The 50' multihulls are the stars in Quebec

The last crew members are in the process of going on board, as Thursday is the final opportunity under the rules imposed by the Race Directors to carry out the final adjustments and trials on the Saint Lawrence River. Forced to remain moored up from this evening, the 110 sailors from Italy, Germany, England, France, Belgium and Canada will be in front of the navigation charts trying to draw up their final race strategies. Whilst it still remains somewhat premature to talk about the weather, there is still a lot of discussion on the pontoons in Quebec about how to deal with the trip down the Saint Lawrence with all its inherent dangers, such as its currents and eddies, its rocks lying just under the surface and the wildlife. Everyone agrees that the 370-mile voyage on the river is a hurdle, where nobody wants to be held up.

Franck-Yves Escoffier believes that the time has come for the 50-ft multihulls...
What if luck was with the 50-ft multihulls? For a long time, remaining in the shadow of their fabulous elders in the Orma class, the small 15.24 multihulls are now doing much more than follow in their wake. This year, the Transat Quebec Saint-Malo offers them an occasion to show what they are capable of, combining absolute performance and adaptability... as well as remaining financially accessible. Six boats belonging to the very young Open 50 class created in 2002, which is presided over by Hervé Cléris, are present in the harbour in Quebec and it would appear that the atmosphere has never been so euphoric concerning their future, which was so brilliantly highlighted by the now emblematic «Crêpes Whaou !» sailed by Franck Yves Escoffier, whose performances during the most recent ocean battles have not been far removed from those of the finest 60-foot boats. Convinced about the perfect suitability of his Van Peteghem - Lauriot Prévost designed boat for such a programme of top level ocean racing, which is accessible both to amateurs and professionals, the yachtsman from Saint Malo has continued in recent years with a series of wins to spread the word to racers and sponsors looking for the most exciting adventure possible. The seventh Transat Quebec Saint-Malo could well confirm his aspirations for the class and those taking part.Yves le Blévec, following his winning 6.50 Transat, has opted for three hulls to continue his yachting career. Going on board Crêpes Whaou for the Quebec Saint-Malo was not something that just happened and Yves may well soon be announcing the construction of a new generation 50' Open, which promises to be fast and spectacular like Escoffier's trimaran, but with cost and development under control. Remaining open and friendly, the Open 50 Class could well offer designs and boats accessible to many more, with now the growing hope, that in the short term a homogenous fleet and very efficient collection of ocean racing trimarans will appear.

Crêpes Whaou at the forefront?
Following a request from Franck-Yves Escoffier, the designers, Van Peteghem - Lauriot Prévost came up with a simple boat in 2005: «Crêpes Whaou! neither has foils nor a canting mast, and no daggerboard with trimmer. That however does not mean she is not a racer, as with a ratio of weight to power of 45 m2 per tonne, she is very close to the 50m2/t of the 60-ft boats. However, handling her is much less complicated. Instead of sailing on a float in just eleven knots of wind, she raises her leg up in fifteen knots of real wind,» Vincent Lauriot-Prévost explained.