Vigo (Pontevedra)
Updated:01/11/2021 22: 37h
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With a Jules Verne record aboard the ‘Banque Populaire V’ trimaran in 2012 and a winner in the Volvo Ocean Race 2017-18, Escoffier believes that foils are still the path to a winning campaign in the IMOCA Championship and in the Vendée Globe.
After being rescued in the South Atlantic by the breakage and subsequent sinking of his IMOCA «PRB», he is already thinking about what a future IMOCA could look like for the 2024 Vendée Globe. At 40, an accomplished engineer and boat builder: “I think we need to be cautious. When you look at the race, you have to see who the three leaders are. The reason we are a little disappointed with the performance of the foilers is that we did not see the 30 knot peaks that we expected. But always. they are the ones in the lead. When you look at the North Atlantic, they have had less wind than the drifting OPEN 60s. And even skippers that have problems, like Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut), who has only 100% foil, and Charlie Dalin, who also has problems with the hydrofoil (APIVIA), are in the lead ”.
The “PRB” pattern admits that there is still a long way to go before the foils – or the structure of the ship that houses them – are more resistant to shocks, so that point impacts do not have a significant negative effect on the performance of the boat. ship. This is something he’s been working on on his old boat, among other things.
“I’ve always thought about that, even with the ‘PRB’. When I changed the lower bearing of the foil, I put a shock absorber and a titanium piece so that the hydrofoil wouldn’t break the hull if it hit something. I have worked a lot on multihulls before in monohulls; and in multihulls we have had this type of problem for some time, at the same or higher speeds. So we are working on the consequences that a broken foil can cause and on protecting the structure of the boat “.
The PRB company has always been linked to the Vendée Globe regatta, competing with its boat in seven editions (in 1996-1997, 2000-2001, 2004-2005, 2008-2009, 2012-2013, 2016-2017 and 2020-2021) , winning it in the 2000-2001 editions with Michel Desjoyeaux and in 2004-2005 with Vincent Riou.
Looking ahead to the next edition in 2024-2025 PRB is already working on a new project with Kevin Escoffier who have called it “an efficient budget in relation to performance”. Escoffier comments: “I have had incredible support from all the PRB staff and the following is highly appreciated by many of them. PRB is a great sponsor and a great company. I am very proud of it and supported by great people like Jean-Jacques. I am very fortunate to work with people like him. The company hopes to attract a partner to share in the adventure. A naval architect has not been chosen yet.
I can imagine what we should do as a ship. I’m thinking about the sails, the maneuvers and the way we envision the interior. I have always been passionate about boats, as well as navigation and design, it is my life. So yeah, I’m back on land, but I’m not on vacation; I’m working on my project and imagining what I’m going to do with the boat and the big goal is the next Vendée Globe, that’s for sure ”.
On his misadventure in the South Atlantic, when his ship broke down and sank in a matter of minutes, Escoffier highlights the skill of Jean Le Cam to rescue him, always with his sly humor, in fact, the first thing he said to Kevin was that it had “Delayed a bit.”
“It is incredible what Le Cam is doing in this race with such an old boat. He worked hard on the boat before starting the race. I am impressed with the way you navigate; We know that IMOCA regattas are not just about sailing, it’s about the project and how to do a good project, not only at sea but also on land ”.
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