Fast Times Ahead

A flurry of fresh new IMOCA 60 launches harkens the arrival of the latest generation of ocean-racing greyhounds about to set chase around the world.

ED GORMAN

New boats in the IMOCA class are coming out of the sheds thick and fast on the Atlantic coast of France, many of them at the old German World War II U-boat base at Lorient in Brittany. These days, in the fleet made famous by the solo nonstop Vendée Globe round-the-world race, there’s a lot of pizzazz on these occasions. Boats no longer appear and then get quietly lowered into the water. In a class in which millions of euros are being spent on new designs, promotions and messaging, first launches are now previewed by the release of sophisticated video treatments, and the reveals take place with theatrical precision. It is an astonishing fact in a world teetering on the edge of recession that no less than 14 new IMOCA…

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Sailing World (Digital) - 1 Issue, Fall 2022

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