SolOceans update

Yvan Griboval on his singlehanded round the world race in one designs

During the Press Conference hosted last Tuesday by Laurent Beauvais, President of the Lower Normandy Region Yvan Griboval, CEO of SailingOne (Eurosport Group) and creator of the SolOceans, gave an update on the event. He also presented the programme for the four coming seasons, during which two editions of the SolOceans are scheduled for the sailors. Jean-Pierre Champion, President of the French Sailing Federation and Fabienne Gaillard, researcher IFremer, which manages the Veolia OceanoScientific Campaign®.

Since 15 June 2006 when the SolOceans was officially presented and then on 7 March 2007 when Veolia Environmental Services gave its name to the oceanic one-design and to the scientific programme of the SolOceans, Bostik, the first Veolia Oceans® one-design series for the SolOceans has sailed 28,000 nautical miles i.e. 52,000 kilometres, test-sailing, on her round-the-world tour initially scheduled in 2007-2008. At present Bostik is on display as guest of honour at the Nautic (Paris Boat Show), outside the main entrance.

Yvan Griboval reminded everybody the story so far: "It was here at the boat show, just three years ago, that Michel Desjoyeaux, Jean Le Cam and myself, defined the outline of what has now become the Veolia Oceans® one-design for the SolOceans. She was then conceived by Finot-Conq and Associates, mainly built in Lower Normandy (France), at JMV Industries yard for the carbon hull and in Caen for the equipment, the preparation and the maintenance.

"Just a year ago, on this same Lower Normandy Region stand, Bostik embarked with us: André Ladurelli its CEO and Charles Caudrelier its skipper. Their entire involvement with us between 1 December 2007 and 31 December 2008 end of our first collaboration, allowed us to run the campaign of test in the best conditions possible.

"Now, the Veolia Oceans® one-design is perfectly fine-tuned. The series production of this high-tech one-design is possible in the best conditions, with controlled budget, as we undertook to do it at the very beginning. The selling price was 1,710,000 euros before taxes at the 2007 Boat Show. Thanks to the hard work of the team managed by Jean-Baptiste Daramy (SailingOne) the selling price for this 16-metre high-tech one-design has been reduced to 1,530,000 euros before tax and ready to sail. It’s around half the price of a prototype 2.20 metres longer than the Veolia Oceans®."

"What seemed an impossible task on 15 June 2006 is now a reality: to offer on one side a controlled running cost not exceeding 2.5 times the running cost of a season on a Figaro Bénéteau one-design, i.e. an average investment of about 500,000 Euros per year, reserve for depreciation of the one-design and insurance excluded and on the other side a guaranteed media exposure. In fact, the estimated cost of a season varies between 380,000 and 540,000 Euros per year before taxes on a four-year cycle. Finally, our partner and associate, Eurosport Events, on 23 May 2008, committed to give more than forty hours of media exposure already scheduled on the International platform of the Eurosport Group (59 countries - 20 languages) during the six months of the SolOceans.

"Besides the reliability, the sturdiness and the exceptional qualities of the Veolia Oceans® one-design in the most hostile breezes, the different sailors who steered her proved how fast she can go. And no reasons for her to be ashamed of herself compared to her IMOCA 60 big brothers, only 2.20 metres longer. Charles Caudrelier and Liz Wardley sailed more than 450 nautical miles in the Indian Ocean some days, at more than 25 knots under the autopilot. Alexia Barrier, Phil Paxton and Yann Clavier connected Cherbourg (Normandy - France) to New York City last July, facing three strong depressions, at 8.60 knots on average on the direct course. Thus, they have signed a performance equal to the one of the best competitors of the Artemis Transat. Finally, during her first official participation to a race, the Rolex Middle Sea Race, at the end of last summer, the Veolia Oceans® one-design proved her potential above twelve knots. Thanks to a rigorous work, Charles Caudrelier and the team of North Sails France have optimised the sail plan of the Veolia Oceans® one-design with Michel Desjoyeaux advices in order to reinforce her velocity in the breeze below Force 2. Thanks to this important work, the Veolia Oceans® one-design is now ready to start her international oceanic career."

The programme of the Veolia Oceans® one-design Class will be composed of the SolOceans every two years, from October 2009 until March 2010; and the same way in 2011-2012 and so on. An annual four-crewmember transatlantic race in the spring, raced from Europe towards the Northern American Continent is being finalized at the moment with a main sponsor guaranteeing its feasibility. Every summer, the Veolia Oceans® one-design Class will take part to major international classical races like the Rolex Middle Sea Race or the Rolex Fastnet Race, also raced in crew of four. Finally, in order to liven up the programme of the Class, the company Pen Duick will open the starting line of the 2010 Route du Rhum - Banque Postale to the Veolia Oceans® one-design. "There is a real interest in terms of sports to welcome this new class of boat", Pierre Bojic, President of Pen Duick confirmed. "It’s entirely the original spirit of the Route du Rhum and we will be very pleased to welcome the Veolia Oceans® one-design class in 2010."

