David Raison, the architect who brought the scow back to offshore racing
Born in 1972 in Saint-Nazaire, graduate in hydrodynamics and naval engineering from École Centrale de Nantes (1995)David Raison founded his firm David Raison Naval Engineering in 2010, based in Plouhinec, Morbihan. He is the architect who reintroduced the scow hull form (rounded bow with high volume, a shape known in the 19th century) into modern offshore racing.
The scow bet in the Mini 6.50
In 2010, Raison designed the Mini 6.50 Magnum (no. 747), the first scow in offshore racing. He skippered it himself and won the 2011 Mini Transat. He followed up with Maximum (no. 865) in 2013, an evolution of the concept. The wide bow shifts volume forward, allows earlier planing, and reduces bow diving in waves.
Transition to Class40 and IMOCA
In 2019, Raison designed the Class40 Crédit Mutuel no. 158 for Ian Lipinski: very high bow, pronounced scow. The boat won the 2019 Transat Jacques Vabre (Lipinski / Adrien Hardy) and triggered the widespread adoption of the scow in Class40. A sister ship Crédit Mutuel no. 202 was launched in April 2024 in Lorient.
In 2023, Raison moved to the IMOCA class with two identical boats built by Persico Marine (Italy) on a shared budget of around €5M each, compared to €8M+ for a foil-assisted design:Stand As One for Éric Bellion and Tout commence en Finistère - Armor Lux for Jean Le Cam. Clear choice: no foils, straight daggerboards. Both competed in the 2024 Vendée Globe.
The Maxi 650 at IDB Marine
In 2017, Raison partnered with the IDB Marine yard (Trégunc, Finistère) to produce a production Mini 6.50 scow. The first Maxi 650 was launched on June 8, 2018. By late 2025, 63 units delivered. In the 2024 season, the Maxi 650 took 71% of the podiums in the production Mini class.
