Groupama 2 was the last ORMA class trimaran to be built, and the most titled. Skippered by Franck Cammas, she won most of the Grand Prix from her launch in 2004 until the end of the ORMA circuit, as well as the Transat Jacques Vabre in 2007.
The challenge was to leverage the emerging technologies of the time to optimize hull shapes and structures using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the finite element method. The aim was to build the first 60’ trimaran weighing less than six tonnes. Approximately 15% of the budget was earmarked for research and development.
After serving as Oracle Team USA’s training platform for the 33rd America’s Cup, Groupama 2 was sold to an American owner in 2014 who sailed this mighty machine under the name Mighty Merloe.
