Banque Populaire Capsizes

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The Maxi Banque Populaire IX capsized that night around 3am while sailing off the coast of Morocco.

The crew composed of Armel Le Cléac'h and Pierre-Emmanuel Hérissé accompanied by a cameraman, is safe inside the boat. They were able to trigger the distress and contact the technical team ashore. A boat is already on its way to join the trimaran and its crew in the next hours.

Leaving Lorient Tuesday, the boat took the road to the Mediterranean to compete in a few days Nice UltiMed.

Photo credits: Easy Ride / BPCE

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Then There Were Three



The inaugural NICE Ultimed Is Scheduled to begin April 24th and include 4 Maxi Ultimes,

Sodebo, IDEC, Actual and Banque Populaire, but due to and unforeseen capsize earlier today,

Click HERE!

It appears the fleet will be down to three. And Armel is looking for a ride...






NICE ULTIMED IN SHORT
An offshore sprint starting and finishing in Nice via Corsica, Sardinia the Balearic Islands and the coastline of the Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

12 days of celebration between 25th April and 6th May 2018.

A crew race with 3 to 6 crew members per boat.

4 outstanding skippers: Thomas Coville (Sodebo Ultim’), Francis Joyon (IDEC Sport), Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire IX) and Yves Le Blévec (Actual Ultim)

The biggest racing boats in the world: maxi trimarans measuring more than 30 metres.


THE BIGGEST BOATS, THE GREATEST SKIPPERS AND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SETTING
From 25th April to 6th May, Nice UltiMed will bring together, for the first time in the heart of the Mediterranean, the elite skippers and the biggest sailing boats in the world.


A CLASH OF TITANS
Thomas Coville (2nd fastest man solo round-the-world record holder), Francis Joyon (current holder of the Jules Verne Trophy), Armel Le Cléac’h (winner of the last Vendée Globe) and Yves Le Blévec (3rd in the 2011 Transat Jacques Vabre) will be lining up to take starter’s orders for this unprecedented race. These outstanding sailors are capable of taming the oceans single-handedly on the Ultims, veritable monsters of the seas.
For Nice UltiMed, the skippers will be sailing their maxi trimarans assisted by crews. Backed up by exceptional team-mates, they will be able to exploit the full power and speed of their machines.


AN UNPRECEDENTED FORMAT IN A WONDERFUL MEDITERRANEAN SETTING
In order to allow the giant boats to express their full potential, Nice UltiMed is proposing an innovative format: an offshore sprint, a veritable link between ocean racing and nautical stadium competitions.
Between its start and finish, that will take place in the Baie des Anges, just in front of the mythical Promenade des Anglais, the race boasts a sublime route that will take in some of the most iconic Mediterranean coasts. Corsica, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands and the coastline of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region will provide, alongside the Baie des Anges, a majestic setting for this major first in the Mediterranean.


ENJOY THE EXTRAORDINARY
On land, the spectators will be fully immersed in Nice UltiMed. An exhibition located on the Promenade des Anglais (at Quai des Etats-Unis) involves a full immersion in the race’s atmosphere, allowing discovery of the Ultims, their skippers and a behind the scenes look at how the race is organised. Visitors can then go and meet the giant trimarans and their crews face to face at Nice’s harbour (at Quai Infernet).


www.niceultimed.com/en

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Latest Update

Following the capsizing of the Maxi Banque Populaire IX last night off Morocco, the crew was helpled by the Moroccan army. Armel Le Cléac'h, Pierre Emmanuel Hérissé and the cameraman arrived in Casablanca where they were taken care of by the Consulate of France. Armel, joined by his team on the ground at the end of the afternoon, tells of his capsize:
The roll of the capsize

"That night we were sailing towards Cadiz. We had left since Tuesday of Lorient, we had made a big edge along Portugal. To train, we went to find a crossing point in the northwest of the Canaries. We were returning to Cadiz to pick up the crew for the rest of the program.

The sea was a little formed because the wind had been sustained for quite some time on the west of Portugal. Down to the Canaries, we had strong winds up to 40-45 knots. We were on a fairly tight edge, unbridled close, a laugh in the and the little jib. I had done the routing and over the hours the wind had to go down. The conditions were pretty stable, I checked and there was no storm or thunderstorm in front of us. Pierre-Emmanuel Hérissé (the technical director of Team Banque Populaire) and our media-man were inside, I was in my hut on standby maneuvers.

I was lying down for five minutes to start a nap. The boat started to get up very quickly due to an oversold wind, I did not have time to go out. I was able to sail but it was not enough. Everything went very fast, the boat rolled to the side. I found myself upside down in the water that flooded the cabin. Pierre-Emmanuel called me to find out if I was there. We managed to hear between two waves, I managed to get out of there and to me in the central hull safely with them, in the shelter.

We immediately made a point to make sure no one was hurt. I very quickly unleashed the distress to alert the authorities.

