SolOceans - News - Veolia Oceans® to be built in Normandy (03/15/2007)

Veolia Oceans^®to be built in Normandy

Thursday March 15th 2007 News RSS

During a press briefing held at midday in Cherbourg-Octeville, Yvan Griboval (SailingOne) and Jean-Marie Vaur (JMV Industries) officialised their partnership for the series construction of the SolOceans' Veolia Oceans^® One Design, in the presence of Bernard Cazeneuve, First Vice-President of the Lower Normandy Region and Mayor of the City of Cherbourg-Octeville.

Presentation JMV Industries - March 15th, 2007 From left to right around the model of the Veolia Oceans^® in JMV Industries: Jean-Marie Vaur (JMV Industries); Bernard Cazeneuve, First Vice-President of the Lower Normandy Region and Mayor of the City of Cherbourg-Octeville; Yvan Griboval (SailingOne) and Didier Courboillet, Regional Director of Veolia Environmental Services North Normandy.
Free of rights for press use, subject to the compulsory mention:
Photo Jean-Marie Liot - SailingOne

The SolOceans is the first single-handed oceanic round the world race to be sailed on equal footing on Veolia Oceans^®Oceanic One Design monohulls, all completely identical to each other, on a France - New Zealand - France course. The initial starting date has been set for 25 October 2009 and the SolOceans race will then be run every two years. The first Veolia Oceans^®will sail around the world for reconnaissance purposes from October 2007 to March 2008.

“For Lower Normandy (Normandy Region), it is a wonderful opportunity to restore its sailing values”, explains Bernard Cazeneuve referring to the SolOceans and the construction of the Veolia Oceans^® in Cherbourg. “This approach is built from our desire to extend the influence of our ports and to develop the sailing industry over the whole Lower-Normandy territory, as much to reinforce existing skills as to develop training and specialized employment. The long-term vision of the organizers of SolOceans corresponds to our own wish to provide Lower-Normandy with a sailing showcase of wide international coverage. In this context, it is important that JMV Industries be involved in the construction of this new one-design and that it may develop its many strengths in the production of high-tech carbon”.

Christian Brit, production manager of the Veolia Oceans^® at SailingOne, explains that “the hulls and decks will be built of Hexcel carbon baked at 90 degrees by JMV Industries, who will also make the main bulkheads and ballasts. We will make the other bulkheads and accommodation areas in Hexcel carbon via infusion in our Saint Philibert (Morbihan) workshop. JMV Industries will deliver a hull ready to be fitted out and then equipped to become a Veolia Oceans^®”. Yvan Griboval adds that “Jean-Marie Vaur's team is both reliable and rigorous in the construction of high-end prototypes. What is more, their mastery of high-tech series production is an additional guarantee in favour of the strict one -design quality of the Veolia Oceans^®.” JMV Industries produces the “Intercepteur” series. These are fifteen-metre speedboats made of carbon intended for coastal surveillance, built at Cherbourg by Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN) and cruise at a speed of fifty knots.

The JMV Industries yard, created in 1992, specializes in the manufacture of large sized carbon pieces, using a 45-metre oven and a 50-metre autoclave. This Lower Normandy production unit is reputed for the building of yacht prototypes for oceanic racing. In the monohull category, its flagship is Mari Cha IV, 45 metres long. Before that, JMV Industries became famous by building a good number of the Finot-Conq and Associates Group in the IMOCA 60 and 50 classes, among which Christophe Auguin's boat (Sceta Calberson - Géodis) which won the BOC Challenge (single-handed around the world with stopover) soon afterwards, then the Vendée Globe (single-handed around the world with no stopovers and no assistance).

Closer to us, JMV Industries built Jean Le Cam's monohull (VM Matériaux, ex-Bonduelle) and Sill et Veolia winner of the last Route du Rhum in the hands of Roland Jourdain. With a view of racing the next Vendée Globe, JMV Industries built Jérémie Beyou's Delta Dore. In the multihull category, we can mention the construction of the Team Adventure catamaran for the American, Cam Lewis (The Race), as well as the hulls for the 40-metre trimaran, Maxi Banque Populaire V for Pascal Bidégorry, currently in the yard.

The mould for the hull of the Veolia Oceans^®, made by Charlie Capelle's team (Technologie Marine at Saint Philibert), arrived at JMV Industries yesterday evening and the construction of the first unit of the series will begin shortly. At the end of March, SailingOne will announce how and where the Oceanic One Design built at Cherbourg will become a Veolia Oceans^® equipped to race off around the world on the SolOceans course.