MACIF trimaran wins the 2017 USHIP ArMen Race

François Gabart and his team won the first race of the season on the MACIF trimaran – the USHIP ArMen Race. They left La Trinité-sur-Mer shortly after 4 pm in calm weather. MACIF and his crew engaged in a very close match race with Sodebo in the initial stages of the race, before gaining the advantage on their contenders during the night.

After under 24 hours at sea off the coast of Brittany, the MACIF trimaran crossed the finishing line of the USHIP ArMen Race at 10.26 am in the lead. One month before The Bridge, François Gabart and his crew of Pascal Bidégorry, Guillaume Combescure, Antoine Gautier, Benoît Marie and Yann Riou have harnessed MACIF trimaran’s capabilities and tested the optimisations made this winter. The 100-foot multihull had not raced with other Ultims for over a year and in doing so it has proved its full potential.

François Gabart at the race finish:

“Everything went very well during the race. We started out alongside Sodebo, less than a mile from each other, and that was great.  We handled the transition, in a very light breeze, very well as the night drew in and we gained speed. The distance between us widened and this morning we no longer really experiencing the same weather.

With regards to organisation, there were six of us on deck until night fell. When the wind lifted, we no longer need to change sails and everyone rested in turn. We drove the boat hard, without any of us exceeding our limits in terms of tiredness.

It is very reassuring that the boat is performing well, just like the team is working well together.  Everyone took up their role, in relation to their skills, quite naturally. We really complement each other. We still have a few things to fine tune, but we have a great mindset.”

MACIF trimaran 2017 provisional programme

25 June: Start of The Bridge (race with crew between St Nazaire and New York)

Mid-October: Start of the standby period for the single-handed round the world record attempt

MACIF trimaran identity sheet

Official name: MACIF 
Architects: VLP
Construction: CDK Technologies (project management), Multiplast (Central hull, mainsheet traveller) 
Launch date: 18 August 2015
LOA : 30.00 m 
Beam: 21.00 m
Max draught: 4.50m
Number of daggerboards: 3
Air draught: 35 m
Upwind sail area: 430 m²
Downwind sail area: 650 m²