Palanad 4 is a 50-foot scow designed by Sam Manuard and built by JPS Production, intended for IRC racing. Overall winner in January 2026 of the RORC Transatlantic Race between Lanzarote and Antigua (3,000 miles in 8 days 5 hours 55 minutes, averaging around 15 knots), it beat fifteen competitors on corrected time, including Ino Noir (Carkeek 45). Only the Maxi Raven (111 feet, AC75-type foils) was faster in real time. Upon arrival, images of the immaculate scow surfing at over 20 knots on the blue waters of Antigua illustrated a transatlantic crossing that was both fast and comfortable for the crew.
Owner Olivier Magré, who sailed for a long time in Class40 with his son Antoine (including a Mach 40.4 designed by Sam Manuard, winner of the same Transatlantic Race in 2021), wanted a boat to sail with friends, with real berths and a usable cockpit for cruising, while remaining very high-performance. Palanad 4 meets these specifications: tilting keel, asymmetric daggerboards, generous beam, immense cockpit, double companionway. Architect Sam Manuard, co-designer with Bernard Nivelt of the Pogo RC and designer of the Mach 45 Cartouche (in collaboration with Nicolas Groleau, founder of JPS), claims a lineage with the latter.
In IRC, Palanad 4 is the opposite of a TP52: the hull displacement when heeled and the tilting ballast allow for a more powerful and lighter boat, with a reduced crew (7 during the transatlantic race) for a rating close to TP boats (TCC 1.426). The keel tilt generates lift and makes the boat very lively downwind in rough seas. After the RORC Transatlantic Race, Palanad 4 followed up with a victory in the RORC Caribbean 600 (start February 23, 2026), before a European program (Spi Ouest-France, ArMen Race, Round Britain and Ireland Race).
