Gitana X - in the flesh

James Boyd took a tour around one of the newest and most radical of the 60ft trimarans

We have looked at the new Gitana X trimaran before, but today in St Malo was the first day we have had a chance to crawl over her...and what a beast she is.

To recap - the new Gitana X is unique in many ways. She is only privately owned 60ft trimaran in the ORMA fleet. And has a unique group of designer including maxi-cat expert Gilles Ollier and his team, C-class expert Duncan McLane and Sebastien Schmidt. Just before the torrential rain descended this morning.

During trials this summer she suffered delamination in her crossbeams and spent 10 weeks back at her builders, Chantier Multiplast. As a result she hasn't been tested nearly as much as skipper Lionel Lemonchois would like.

Below: an unusual feature of Gitana is her X-crossbeam configuration and the fore and aft beams that run across her cockpit for sheeting large gennikers