Presentation
The virtual sistership to Banque Populaire VIII, winner of the Vendée Globe 2016-2017 with Armel Le Cléac’h, the then named Safran II skippered by Morgan Lagravière was lying in 4th position when she hit a UFO offshore of Cape Town, which pulled out her steering system and forced her to retire in South Africa…
Designed by the VPLP-Verdier duo, the monohull was equipped with foils in 2015 upon her launch and, after a rather flashy start (2nd in the Trophée SNSM, 6th in the Artemis Challenge, 3rd in elapsed time in the Rolex Fastnet Race), the skipper, supported by Nicolas Lunven, had to retire from the Transat Jacques Vabre after suffering water ingress in the foil casing. Though the structure was reinforced, the sailor hit a UFO the day after the start of the New York-Vendée transatlantic race. Following her rapid repair, Morgan Lagravière still managed to finish 9th in Les Sables d’Olonne…
On her return to Concarneau in 2017, the IMOCA was bought by the Kaïros company for a Transat Jacques Vabre with Morgan Lagravière and Éric Péron (3rd), before being acquired two years later by Yannick Bestaven, who linked together a series of solid results in the colours of Maître CoQ IV (2nd in the GP Guyader and the Bermudes 1000 Race), prior to mixed results in the Transat Jacques Vabre 2019 (with Roland Jourdain) following a rather fruitless W’ly option in the North Atlantic. In 2020, behind closed doors due to Covid, Yannick Bestaven took the start of the Vendée Globe as an outsider, competing against 31 other racers. After an outstanding race, which notably saw him leading the fleet around Cape Horn after a brisk passage across the Pacific, he missed out on line honours in Les Sables d’Olonne, Charlie Dalin being the first to complete the circumnavigation of the globe but snatched overall victory in the event in 80 days and 3 hours once time bonuses were awarded for rescuing Kevin Escoffier.
After the Transat Jacques Vabre 2021, which Bestaven contested with his loyal technical director Jean-Marie Dauris, the co-inventor of the Watt and Sea hydro-generator handed over his IMOCA to Damien Seguin, still in the colours of Groupe APICIL. Aboard this versatile, tried-and-tested foiler, the triple paralympic 2.4m medallist, 7th in the last Vendée Globe, finished 9th in both the Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race and the Vendée Arctique Les Sables d’Olonne, and will line up for the start of the Route du Rhum 2022 and the Vendée Globe 2024.
An intense eight-month refit followed, with the aim of transforming the boat to compete with the latest generation of foilers. On the agenda: reinforcement of the hull bottom, relocation of the ballast tanks to improve balance, construction of a new roof, modifications to the bow, and installation of much larger foils. These modifications have virtually transformed the IMOCA Groupe Apicil into a new boat, according to Damien Seguin.
