Please select your home edition
Edition
Leaderboard FD July August September 2023

Energy Observer, the legendary catamaran, celebrates her 40th anniversary

by Energy Observer 19 Apr 2023 05:28 PDT
Energy Observer © Photo d'archives

Launched in 1983, Energy Observer celebrates this year her 40 years of longevity with multiple records.

From the fastest racing catamaran in the world in 1994 to the first autonomous energy vessel since 2017, discover the incredible story of this vessel that has become an ambassador of positive solutions for the planet.

Prestigious skippers

40 years is a ripe old age for a boat. While commercial ships live between 25 and 40 years - the bigger they are, the shorter their life expectancy - racing boats have much longer life cycles. Their cutting-edge construction, often optimized and modified during their careers, and their high-performance design turn them into machines with multiple lives.

Built by Canadair in Canada in 1983, the famous aircraft manufacturer, under the name of Formule TAG, Energy Observer has had a prestigious lineage of skippers. The first winner of the Route du Rhum, Mike Birch, was the pilot of this revolutionary machine of her time. Mike shared his final farewell during the last Route du Rhum, a nod to a destiny marked by the multihull revolution, his historic victory on a small yellow trimaran over Michel Malinowski's long monohull having left its mark. The boat, designed by Nigel Irens, showcased high technology and composites. 24m long, and built-in Kevlar on Airex foam and carbon fiber, she weighed less than 10 tons for more than 440 m2 of sail area. The boat was fast but underwent a long development period punctuated by dismastings and other fires, but above all, high performances, such as the 24-hour speed record of 512.5 miles in 1984.

A world record

In 1992, Sir Peter Blake decided to increase the size of the boat to 25.90m to break the round-the-world speed record, the famous Jules Verne Trophy. In duo with Robin Knox Johnson, another British legend of ocean racing, the ship will eventually break off in South Africa. It then became supported by Enza New Zealand, which decided to lengthen it to 28m! Thus re-inflated, the catamaran won the Jules Verne Trophy, the true grail of ocean speed, in 74 days, 22 hours, and 17 minutes (14.68 knots average speed) during a Dantesque duel with Olivier de Kersauson's trimaran in 1994.

As it became the fastest boat around the world, the large catamaran was bought by British sailor Tracy Edwards in 1997, who attempted the Jules Verne Trophy again with an all female crew but ended up dismasting.

Tony Bullimore, eternal ocean racer of his majesty, bought her in 2000 and lengthened her to 102 feet, or 31 meters, to participate in The Race, the millennium round the world race, then in the Oryx Cup starting from Doha in Qatar in 2005. Left fallow for a few years, she was finally taken over and deeply redesigned by Victorien Erussard and his teams in 2015 to become Energy Observer.

A vessel at the service of the energy transition

The vessel went from 15 to 35 tons, with larger hull volumes and a central nacelle molded as a racing trimaran. Many architects participated in this transformation, including Marc Lombard and Marc Van Peteghem, who also carefully designed her aerodynamics and hydro performances.

The objective is no longer about speed but about energy autonomy. After vertical wind turbines and the testing of several propulsion technologies, the catamaran will have smaller wings in 2019 of 32 m2 each, compared to the more than 400 m2 of her previous life! Developed by Ayro, they are fully automatic and much more efficient, prefiguring the rigs of the future, like each of the on-board systems, a complete hydrogen chain, a state-of-the-art solar production, variable pitch propellers, and multiple innovations.

A longevity record

If Energy Observer's hulls have already covered the equivalent of several round-the-world trips, often at very high speed, and have shown exceptional reliability, all these onboard systems can also claim longevity records. No hydrogen chain has remained under high pressure for more than 50,000 hours and 50,000 nautical miles in such harsh conditions.

The thousand onboard sensors, the electrical and control network, the 24v and 400v batteries, the motors, the water makers, or even the electrolyzer (first onboard electrolyzer in 2017!) have almost all clocked up these 50,000 hours of operation since their installation, in the most terrible environment (85 degrees Celsius this week in the hulls) an unprecedented performance far from the specialized laboratories and facilities.

