Presentation
The ex-Hugo Boss 2015 designed by VPLP-Verdier in collaboration with Alex Thomson’s team, was undoubtably the most revolutionary of the IMOCA fleet in the Vendée Globe 2016-2017.
Her aggressive look, her matt black livery and grey cells, her reverse bow with a chamfered deck edge, her hull form and finally her slender, fluorescent yellow foils, leave no one indifferent. In short, the British ‘spectre’ wows her rivals, a sensation only heightened by the fact that her skipper is already on his third participation… Her descent of the Atlantic is a demonstration. Unfortunately, the breakage of one of her foils offshore of Kerguelen will seal her fate in the quest for victory, even though the boat’s performance is such that Alex Thomson will remain a threat to the ultimate winner and new Vendée Globe record holder, Armel Le Cléac’h, all the way to the wire in Les Sables d’Olonne. In the last Route du Rhum 2018, Hugo Boss crushed the competition and victory appeared to be a done deal for the Englishman. Unfortunately, he fell asleep as he made landfall at the north-western tip of Guadeloupe and the alarm on his watch was unable to wake him. He ran aground on the beach at Pointe à Claude, breaking his bowsprit. He made the finish line but was later downgraded to third place having had to fire up his engine to get out of danger.
After that, Charlie Enright took on the monohull, rechristened 11th Hour Racing 1, to prepare for his third crewed round the world with stopovers. Awaiting his new IMOCA 11th Hour Racing Malama, designed specifically for The Ocean Race Europe, the American dazzled in the Transat Jacques Vabre with Pascal Bidégorry on the Mk1 version to snatch third.
Benjamin Dutreux, one of the revelations of the Vendée Globe 2020-2021 (9th on a 15-year-old boat), purchased the IMOCA with a view to a second participation in 2024. Guyot Environnement - Water Family underwent a thorough check before being equipped with new, more high-performance foils, and Benjamin Dutreux ranked respectively 6th and 11th in the Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race and the Vendée Arctique Les Sables d’Olonne. At the end of the Route du Rhum 2022, the sailor from Île d'Yeu will compete in The Ocean Race with a crew under the name Guyot Environnement-Team Europe, for a Franco-German collaboration under the European flag.
The Ocean Race finishes in Genoa on June 30, 2023, but without Guyot environnement - Team Europe. The IMOCA skippered by Benjamin Dutreux returned directly to its home port, Les Sables d'Olonne, following a collision with 11th Hour Racing Team at the start of the final leg of the round-the-world race, resulting in the breakage of their bow and bowsprit. The Franco-German team had already suffered several serious incidents, including a broken hull sandwich on leg 3, and a dismasting on leg 4 after getting back into the race.
Despite financial difficulties, Benjamin and his technical team decided to embark on a major bow modification project after this round-the-world race. Indeed, thanks to the data collected on The Ocean Race, they could see that the boat was spending its time with its nose in the water. The idea was to go back to a V2 version of the Guyot Environnement - Water Family, with the added experience gained from The Ocean Race, notably on the rudders, which were very thick and made the boat very hard to helm.
For the second half of the season and after these major changes, Benjamin Dutreux was joined by Corentin Horeau for the Transat Jacques Vabre, a race in which they finished 10th.
