Surfing at over 20 knots !
You appreciate it when the boat surfs, when she slips gently over the back of the waves and catches up with the previous one, you feel her take off and quiver with the elements. “I first discovered thrills such as these during my Round the World voyages and I'm rediscovering them now aboard the JP54. I relish heading off on a cruise as I enjoy sailing and relish the comfort of a cruising boat”.
Lightness is essential to the success of the concept and has guided our thought processes. Lightness really is the critical element, because the lighter and more powerful you are, the faster the boat will go ! It's magic. This need for lightness dictated the use of carbon for the hull, deck, mast bulkhead, mast, boom and sails, as well as some of the options chosen:
- A single large heads on board
- Absence of linings
- Use of a watermaker as the principal source of water on board.
- A simple deck layout with 3 winches
All our seafaring and racing experience has been incorporated in this design and each kilo on board has been analysed to ensure only critical weight is added. Guillaume Verdier has used higher safety margins than those on the current IMOCA yachts as a guarantee of security.
The consequence of these design processes are there for all to see: 9,6 t displacement and 3 t bulb, an incredible ratio on a cruising yacht.
Race results :
2022 :
1rst Route du Rhum - Mono Rhum class (New record : 16d 05h 57m 51s)
2021
Défi Pure Ocean : (New record : 7 d 14h 43mn 43 s)
2020
1st ARC class A Racing and line honour (monohull)
Défi Pure Ocean : New record between St-Pierre & Miquelon - Lorient (8d 12h 16m). Previous record was in 1987 by Éric Tabarly !
13th RORC Caribbean 600 Line honours monohulls - 9th IRC 0
2019
1st ARC Class A Racing Division
4th Les Voiles de Saint Barth Richard Mille (CSA1)
3rd Antigua Sailing Week (CSA1)
2018
1st ARC Class A Racing and line honour
2015
3rd Fastnet (Canting keel classification)
A first in yachting : the carrousel !
The swing keel and the turning live cell gives great power to the boat. Racers are well aware that any weight to windward can provide additional speed and this basic principle has been incorporated intelligently in the design:
- The heavy parts of the rotating living space (chart table, galley, batteries, and hydraulics) can be canted to starboard or port using 2 rams under a central panel, similar to my living space on Paprec Virbac 2.
- The 3 tonne bulb is transferred with just one finger using a hydraulic ram reminiscent of those that have already proved their worth in gnarly conditions.
- This power also results in good seakeeping, because the boat is less likely to heel.
" I imagined a fast, light yacht which would still keep the joys of surfing in the Great South or elsewhere, and more comfortable than my Vendée yacht. You need to take all the know-how from our powerful monohulls and remove the professional elements (centreboards, physical trimming) just to keep the sensations and pleasures of sailing."
Jean-Pierre Dick
