Press release
05/02/2005
Oryx Quest. 50 % of the fleet built by Multiplast !
This is the first non-stop round the world sailing race starting from the Middle East in Doha (Qatar) exactly. The race was imagined by British sailor Tracy Edwards and will line up four famous maxi multihulls, two of which were built by Multiplast : Doha 2006 et Geronimo.
The first multi - Doha 2006
- is skippered by British yachtsman Brian Thompson. The catamaran was formerly named Club Med and won The Race 2001, first of the 3 sisterships to take a top three place in the race (Innovation Explorer 2 / Team Adventure 3).
The second mutli is the 34-meter trimaran Geronimo
skippered by French yachtsman Olivier de Kersauson who currently ! holds the Jules Verne Trophy. Both boats will have a tough job on their hands fiercely defending these references during approximately fifty five days against strong competition.
First, Cheyenne
holder of the all-time record round the world (58 days) and to a lesser extent the smallest ship entered – Deadelus (30–metres long) – former winner of the Jules Verne Trophy and skippered by Peter Blake under the name Enza. Brian Thompson reindexs confident in his ship with whom he recently broke several records: 24 hours (694.78 miles) now held by maxi catamaran Orange II (706,2 miles). Orange II is also a maxi multihull built by Multiplast in 2003 and designed by the Gilles Ollier Design Team. And later the records round the British Isles and Cowed / Dinard race. “...She is an amazing boat, I think we stand a strong chance of winning ...” says Brian Thompson. This assessment should be heeded knowing that the British skipper was watch captain on Cheyenne...
As for Ol! ivier de Kersauson, Geronimo called in at the Multiplast yard for a refit last autumn for her latest evolution: to install the canting systems for the mast. Geronimo is the first maxi multihull to be equipped with this system.
Start on 5th February.
Oryx is a real race round the world and the course is partly innovative. The descent of the Persian Gulf down to Cape Leeuwin (Australia) and the way back from Good Hope Cape to Doha via Mauritius has never been done before. The new course implies new weather conditions as well as new tactical and strategic approaches during at least one third of the 21 000 miles.
The regatta promises to be exciting as it will be the first confrontation ever to take place between a maxi-trimaran (Geronimo) and maxi-catamarans.
Multiplast will be following the progression of its two yachts which have proved to be reliable. Each boat has already sailed more than twice round the world.
Doha 2006 and Geronimo are part of the 6 maxi multihulls above 30 m long that Multiplast has built since 2000. This includes Innovation Explorer (33 m), Team Adventure (32 m), Orange II (37 m) and Groupama III (32 m),currently under construction.
References
Doha 2006 / Cata 33,50 m. Ex Club Med, won The Race in 62d 06h 56' 33"
Geronimo / Tri 34 m / holder of Trophée Jules Verne in 63d 13h 59' 46"
Follow Oryx Quest 05: www.oryxquest.com
Press relations Multiplast & Gilles Ollier Design Team
François Seguin
36, Rue Dauphine
35400 Saint-Malo -France
Tel. +33 (0)2 99 21 05 57
Fax. + 33 (0)2 99 21 05 57
GSM. +33 (0)6 80 73 00 04
Email. fanch-seguin@wanadoo.fr
Web www.multiplast-yachts.com
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