EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE

Launched in August 2018 by Team Charal, the VPLP design initially struggled with her hot-headedness, but gradually the team was able to tame this ultra-powerful trailblazing foiler.

On her return from a first full sailing season in 2018, Charal’s team carried out a major overhaul and above all adopted a new foil configuration with new casings. The aim from then on was to focus on her reaching and downwind performance since statistically nearly 80% of the Vendée Globe is contested on these points of sail. On 8 November 2020, Charal set sail on the Vendée Globe, but lost out on any chance of victory after an early return to Port Olona to repair various damage just days after the start. Heading back out on the racetrack far behind the fleet, the triple Solitaire du Figaro champion finished in 13th place. In 2021, the team made various changes and optimisations to this physically and technically demanding boat, the most notable being a modification of the bow, which is now spatulated. Jérémie Beyou and Christopher Pratt finish 3rd in the Transat Jacques Vabre, but then the boat hits a UFO just hours after leaving Martinique on her delivery home, which results in another sizeable chunk of time in the yard. After the start of the 2022 season, which saw Jérémie Beyou finish runner-up in both the Guyader Bermuda 1000 Race and the Vendée Arctique Les Sables d'Olonne, Charal has been handed over to the talented Swiss sailor Justine Mettraux, accompanied by the Vendée Globe. The yachtswoman is living up to her reputation and is leading her new machine with a masterly hand, finishing 6th and 7th in the 2022 and 2023 races. In 2026, Oliver Heer takes the helm of this 2018 IMOCA, with the aim of competing in the next Vendée Globe.