Banque Populaire V

Banque Populaire V

Banque Populaire V is an offshore-racing trimaran and Team Banque Populaire's^[1] fifth boat designed to set oceanic records. She was launched on 4 October 2008 in Nantes, France.

With her 40 m (130 ft) length, she is currently the largest racing trimaran in the world. Her current skipper is Loick Peyron. Her first skipper, Pascal Bidégorry, entered the Team Banque Populaire in 2004. Her sponsor is the French bank Banque Populaire.

Design

The architectural project for Banque Populaire V started in 2006. The architects VPLP^[2] (Van Peteghem / Lauriot-Prévost) designed this G-Class maxi multihull. The trimaran was built by the shipyard CDK Technologies^[3] in Lorient.

Career

She was launched at the end of August 2008 in Lorient for her sea trials.

In 2009, she made her first attempt across the northern Atlantic from west to east. On Sunday 2 August 2009 she established the new record in 3 days, 15 hours, 25 minutes and 48 seconds (an average speed of 32.94 knots), beating the previous record, held by Franck Cammas on Groupama 3, by more than 12 hours. During the attempt she also broke the 24-hour distance twice, first with 880, then, several hours later, with 907 nautical miles (1,680 km).

In 2010, the boat was moored in Brest, awaiting an opportunity for an attempt to beat the Jules Verne Trophy record (circumnavigation of the world), held since 2010, by Franck Cammas and the maxi-multihull Groupama 3.

The first such attempt started on 22 January 2011 at 12:11:45, with the objective of reaching the finish line before 11 March at 19:55:37. This attempt failed on 4 February, when she hit some debris and was forced to retire.

Loïck Peyron took over as skipper from Pascal Bidégorry in June 2011.^[4]

A second, successful attempt began on 22 November 2011; she circumnavigated in 45 days, 13 hours, and 43 minutes.^[5]

In January 2013, the boat was acquired by Dona Bertarelli's racing team Spindrift Racing, and renamed 'Spindrift 2'.^[6]

Records

• Northern Atlantic (New York-Lizard Point), 2,921 nautical miles (5,410 km) in 3 days 15 hours 25 minutes 48 seconds, 2 August 2009, with an average speed of 33.41 knots (61.88 km/h).^[7] Skippered by Pascal Bidegorry. This is just two knots slower than the fastest Blue Riband Ocean Liner SS United States (1952, powered by 180.000 kW) and still two knots faster than second ranking RMS Queen Mary of 1938.
• 24 hours distance, 908.2 nautical miles (1682 km), an average speed of 37.84 knots^[8] with a maximum speed of 47.16 knots^[9] during the record breaking Northern Atlantic passage of August 2009. Skippered by Pascal Bidegorry
• Trans-Mediterrannean record, between Marseille (France) and Carthage (Tunisia), 16 May 2010, in 14 hours 20 minutes and 34 seconds at an actual average speed of 33.24 knots.^[10] Skippered by Pascal Bidegorry
• Around the British Isles record, in 3 days, 3 hours and 49 minutes, 8 July 2010.^[11] Skippered by Loick Peyron
• Fastnet Race, in 1 day, 8 hours and 48 minutes, 15 August 2011, averaging 18.5 knots.^[12] Skippered by Loick Peyron
• Jules Verne Trophy (fastest circumnavigation around the world) in 45 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes and 53 seconds, arrival 6 January 2012, averaging 19.75 knots. Skippered by Loick Peyron

See also

• Groupama 3
• Orange II
• USA 17 (yacht)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Banque Populaire V.

• Banque Populaire V Official site
• Banque Populaire V smashes transatlantic record on Youtube