Please select your home edition
Edition
Vaikobi 2024 December

Banque Populaire V on standby - North Atlantic Crossing record attempt

by Virginie Bouchet on 17 Jun 2009
Maxi Trimaran Banque Populaire V - http://www.voile.banquepopulaire.fr/ SW

Today, a new chapter begins in the Maxi Banque Populaire V's book of records. In a few days, Pascal Bidégorry and his twelve crewmen will set sail for the United States, their sights set on achieving a new reference time for the North Atlantic crossing.

As from June 18th and as soon as the weather permits, the Team Banque Populaire will set sail towards New York on an attempt to reduce the 4 days 3 hours 57 minutes and 53 seconds of the record. The stopwatch will go off on the finish line set between Ushant and Cape Lizard, revealing whether the maxi trimaran built by the Sailing Bank is to write a first line in its race against time, the beginning of a story that will reach the main plot with the Jules Verne Trophy starting next winter…

Having won the Transat Jacques Vabre, been multihull world Champion in 2005 and given everything to the Route du Rhum in 2006, Pascal Bidégorry and Groupe Banque Populaire worked together to plan a future project in line with the Group's passions and ambitions: it would have to be a maxi multihull with the potential to wash away all the current records.

History

Trimaran owners since 1989, Groupe Banque Populaire listens to and is in tune with their skipper's views as they continue their investment in the challenging world of ocean racing, seeking to share their combined love of the sea and sailing adventures with the widest possible audience, reflecting their a spirit of adventure, team work and bravery.

The Groupe Banque Populaire gave the green light in April 2006. Since then the skipper has scarcely had a moments respite. He has surrounded himself with leading experts and built a strong team of twenty-one professionals, all specialists in their respective fields. With the express agreement and involvement of Banque Populaire, the team elect to work with the renowned designers Van Peteghem – Lauriot Prévost (VPLP).

For VPLP, the challenge consisted of designing a fully crewed, no compromise multihull, which is totally versatile but very high-performing, suitable for a mixed programme, which is always seaworthy but cutting edge and progressive, but which always preserves the safety of the crew on board. The Maxi Banque Populaire V is conceived - to date, it is the biggest ocean racing trimaran, sailed by a highly experienced team, skippered by Pascal Bidégorry, ready to let rip on the seven oceans and challenged by the most prestigious seafaring sailing programme.

Pascal Bidégorry and his associate Ronan Lucas, the Director of the Team Banque Populaire, sought a design centred around a very specific idea: 'We wanted a big boat which would be able to sail fast safely but with a range of speeds, all that we knew we could master from a technological point of view'.

Four months of research jointly carried out by the Team's Design Office, the designers, the build teams and the Groupe Banque Populaire and skipper Pascal Bidégorry settle on building on a 40-metre (131 feet) trimaran.

At the same time the designers in charge of the construction of the beams and the final assembly is entrusted to the boatyard CDK Technologies, in itself requiring a warehouse big enough to accommodate the giant of the seas, Keroman Technologies in Lorient.

In January 2007, the Cherbourg shipyard JMV Industries starts on the construction of the central hull and particularly the mould, which is completed in May. At the beginning of September, the two half shells of the main element of this superb machine are assembled, finally revealing the futuristic lines of the Maxi Trimaran Banque Populaire V.

On October 1st 2007, departing from Cherbourg-Octeville, a trailer almost 50 metres in length takes to the road to bring the central hull to Lorient. The delivery alone takes 24 hours. But, a year after the official presentation of the project and following nine months of research, the main part of Banque Populaire V arrives at Keroman Technologies at JMV Industries. Between the assembly of the aft cross beam built at CDK Technologies in Port-La-Fôret, and the arrival of the outer hulls, the team will have to wait until the beginning of 2008 to see all the pieces of the puzzle assembled in Lorient.

On August 26th 2008, at the end of a delicate operation expertly led by the whole Banque Populaire Team and the Keroman Technologies Boatyard, the Maxi Banque Populaire V meets water for the first time. The launch, carried out without a hitch, is immediately followed by the placing of the mast and by the delivery under engine of the newborn towards its receiving pontoon in Lorient harbour. A series of resistance tests follow over the next two weeks in order to get a feel of the machine's structure and tolerance of the forces to be encountered at sea.

On September 9th 2008, exactly two weeks after its launch, the Maxi Banque Populaire V takes to the open sea on the first of a long and successful series of navigations. Sea trial after sea trial the ocean-going maxi trimaran improves, and the team completes and puts the finishing touches to the boat's adjustments, each and every one of these sea trials proved as productive as exciting. In the course of these experiences, the Dream Team put together for the records by Pascal Bidégorry also takes the shape of a fine talented crew composed of twelve men behind a happy skipper. The men on board the latest of the Giants class, Ronan Lucas, Marcel Van Triest, Yvan Ravussin, Kévin Escoffier, Ewen Le Clech, Sébastien Audigane, Yann Eliès, Florent Chastel, Emmanuel Le Borgne, Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant and Pierre Yves Moreau form the ideal team to tackle the race against time.

