After been involved in sailing sponsorship for ten years, Foncia has decided to remain with Michel Desjoyeaux and has announced that the partnership has been extended to 2014. The next four years will be dedicated to building a new 60-foot IMOCA designed by VPLP/Verdier, the team behind Marc Guillemot’s Safran. This new IMOCA 60 will be built at the CDK yard
The first part of his programme is already well underway, as since Monday 18th January the basic design plans have been at the yard, where construction is due to start. Michel also announced he will be taking part in two events this year: the next Route du Rhum (the solo transatlantic race that he won back in 2002 aboard the Géant trimaran) and the Barcelona World Race.
Michel Desjoyeaux: "With the construction of the new monohull scheduled to be complete within seven and a half months, we’re going to have to pull out all the stops. We’ve got a lot of work ahead. I announced this to my team the day before yesterday. They certainly had a sparkle in their eyes. So we’ve definitely got our work cut out".
Guillaume Verdier, co-designer of the future IMOCA 60 Foncia: "This is a new project, which means we’re looking at in a different way. We’re putting in place a large design team. Alongside me there will be Benjamin Muyl and Romaric Neyhousser who have worked with me for a long time. Then with VPLP, there will be Xavier Guilbaud. There are bound to be a lot of discussions between us, particularly given Michel’s huge experience."
