The first IMOCA with foils
Launched on March 5, 2015 and christened two days later in Lorient, Safran (often referred to as « Safran II » to distinguish it from Marc Guillemot’s first boat) is one of the very first next-generation IMOCA 60s equipped with foils. Designed by VPLP Design and Guillaume Verdier, built by CDK Technologies in Port-la-Forêt, it marked a turning point in the class’s architecture: for the first time on an IMOCA, the hydrofoils partially lift the hull in reach conditions and reduce drag at high speed.
An architecture that ushered in a new era
The design introduced key features that defined the decade that followed: powerful hull with lateral foils, rotating wing mast positioned aft of the cockpit, lowered central cockpit for protection, pronounced bow volume to get the boat on plane.
The project was developed in partnership with Banque Populaire to share R&D and construction costs (both boats sharing the same architectural platform). Marc Guillemot, the skipper of the first Safran, played a major role in the design, bringing 30 years of offshore racing experience.
Morgan Lagravière, the new generation
To helm Safran, the team bet on a skipper from the new generation: Morgan Lagravière, 27 years old at launch, French champion in solo offshore racing and former member of the French Olympic sailing team in 2008. The project explicitly targeted the 2016 Vendée Globe, with a young skipper at the helm of a cutting-edge boat — symbolic of a generational shift in the IMOCA class.
The foils turning point in the IMOCA class
With Safran (and its sistership Banque Populaire VIII of the same generation), 2015 marked the definitive shift to foil-equipped boats in the IMOCA class. Subsequent generations — including Charal, Apivia, LinkedOut and the 2024-2025 Vendée Globe fleet — would build on and refine the path opened by the first foilers of 2015. While Safran remained a transitional boat in sporting terms (the class would evolve rapidly thereafter), the project had a historic impact on IMOCA architecture.
A project sponsored by a high-tech industrial group
Safran is a French high-tech industrial group operating in aeronautics, defense and space. The 2014-2017 commitment to this new IMOCA aligned with the group’s continued support for its first project (2007-2014) and reflected the consistency of its communication strategy through offshore racing: the technical challenges of an IMOCA with foils (high-performance composite materials, reliability of embedded systems, precision instrumentation) directly aligned with the group’s core businesses.
