about
forty different units. GLY currently operates in the pleasure boat and small commercial/service ship markets. It
has had a compound annual
growth rate of 40% ever since
it was established in 2004.
So, the latest Gunboat model
- called the Gunboat 68, since
it will be 68 feet long (20.70
metres) -will be built not in
Newport, Rhode Island USA,
but in France's Hérault region.
This pearl of the seas, the international acme of catamaran cruising, will cost about
€4.5 M per boat.
There is already an order for
the first boat, which should be
delivered in 2018. Production
of the female moulds for the
hull, bridge and roof and of
the tooling has been launched.
By autumn 2017, boats will be
fitted out for the test phase.
The stakes are high. "We shut
down production in the United

jec composites magazine / No112 April - May 2017

A boat designed like a sport car

States and are using the launch
of this new model, which will be
the Ferrari of sailing, to expand
our operations here," explains
Xavier Desmarest, CEO of the
company Outremer. "We already have four preorders for a
total 18 million euros."
The cooperation between
Outremer Yachting's and
Gunboat's shipyards will also
enable the group to generate
organizational and logistical
synergy. "This system reinforces our expertise in the long-distance cruising niche," says Mr.
Desmarest.
An excellent size/weight/
sail-surface-area ratio
The result of 15 years of devel-

opment, the new Gunboat 68
is lightweight and strong, and
is made of 100% epoxy infused
carbon foam-cored sandwich
construction. It is designed for
ease of sailing, comfort, speed
and luxury, integrating the
best of the characteristics that
made the reputation of the
first Gunboats to mark a new
milestone in the brand's evolution, a bold step towards the
future thanks to the "French
touch"! It will be the largest
one of the range.
In addition to VPLP Design,
which took care of all engineering and the hull shape,
sail, master plan and shape of
the appendages, the design

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #112 - April/May 2017