Presentation
The ex-Hugo Boss 2015 designed by VPLP-Verdier in collaboration with Alex Thomson’s team, was undoubtably the most revolutionary of the IMOCA fleet in the Vendée Globe 2016-2017.
Her aggressive look, her matt black livery and grey cells, her reverse bow with a chamfered deck edge, her hull form and finally her slender, fluorescent yellow foils, leave no one indifferent. In short, the British ‘spectre’ wows her rivals, a sensation only heightened by the fact that her skipper is already on his third participation… Her descent of the Atlantic is a demonstration. Unfortunately, the breakage of one of her foils offshore of Kerguelen will seal her fate in the quest for victory, even though the boat’s performance is such that Alex Thomson will remain a threat to the ultimate winner and new Vendée Globe record holder, Armel Le Cléac’h, all the way to the wire in Les Sables d’Olonne. In the last Route du Rhum 2018, Hugo Boss crushed the competition and victory appeared to be a done deal for the Englishman. Unfortunately, he fell asleep as he made landfall at the north-western tip of Guadeloupe and the alarm on his watch was unable to wake him. He ran aground on the beach at Pointe à Claude, breaking his bowsprit. He made the finish line but was later downgraded to third place having had to fire up his engine to get out of danger.
After that, Charlie Enright took on the monohull, rechristened 11th Hour Racing 1, to prepare for his third crewed round the world with stopovers. Awaiting his new IMOCA 11th Hour Racing Malama, designed specifically for The Ocean Race Europe, the American dazzled in the Transat Jacques Vabre with Pascal Bidégorry on the Mk1 version to snatch third.
Benjamin Dutreux, one of the revelations of the Vendée Globe 2020-2021 (9th on a 15-year-old boat), purchased the IMOCA with a view to a second participation in 2024. Guyot Environnement - Water Family underwent a thorough check before being equipped with new, more high-performance foils, and Benjamin Dutreux ranked respectively 6th and 11th in the Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race and the Vendée Arctique Les Sables d’Olonne. After the Route du Rhum this November, the sailor from Ile d’Yeu will contest The Ocean Race in crewed format.