GROUPE DUBREUIL

Country FR

FRA 112

Baptismal nameMĀLAMA
ArchitectGuillaume Verdier
Construction2021, CDK Technologies
Launch date8/24/21
Former names11TH HOUR RACING TEAM - MĀLAMA

Presentation

After her victory in The Ocean Race, the American IMOCA, skippered by Charlie Enright, was sold to Sébastien Simon with the ambition of taking part in the next Vendée Globe, alongside Groupe Dubreuil.

The American IMOCA launched in the summer of 2021 is the first boat specifically designed to compete in The Ocean Race in 2023. Despite being based in her port of registry of Newport, 11th Hour Racing Team - Mālama was designed by Guillaume Verdier and built in Brittany at CDK in collaboration with MerConcept and skipper Charlie Enright’s shore crew, which notably includes Pascal Bidégorry, considered within the racing fraternity as one of the best at tweaking and fine-tuning racing yachts. Two years of exchanges between the various protagonists have notably enabled the structure to be optimised, as well as the space in the cockpit and the interior living pod, whilst also drawing inspiration from the massive French culture in terms of IMOCA, as her skipper is keen to point out. One of Guillaume Verdier’s aims was to design a boat that is both versatile and consistent so she can be raced in crewed, double-handed and singlehanded format, “without any gapping in the polars” and with a coachroof that is both aerodynamic and enclosed. Very attentive to the project’s carbon footprint, the American racing stable, has also employed the services of Irish sailor Damian Foxall – with eight circumnavigations of the globe to his credit ranging from Maxis to VOR 60s, VO70s, VO65s and IMOCAs – as Sustainability Program Manager. The choice to build the boat in Brittany, where all the suppliers are located, in order to limit transport (mast, hull, sails, etc.) was guided by this desire to limit the carbon footprint as much as possible. In addition, an LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) was carried out by the team with the Marineshift360 tool, the challenge being to know what can be optimised to reduce this impact while maintaining the fabulous performance of these boats. Biobased resins, recycled carbon and natural fibres were tested and used for this purpose. From the very beginning, the boat has shown exceptional potential, but damage to the keel sail (delamination) in the 2021 Transat Jacques Vabre, deprived Charles Enright and Pascal Bidégorry of a good result. In 2022, including an express crewed round trip from Concarneau to Newport - 6,000 miles - 11th Racing Hour Team-Mālama, sailed 560.5 miles in 24 hours at an average speed of 23.36 knots! After the crewed round-the-world race, Sébastien Simon takes over the boat in the Dubreuil Group colors.

Length18,28m
Beam5,85m
Draught4,50m
Weight9 tonnes
Mast height29m
Mast typeWing mast
FoilsYes
Sail area max.
UpwindNC
DownwindNC

Sailing Highlights

2024 : New York Vendée - Les Sables d'Olonne - 4th
2024 : The Transat CIC - 10th
2023 : Retour à La Base - 19th
2023 : Transat Jacques Vabre - 18th
2023 : The Ocean Race - Winner
2022 : Défi Azimut-Lorient Agglomération - Winner
2021 : Transat Jacques Vabre - 13th
2021 : Défi Azimut-Lorient Agglomération - Abandon