Safran then Groupe Quéguiner then Monin then MACSF
The first boat produced by the VPLP and Guillaume Verdier collaboration, Safran is the fruit of the Vannes-based architect’s two decades designing ocean-going multihull sailing boats and Verdier’s experience acquired at the Finot-Conq firm. Safran is remarkable for her powerful hard-chined hull, her mast stepped further aft to promote a more slender sail plan, her curved dagger boards, and her deck layout which draws inspiration from the latest innovations appearing on ocean-going trimarans.
Safran features numerous technical and technological advances, such as a mast that was specially designed for the boat, a carbon-fibre keel, and carefully positioned ballast tanks, the latter the result of the fruitful collaboration between the architects and skipper Marc Guillemot.
After a successful run of podium places – notably in the Vendée Globe and the Route du Rhum – and victory in the 2009 Transat Jacques Vabre, Safran was sold in late 2014 to Yann Eliès who changed her name to Quéguiner-Leucémie Espoir. Her new owner replaced her rudders, daggerboards and keel, and modified her ballast tanks. The successes continued with 5th place in the 2016–17 Vendée Globe.
Subsequently bought by Alain Gautier and skippered by Isabelle Joschke, she was fitted with foils in 2019 in preparation for the 2020 Vendée Globe. MACSF more than lived up to the performance expected of her new set-up, however her skipper was forced to retire from the race after rounding Cape Horn.
