Vendée Globe

The christening ceremony for the new 60’ monohull, Safran, took place at 3 p.m. on Saturday 1st September in the Paul Vatine Dock in Le Havre, after 15 months of work at the Larros boatyard. This event marked the end of the first leg of her skipper’s Vendée Globe adventure.

Claudie Haigneré, France’s first astronaut, matron of the boat

Claudie Haigneré, Safran’s matron was unable to attend the ceremony, so it was down to her guest patron, Loïc Masson, an employee with the Group to carry out the naming by smashing the traditional bottle of champagne on the monohull’s grey and orange bow, which was greeted with thunderous applause.
After this long-awaited moment, Jean-Paul Béchat, President of the Board of Safran, reminded everyone of the company’s commitment to ocean racing and their support for Marc Guillemot, the boat’s skipper. He stressed Safran’s involvement in the boat’s construction, taking advantage of the aeronautical engineering technology of six of the Group’s companies: Sagem Défense Sécurité, Snecma, Snecma Propulsion Solide, Aircelle, and Messier-Bugatti.


A unique challenge!

The Safran Sailing Team, in collaboration with the technical staff of the group’s subsidiaries worked for two years to develop a lightweight, powerful and competitive boat. Marc Guillemot stressed today just how much the boat was the result of a team effort, underlining the major role of all those involved in the project design: «This new Safran monohull is the result of the effort, involvement and collaboration of my whole team, designers, Thierry Eluère, the head of the Larros boatyard, and the engineers and staff of the Safran Group.»


A boat built for high performance single-handed sailing…

Safran is the result of collaboration between the design team of Van Peteghem-Lauriot Prévost and Guillaume Verdier, closely associated with the Safran Group. This is the first time a sponsor has been so actively involved in the design and build of a boat.
The Safran monohull was designed to be lightweight and easy to handle. In fact, reducing the weight of the structure was one of the main concerns during the thousands of man-hours spent on her. A neat hull, with very straight sides above the chine, a moderate sail plan and a lot of work on the electronics – everything was carried out to offer performance to the single-handed sailor rather than sheer power.

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And now it’s off to Salvador de Bahia!

One chapter is over and another is just beginning. Marc Guillemot has only one thing on his mind right now: heading off on the Transat Jacques Vabre alongside his co-skipper Charles Caudrelier. «I can’t wait to cross the line. The Transat will be a perfect way to train for the 2008-09 Vendée Globe, which remains my main goal.»

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