Orange 2 launched

The design team at Multiplast on their new beast, plus photos of the launch from Gilles Martin-Raget

After 14 months in the build shed and more than 90 000 man hours, the new Orange maxi catamaran designed by the Gilles Ollier Design Team and built by Multiplast, was launched in Vannes (French Atlantic coast) today for skipper Bruno Peyron.

"Although the boat is a concentration of technology, she is above all else a work of art in the image of her engineers, designers and builder who created her," described Bruno Peyron just prior to her launch, a tribute to the large team involved with the new mega-cats creation which has taken place over the last year and a half.

This boat is the fifth G-Class maxi-multihull to come out of the Multiplast shed in four years. "This new boat is not revolutionary, she has just been perfected," says chief designer Gilles Ollier. "She is the fruit of years of experience."

Multiplast has been building hi-tech carbon yahcts for more than 20 years. "We have mastered all-carbon pre-preg construction technology and oven-curing, even if it’s not that easy to manage in cases like Orange II, involving 90 000 man hours over a short period of time," commetned the design teams' Frank Martin.

Compared with the first generation of giant maxi-cats such as Club Med ( Maiden II), Innovation Explorer ( Orange 1, Kingfisher II) and Team Adventure the new boat is 4.50m longer and the mast 6m higher. Her displacement is 30% greater than her predecessors, while impressively her 'power' Ollier and his team estimate to be more than 60% greater than that of the previous generation. "In view of these factors, we can hope that average speeds are 5-10 % higher than the previous generation," continues Martin. "This means that the 700 miles in 24 hours barrier will no doubt be reached and exceeded, and that top speeds of 45 will be recorded."

Until the end of January at the earliest Multiplast will be carrying out a series of load tests on the new boat, alongside in La Trinite sur Mer and then at sea, prior to the departure of the boat on her Jules Verne Trophy attempt in mid-February.

While this might seem a terrifyingly short period of time between launch and round the world record attempt, the team are confident. Club Med when she was launched sailed at 35 knots in the first week she sailed and covered 625 miles in 24 hours within her first month.

Dimensions of Orange II
LOA 37.80 m
LWL 36.80 m
Beam 18.00 m
Air clearance 48.00 m
Mast height 45.00 m
Boom length 17.00 m
Upwind sail area 700 m²
Downwind sail area 1000 m²

Skipper Bruno Peyron