Maxi Banque Populaire XI :
Comprehensive revision of the structural design
Launched on 27 April after a two-year build at CDK Technologies, the Maxi Banque Populaire XI impresses with carefully crafted aerodynamics and significantly larger foils. Based on Banque Populaire IX, Armel Le Cléac’h’s latest Ultim rises more easily but is also heavier… Xavier Guilbaud, naval architect in charge of the project at VPLP Design, walks us through this paradox.
Simon Watin: “Working on projects which are worthwhile and meaningful”
Simon Watin, 35, is one of the four engineers and architects who will assume the collegial management of VPLP Design when the co-founders Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot Prévost decide to step back from full-time duties. He will take on the role of chairman at the end of the handover process, which will continue for a few more months yet.
8,000 Nautical miles aboard Hugo Boss: a unique sailing experience
t’s not often that a VPLP architect gets the chance to sail an IMOCA designed by the firm over a great distance. But that’s just what Antoine Lauriot Prévost did when he seized the opportunity to crew HUGO BOSS on her 8,000-mile return trip from Cape Town to Gosport, following her withdrawal from the Vendée Globe.
VPLP Design unveils its first Class40
The agency known – among other things – for its Ultim, Imoca and Multi50 boats, has joined forces with the Multiplast shipyard to launch its first Class40 prototype. Two boats have already been ordered and will be lining up at the start of the next Transat Jacques Vabre, while a third can still be built […]
Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot Prévost hand over the helm of VPLP Design
As from today, the two naval architects have chosen to put the future governance of the agency, founded in February 1983. In the hands of a new executive committee, made up of Simon Watin (President), Mathias Maurios, Quentin Lucet and Xavier Guisnel.
VPLP Design team wishes you a Happy New Year 2021
Jean-François, a life-changing meeting
Jean-François de Prémorel, a mainstay of the Jeanneau boatyard and a major figure in French sailing, passed away on 14 July 2020 at the age of 64. His meeting with Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prévost was a decisive event for VPLP. The firm’s founders pay their respects.
From one Vendée Globe to another: a brand new world
The Vendée Globe is always a special moment for VPLP Design, especially since the firm’s designs, in collaboration with Guillaume Verdier, won the last two solo round-the-world races. In the run-up to the tenth edition of the race, starting 8 November, Quentin Lucet and Vincent Lauriot-Prévost discuss the changes and innovations in the design of IMOCAs which have occurred in the last four years – a very long time in the relentless pace of this legendary race.
VPLP gets its own simulator
In the ultra-competitive world of naval architecture for racing boats, the simulator is fast becoming an essential if not strategic tool. “Dynamic simulation for calculating stresses is playing an ever-increasing role in design. Simulators are now par for the course, and without one, you can’t really work on offshore racing projects,” says Xavier Guisnel of VPLP’s engineering department. “Even velocity prediction programs are now of secondary importance compared to a simulator.”
VPLP launches its shipping department
At the beginning of the year, VPLP Design opened a new department dedicated to shipping. The culmination of several years’ work, it’s a major development in the history of the firm and builds on its success in racing, cruising and yachting. The new department gives concrete expression to VPLP’s burgeoning presence in the shipping sector which began last October when ArianeGroup chose the firm to design the Canopée, a RORO vessel tasked with carrying sections of the Ariane 6 rocket from Europe out to French Guiana.
