Vendée Globe

The Generali monohull, which will be skippered by the Breton yachtsman, Yann Eliès was launched this morning in front of the Multiplast yard in Vannes. The boat was lowered into the water at high tide at around ten this morning and left the Morbihan Gulf at high speed with the help of the currents to head for her shore base in Lorient.

«A launch is always an emotional moment, said a smiling Yann Eliès. It’s a bit like the birth after a long team effort with some sleepless nights at the end. And the excitement will continue over the coming weeks!» It is in fact on Monday that the boat will undergo her 180° self-righting test required by the Imoca rules. The hull will be turned over with the help of a crane and the skipper will have to right her by moving the keel.

«She is one of the finest boats we have ever built!» said Gilles Ollier, head of the Multiplast yard. «We were looking for power, explained Yann Eliès, which is why the boat is so wide in the beam. The improvements over the previous generations are really a matter of details and reliability.» «The most difficult part of the construction process concerned one single element: the keel, explained Yann Penfornis, who was in charge of the project at Multiplast.
The next important date on the calendar for Yann Eliès and the whole of the Generali team is the christening of the boat in the presence of her prestigious patron, Zinedine Zidane, on 11th May in La Trinité sur Mer.

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