TOUR DE FRANCE À LA VOILE: THREE CHEERS FOR MULTIHULLS

For years now, the ‘Tour de France à la Voile’ has been a shadow of its former self, with fewer and fewer entries – the fault of excessive budgets.

The organizers have therefore decided to relaunch this major event in the French nautical world, and have chosen as their new craft a 7.25-metre trimaran, the Diam 24. Exit the M34 monohull then, and welcome to fun and spectacle...

The Diam 24 costs 55,000 euros inc. VAT, ready to sail – a third of the price of the M34, which should bring the amateurs who had deserted it back to the event. And then, after wide consultation, ASO, the organizers, realized that a majority of skippers wanted ‘to sail on a multihull, which offers more speed and a better spectacle...’

The trimaran, a fun boat, fast and spectacular, will also allow them to guarantee closer proximity to the public. This is one of the organizer’s main lines since it purchased the Tour de France à la Voile in 2012. The arrival of multihulls will however require the sporting part to be rethought: technical courses will alternate with long runs of several miles. The opportunity to reinforce the ‘spectacle’ dimension of the Tour. As for the skippers, Desjoyeaux, Gabart, Le Cléac'h and Riou have already been announced as being at the start, not to mention Cammas, who won’t miss the opportunity to have fun in a multihull...

When we tell you that everyone is going over to multihulls...