Presentation
This 60-foot IMOCA launched in the colours of Safran is more than a trailblazer, she’s a benchmark. The first monohull to be designed by Vincent Lauriot-Prévost and Guillaume Verdier, and built by Thierry Eluère, a composites expert at the Larros yard, she has not only given rise to further iterations, she’s also continuing on with her exceptional career.
Light yet powerful, just a few months after her launch in August 2007, Safran finished 2nd in the Transat Jacques Vabre with Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier. Third in the Vendée Globe 2008-2009, this time Marc Guillemot went on to win the Transat Jacques Vabre 2009, again with Charles Caudrelier, then finished 3rd in the Route du Rhum 2010. The boat sailed another Transat Jacques Vabre (with Yann Eliès), then retired from the Vendée Globe 2012-2013 in the opening miles after losing her keel. With Pascal Bidégorry, Marc Guillemot completed his 4th Transat Jacques Vabre (2nd), before concluding with another 3rd place in the Route du Rhum 2014.
Yann Eliès then purchased the boat, carried out an impressive refit so that the boat was able to compete against the latest generation boats and, flying the flag of Quéguiner-Leucémie Espoir, finished 3rd in the Transat Jacques Vabre in Itajaì with Charlie Dalin, before bagging 5th place in the Vendée Globe 2016-2017.
Alain Gautier made the IMOCA part of his company Sensations in 2017, before entrusting the monohull to the Franco-German sailor Isabelle Joschke, who secured 8th place in the Transat Jacques Vabre with Pierre Brasseur in the colours of Generali. Rechristened Monin, the boat dismasted during the Route du Rhum 2018. A year later, the boat came out of refit with the new name of MACSF and took the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre. Unfortunately, Isabelle Joschke and Morgan Lagravière scraped the bottom of the boat in Étretat just after the start. MACSF undergoes a major transformation and update: addition of foils, new mast, roof cuddy, electronics… Isabelle Joschke takes the start of the Vendée Globe in 2020. She’s a key protagonist in the race’s top ten as far as the coast of Argentina where the boat suffers damage to her keel ram, forcing her to retire from the race.
The sailor nonetheless makes it up to Salvador de Bahia to affect the necessary repairs before setting sail once more and completing her round the world singlehanded via the sea.
At the end of 2021, with Fabien Delahaye, she finished 12th in the Transat Jacques Vabre, then took a magnificent 5th place in the Guyader Bermuda 1000 Race 2022, ahead of a number of much newer boats. A few weeks later, she had to retire from the Vendée Arctique after suffering damage to her mainsail in a storm.
In 2023, she was joined by Pierre Brasseur for the double-handed season. After a lacklustre Transat Jacques Vabre due to damage to her mainsail at the start of the race, the skipper set off single-handed on the return transatlantic race, more than motivated. She hung in there and managed to finish in 9th place, a very fine performance and a promising one for 2024.
