Vendée Globe – Version 3 of the foils for Banque Populaire VIII

by Banque Populaire Sailing Team on 17 Jun 2016 Forced to retire from the New York/Vendée (Les Sables d’Olonne) after a collision happened shortly after the start, Armel Le Cléac’h was unable to repeat the success he had in The Transat, which he won. He nevertheless took advantage of the delivery trip between Newport and Lorient to gain some more experience on Banque Populaire VIII and add to the list of jobs that need to be done before the Vendée Globe.

After finishing as runner-up in the last two Vendée Globe races, he says he is ready to do better this year and has already announced that he will be fitting the third version of the foils for his Banque Populaire VIII.

Armel Le Cléac’h was one of the five sailors to be signed up for both the Transat and the New York/Vendée, along with Vincent Riou, Sébastien Josse, Jean-Pierre Dick and Paul Meilhat. The idea was to give his monohull, Banque Populaire VIII a good testing. Apart from the collision, which led to him retiring from the New York/Vendée, Armel sees the spring races as being successful.

“The boat works well,” he concluded. “We wanted to get in as much sailing as possible and face all the different sea states and wind conditions before we reach the big day of the start of the Vendée Globe. We are running completely to schedule. The boat has been through all the points of sail, with the wind on the beam, sailing close hauled and broad reaching. She slammed like never before in hellish seas in The Transat.” She seems to have found the right speed and performance. “Although out of the race, we felt like we were competing in the return transatlantic crossing back to Vendée,” explained Armel. “We got the speed up and in spite of missing one foil, we managed to catch some of our friends.”

New sails and some final summer work

Armel and the Banque Populaire team got a huge boost to their confidence. Some work needs to be done for the IMOCA 60’ to be in Vendée Globe mode. The new set of sails planned for the non-stop solo round the world race will be delivered in the next few days and tested immediately afterwards.

At the end of June, the boat will be taken out of the water for a thorough check-up of the structure, appendages and systems. “We shall also be finishing version three of the foils, a development based on our first two experiences,” added Armel. She is due to be put back in the water in mid-August. At that point, the boat will be in Vendée Globe mode.