With the 40th anniversary of the vessel, the teams also wish to celebrate all the technological partners who have participated in this feat of longevity by constantly pushing the limits of durability and reliability! It's been over three years since Energy Observer is far from her bases, another record for these innovative technologies, which prefigure the energy systems essential to the energy transition!

Key figures of Energy Observer 2017-2022

  • Launching: April 14, 2017, in Saint-Malo
  • Distance covered: + 50 000 nautical miles
  • Number of stopovers: 77
  • Number of countries: + 40
  • Number of village visitors: + 350 000

Related Articles

Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup Day 2
Philip Köster triumphs again in Pozo Izquierdo Köster survives a late scare to earn an eighth Pozo event title, and first 5-star victory since 2022, in even windier conditions than Saturday. Posted on 6 Jul
A perfect start to the 5th annual AEGEAN 600
Cloudless blue skies, crystal clear waters and perfect 12-15 knots of northerly wind At the very southern end of the Greek mainland at Cape Sounion in Attica, today's start to the 5th edition of the AEGEAN 600 was perfect: cloudless blue skies, crystal clear waters and perfect 12-15 knots of northerly wind. Posted on 6 Jul
29er Europeans at Lake Garda day 4
One race, one storm, and one big lay day vibe With qualification wrapped and the fleet now split into six groups—Gold, Silver, Bronze, Emerald, Purple, and White—Day 4 of the 29er Europeans kicked off with early optimism and an earlier-than-usual launch in pursuit of the morning breeze. Posted on 6 Jul
iQFOiL Worlds a Aarhus day 1
Full foiling conditions launch the World Championship with four high-intensity races for both fleets The iQFOiL World Championship kicked off today in Aarhus with dynamic and demanding conditions that truly tested the world's top foiling windsurfers. The wind was anything but steady, shifting in both direction and intensity throughout the day. Posted on 6 Jul
Rolex TP52 Worlds in Cascais overall
American Magic Quantum Racing win Rolex TP52 Worlds after breezy week in Cascais. Doug DeVos' American Magic Quantum Racing crew were crowned 2025 Rolex TP52 World Champions today in Cascais, Portugal. Posted on 6 Jul
Red Bull Sailing Academy Opens
A new hub for current and future superstars to reach the top of their sport Marina Monfalcone, North Italy, made waves yesterday, as sports superstars gathered to open the Red Bull Sailing Academy, marking the beginning of a new era in the sport. Posted on 6 Jul
Gran Canaria Gloria Windsurf World Cup Day 1
Philip Köster edges out Marcilio Browne in one of the closest finals ever Philip Köster edges out Marcilio Browne in one of the closest finals ever as Pozo delivers 50 knot winds and waves. Posted on 6 Jul
America's Cup: French give the Brits the "Hurry-up
Frustration builds between Cup factions over lack of progress with Protocol. Last weekend's missive from the French America's Cup challenge team is further evidence over the building frustration with progress towards the 2027 America's Cup in Naples. Posted on 6 Jul
The oldest video footage of Moth sailing
A look back into our video archive, to when the name of this class first settled down We delve into our video archive to find the oldest possible videos that show Moth racing. Are these International Moths, British Moths... or was the name still Olive, Inverloch 11ft, National Moth or Brent One-Design?! Posted on 6 Jul
GKSS Match Cup & Nordea Women's Trophy overall
It is the first time the Match Cup Sweden title has been won by a Danish Skipper Denmark's Jeppe Borch/ Team Borch Match Race, and France's Pauline Courtois/ Match in Pink by Normandy crowned the new champions of Marstrand in a day of fierce weather for the final of 2025 GKSS Match Cup Sweden and Nordea Women's Trophy in Marstrand. Posted on 6 Jul
RS Sailing 2021 - FOOTERNorth Sails Loft 57 PodcastSwitch One Design