On September 14th 2008 the Maxi Banque Populaire V men leave their Brittany base for the first time on a long offshore sea trial aimed not only at deepening their knowledge of the boat but also at rallying to Cadiz-Puerto Sherry, stand-by port of the Discovery Route, first of the record attempts on the Team's programme. In spite of two months of waiting, no weather window deigns to open for the sailors, who patiently await better conditions and make the most of each and every moment to further discover the maxi trimaran and to gain time for their preparation in view of the main event on the 2009-2010 calendar: the Jules Verne Trophy.

Banque Populaire V, the largest ocean racing trimaran in the world, was launched in August 2008 in Lorient (Brittany – France). Built at sites in Cherbourg, La Rochelle and Lorient, the construction of the maxi trimaran took 250 000 man hours of work, utilsiing a total workforce of some 170 people.
Under the leadership Pascal Bidégorry, skipper of the Banque Populaire trimarans since 2004, the crew of the Maxi Banque Populaire V embarks on an ocean records campaign ready to challenge the oceans. In 2009, with a crew of 13, it will attempt to beat the established records on the North Atlantic crossing (New York to the Lizard, England) and the Jules Verne Trophy (Ushant – Ushant via the three great capes).


http://www.voile.banquepopulaire.fr/
North Sails Loft 57 PodcastBoat Books Australia FOOTERRolly Tasker Sails 2023 FOOTER

Related Articles

SailGP's return to Auckland for Season 6 confirmed
ITM is the NZ's Grand Prix's Title Partner, marking a fourth year supporting Black Foils. After a record breaking debut, the ITM New Zealand Sail Grand Prix Auckland has been confirmed to be returning in 2026 and is set to be bigger than ever.
Posted on 26 Jun
Rolex SailGP Championship 2026 dates confirmed
Including a return to fan-favorite destination, Auckland SailGP has released further details of forthcoming 2026 Season, including the return of fan-favorite locations, multi-year hosting agreements secured across all regions, and an evolved regional structure to raise the stakes for athletes and fans alike.
Posted on 26 Jun
BOISW - New Committee announced for 2026
New Committee working hard behind the scenes to rework the 2026 Bay of Islands Sailing Week . A newly appointed committee is already working hard behind the scenes to rework the 2026 Bay of Islands Sailing Week event while honouring the traditions that have made it so special to the sailing community.
Posted on 26 Jun
Pip Hare Announced as Patron of WORLDSTAR 2026
A meaningful return to her roots with the Royal Western Yacht Club of England The Royal Western Yacht Club (RWYC) is absolutely delighted to welcome solo ocean racing legend Pip Hare as the Patron of WORLDSTAR 2026—our flagship round-the-world sailing event. This is more than a title; it's a homecoming.
Posted on 26 Jun
Kieler Woche Day 7
British mixed dominance in dinghy and catamaran After the second day of the Sailing Grand Slam in the Olympic mixed classes, Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris are leading the 470 class even more dominantly than John Gimson and Anna Burnet in the Nacra 17 on Thursday (June 26).
Posted on 26 Jun
29th Superyacht Cup Palma day 1
Cervo and Open Season take opening day honours The Superyacht Cup Palma 2025 swung into action today, with captains and crews across the varied and inspiring fleet seizing the opportunity to take the measure of the competition out on the racecourse.
Posted on 26 Jun
J/70 Mixed-Plus Worlds at Lake Garda Day 1
Yupi leads after a perfect opening day in Torbole Lake Garda delivered its finest conditions for the opening day of the first-ever J/70 Mixed-Plus World Championship: three races completed in a steady, warm Ora breeze peaking at 20 knots.
Posted on 26 Jun
Tschüss 2 - Transatlantic Titans
Line Honours for Christian Zugel's Volvo 70 in the Transatlantic Race 2025 Volvo 70 Tschüss 2 (USA), owned by Christian Zugel and co-skippered by Johnny Mordaunt, has taken Line Honours in the West to East Transatlantic Race 2025 in an elapsed time of 07 Day 15 Hrs 29 Mins and 10 Secs.
Posted on 26 Jun
Craig Wood Makes History
The first triple amputee to sail solo non-stop and unsupported across the Pacific Craig is the first triple amputee to sail solo non-stop and unsupported across the Pacific, completing the 7506nm journey from Mexico to Japan in 90 days.
Posted on 26 Jun
NTG Global Graduate Program
Shape your career and propel yourself into the world of innovation North Technology Group, a global leader in advanced composite technology, is offering an exciting and dynamic graduate program that will shape your career and propel you into the world of innovation.
Posted on 26 Jun