Gitana 17

At 32 meters long and 23 wide, the trimaran only just fits into the Ultime class, and was designed by Guillaume Verdier and his team, in close cooperation with Gitana’s design team. The idea behind this innovative boat is to be the precursor of the new generation of racing boats. The team’s stated ambition is in fact that by 2020, Gitana will be the first flying ocean racing maxi-multihull! The planing, innovative hulls, T-shaped rudders, L-shaped foils, very carefully studied platform aerodynamics – everything aboard Gitana 17 speaks of flying.

The trimaran has been designed for a singlehander, but should be easily adaptable for fully crewed sailing, and record attempts, notably around the world.

The boat’s first race will be the Jacques Vabre transat, when the skipper, Sébastien Josse, will be accompanied by Thomas Rouxel for this tricky, hotly-disputed event.

A few figures, always impressive: 20 months construction – 170,000 hours’ work – 32m long – 23m wide – 650m² of downwind sail – 450m² to windward – displacement: 15.5 tonnes – air draft: 37 m.

For more information: www.gitana-team.com