We put security equipment together and put on our survival suits. I contacted Ronan Lucas (the director of Team Banque Populaire) by the cell phone that was in the survival can to tell him that we were all aboard and especially that there was no injury.

Two hours later, a freighter arrived on the zone, we exchanged with them by. It was dark, we could not get out of the boat immediately.
The day came up, a patroller had to join us at the end of the day but finally a helicopter of the Navy could take off from Casablanca this afternoon to pick us up. Upon arrival, one after the other, we boarded the helicopter and landed at Casablanca's military port on a docked frigate. We were very well received by the Royal Moroccan Navy, we could eat and do some health checks, we thank them for everything and the crew of the helicopter. We were then taken care of by the Consulate of France. "

State of mind

It's really hard to live, the conditions at sea were manageable, we've already sailed before in much stronger and committed conditions

Armel Le Cléac'h
It is really hard to live, the conditions at sea were manageable, we have already sailed before in much stronger and committed conditions. Everything rocked in seconds. In my opinion, it is linked to an oversold wind. By the time we left the boat, the three hulls and the arms were intact, the mast as for it, is broken into several pieces. "

A race against time is now engaged to recover the boat as soon as possible and make every effort to be at the start of the Route du Rhum next November.



Photo credits: Yvan Zedda / BPCE - Théo Reynal / BPCE

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Recovery In Progress

The members of Team Banque Populaire's technical team, embarked last night aboard a tug, arrived on the capsize area in the morning today. After several hours of operations and recoveries of the damaged equipment, the tug began the repatriation of the trimaran to Casablanca.

The location of the Maxi Banque Populaire IX site having been facilitated by a Moroccan army boat patrolling and ensured the safety of the accident zone since yesterday, the Team Banque Populaire technical team was able to quickly reach the places in the morning to start the necessary operations to tow.

Ronan Lucas, the Director of the Banque Populaire Team, explains the progress of the intervention

"Arrived on the capsize area in the morning, 2 professional divers and 3 members of the Team Banque Populaire technical team have access to the boat to recover a maximum of elements likely to damage the trimaran more importantly during the towing . For example, we recovered pieces of mast that were stuck under the boat. The conditions on the area were good today which allowed us to work well.

The tow could start then but it will take time. The crew and members of the team present try to preserve a maximum trimaran to Casablanca. The wind conditions are relatively good and manageable, but we are extremely cautious.

The Banque Populaire Team has been able to cope with the problems encountered with calm and professionalism. Everyone started working very quickly to be as efficient as possible and to implement the rescue of the crew and the towing of the boat. In Casablanca or here in Lorient, everyone has dedicated themselves to this since yesterday. We greatly appreciated the solidarity and help of the French and Moroccan interlocutors with whom we have worked so far, we thank them warmly. "

Recall of facts
The members of Team Banque Populaire's technical team, embarked last night aboard a tug, arrived on the capsize area in the morning today. After several hours of operations and recoveries of the damaged equipment, the tug began the repatriation of the trimaran to Casablanca.

Following the capsizing of the Maxi Banque Populaire IX in the night of Friday to Saturday off Morocco, the crew composed of Armel Le Cléac'h, Pierre-Emmanuel Hérissé, technical director of Team Banque Populaire

[Dumass Head]

Better of Morocco than the Southern Ocean!

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Maxi Ultime Banque Populaire In Harbor And Re-righted




Towed since Sunday, the Maxi Banque Populaire joined late yesterday the port of Casablanca after traveling the 130 miles that separated it from the coast.
The technical team proceeded this morning to the reversal operation in order to be able to begin a first diagnosis of the boat and tries to carry out the repatriation of the ship in Lorient as soon as possible. Ronan Lucas, Director of the Banque Populaire Team, makes a first observation.

"The towing took 48 hours because we were extremely careful not to risk further damage to the trimaran.

This morning we handed it to the place with a crane. It is now an opportunity to make an initial assessment of the damage, it is found that many parts of the central hull deck around the mast foot are damaged, as well as the deck of the floats and the arm fairings; some of the caps were washed away.

The clear objective is to put the boat back into the water before the end of the summer and to allow Armel to prepare in good conditions to come from the Route du Rhum in Saint-Malo

Ronan Lucas
We have already taken the lead in organizing the repairs of the trimaran, examining the different solutions for equipping it with a mast and a boom. The clear objective is to put the boat back into the water before the end of the summer and to allow Armel to prepare in good conditions to arrive from the Route du Rhum in Saint-Malo. "

[IOR Geezer]

Damn things get real slow inverted!

[Doug Lord]

Apparently, Banque Populaire lost her daggerboard lifting foil the day before the capsize. That foil can add up to about 20% to the tri's RM thru downforce and can be used to slow down or prevent a capsize. Banque Pop is one of two Ultims equipped with these daggerboard lifting foils-the other is Gitana 17-the first Ultim designed from scratch with a lifting foil on the daggerboard.

[Big Brass Balls]

Interesting to know.

Thanks Doug!