"The French Sailing Federation is favourable to the emergence of an oceanic one-design series in order to allow our sailors to climb the rungs of the hierarchical ladder of competitions, component of a real sports industry" reminded Jean-Pierre Champion, the President of the French Sailing Federation. "That’s why we believe in the development of the Veolia Oceans® one-design class. It is a class allowing racers from the Figaro Bénéteau Class or from the Class 40, classes with mainly coastal and transatlantic races to sail in a class allowing to practice circumnavigation with in mind entering the IMOCA 60 race circuit in order to take the start of the Vendée Globe, the Everest in the career of a oceanic solo sailor. The one-design allows a control of the cost. This has been proved season after season by the Figaro Bénéteau Class. It’s a philosophy our federation support, as it allows young racers to build their sportive career, but also companies to commit in our sport with a real visibility in terms of budget. During an economic crisis, this is an important asset."

Since its origin, the SolOceans has been built on two pillars. The first pillar is purely sportive, with a competition on equal footing, unique in the world on a round the world course, a fortiori singlehanded. The second is more ambitious. It’s the scientific contribution of this circumnavigation, under the form of the Veolia OceanoScientific Campaign®.

All the communication made around the SolOceans since the launch of the concept in 2006 has exclusively been centred on the sportive and the nautical part, notably with the fine-tuning of the Veolia Oceans®. In the meantime, a work group was created by Martin Kramp (SailingOne) around Fabienne Gaillard, researcher IFremer at the Laboratoire de Physique des Océans (Oceans Physics Laboratory), in charge of the GLOSCAL Project of calibration / validation of the SMOS satellite and manager of the Veolia OceanoScientific Campaign® for the different international institutes engaged in this campaign for the scientists whole over the world. Today, IFremer, INSU, CNRS, Meteo France and a few satellite companies are involved in the Veolia OceanoScientific Campaign® which will take its whole importance during the 2009 season, and, specially, on the course of the first SolOceans leaving Caen (Normandy - France) on 25 October 2009.

"The climate change has been proved now", Fabienne Gaillard explained. "In order to carry out realistic forecast concerning its evolution and to precisely evaluate its impacts, we (scientists) need to be able to describe each aspects of these changes and to understand its mechanism. The ocean is one component of this system and its surface plays a key role in the climatic system. To identify and qualify the variableness, we combine observation at long range thanks to satellites and in-situ measures collected from different types of means: ships, drifting buoy, fixed station, autonomous device. In those circumstances, the Veolia OceanoScientific Campaign® is a real opportunity for us researchers."

"The Veolia OceanoScientific Campaign® will allow us to collect data at the interface between the Ocean and the atmosphere", Fabienne Gaillard specified. "In the atmosphere, the Veolia Oceans® one-design will collect data on the atmospheric pressure, the wind (strength and direction) and about the temperature - humidity of the air. In the water, it will be scientific information on the temperature, the salinity and the partial Carbon Dioxyde pressure. The rate of acquisition of those data will vary between every minute to every hour depending on the variable. An automatic transmission between the sea and the shore will be scheduled and sent to the operational centres for an immediate use: short and middle term forecast, seasonal forecast, validation of the satellites measures. The other part of information collected at sea will be passed on to data banks for the long term study of the climatic system behaviour."

The scene of the SolOceans is now set. All the ingredients are there to make a strong and emotional sportive event. Its scientific aspect is useful to the scientists around the world, thanks to the high standard of the Veolia OceanoScientific Campaign® implemented around renowned scientists. Now, the actors - the sailors - can start playing. "The number of solo sailor on the starting line of the first edition of the SolOceans, next 25 October starting from Caen, will depend on the number of Veolia Oceans® one-design produced and sold", Yvan Griboval explained.

"The first unit of the Veolia Oceans® series, which sailed under the colours of Bostik during the past year, will have a new charterer at the end of next spring. She will be reserved for a renowned sailor who will soon announced his/her commitment in the first edition of the SolOceans at the end of the spring. The second unit of the series is ready to be painted in V1D2 yard and to be equipped in SailingOne yard at Caen (Normandy - France). The deck and hull of the third unit are ready to be assembled at JMV Industries in Cherbourg (Normandy - France). The fourth unit can be started next March or April. Then if we meet the demand, the rate of production will be of one unit ready to sail every three months. At best, this means five Veolia Oceans® one-design on the starting line of the SolOceans".

"We hoped for this press conference at the Nautic 2008 to be the one announcing the eight competitors on the starting line", Yvan Griboval admitted. "Nevertheless, the economic crisis reached a first peak just when we were confirming the reservations done in 2008. We need to adapt to this situation entirely new in which I personally need to find back my sailing instincts in order to sail visually depressions after depressions, gusts of winds after gusts of winds. Our task has been made slightly more difficult, but the fundamentals remain relevant. Our approach to controlling the cost and guaranteeing the media exposure to the sponsors of the competitors and the sponsors of the organiser of the SolOceans is still very relevant, today more than yesterday. We hold our course on 25 October 2009, and on the following editions. One often need time to write a nice story, even with a strong will".