Premières navigations pour l’Irus 5.50…

Naissance d’un dériveur high tech, intégralement imaginé par Guillaume Verdier, long de 5.50 m, à coque planante et aux performances équivalentes à celles de catamarans de sports.

Le point de vue de Jocelyn Blériot pour Sailing Anarchy [03.06.2008]

Well, Giovanni Soldini’s brilliant victory in The Artemis Transat aboard his all-conquering Guillaume Verdier Class40 gives me the perfect opportunity to present you this little rocket, born on the same naval architect’s drawing board. Oh, OK, that’s just a way of putting things because actually, the speed machine was built without any plans, the drawings having only existed in Guillaume’s head. Initially, he had started building it for his own pleasure as well as to test new hull shapes before the 2001 Vendée Globe, but being a busy man, things moved very slowly at the yard. Well, his garage, actually.

The thing took up the whole space, and visitors would admire that work in progress… until one of them fell in love with the boat and decided he’d make one for himself – it’s now complete and ready to sail, and bears the name Irus 5.50 (Irus being the Morbihan Gulf Island facing Guillaume’s house, and 5.50 metres being the maximum length his garage would allow for). Pierre Lediberder, member of the Safran Sailing Team, is now the proud builder/owner of the first of what should be a series. The boat is 2,2 metres wide (4,7 metres wide including wings), and boasts the same righting moment as a Tornado Sport, with which it shares the same deck hardware and wingmast. The total weight, ready to sail, is 170 kg, for a construction in EGlass – Epoxy resin and carbon reinforcements. The idea is to achieve aboard a monohull the same type of performance as on 18′ catamarans, providing planing sensations unheard of on a multi. The Irus 5,50 has been conceived to offer sensations which only come very late, and in extreme conditions, on a keelboat. Somehow, we get the feeling this could be a hit… And check out Soldini’s Telecom Italia or the Safran Open 60 (VPLP Verdier design), their hull shapes actually partly come from the work carried out on this little beast.

En savoir + sur l’Irus 5.50