24/08/99

Multiplast is finishing starboard half-hulls of Code Zero, a 33-m (108-ft) catamaran designed by the Gilles Ollier Design Team for The Race. The tooling for the crossbeams is also underway.

Multiplast is finishing this week the first half-hull of Code Zero, the giant catamaran it is building for The Race to a design by the Gilles Ollier Design Team (GODT). A second half-hull is due out of the female mould by the end of August 1999. Built in pre-preg carbon (like the rest of the boat), it first must be cured under vacuum at 120°C. These 2 half-shells will make up the starboard halves of each hull. So the yard will have to wait for the lamination of the 2 port half-hulls before assembling the first complete hull in October 1999, by wet lay-up joint. Launching of this 33-m (108-ft) machine is planned for May 2000, after a one-year build period (55 000 man-hours).

The crossbeam moulds are ready. The bulkheads that will take place inside the hulls are under construction. Meanwhile, the design office is finishing its work on appendages (dagger boards and rudders), sail plan and deck hardware. An extra campaign of tank testing has just been undertaken to fine-tune the catamaran’s trim. In all these fields, architects of the GODT – Gilles Ollier, Yann Penfornis and Frank Martin – are working hand in hand with their team of outside consultants, all top-level scientists. Each decision is submitted for agreement to at least two specialists, in order to minimise the risks of human error. Gilles Ollier: “Our keyword is reliability.”

When Code Zero is de-moulded at the end of September, the moulds will be available for the construction of a second catamaran, Code 01. Destined for another owner, she will have different characteristics (with probable variations in beam, appendages and sail plan). She will benefit however from the experience acquired by the Multiplast team (29 people) with Code Zero, and from the tooling made for her. Gilles Ollier: “We estimate that the build time for this second catamaran will be 4 months shorter”. This saving in time and cost could tempt other challengers in The Race. The American Cam Lewis and the Spaniards Guillermo Altadill and Pedro Campos have shown an interest in a common project. The yard has one final advantage to offer: the presence of naval architects on site. “Not a day goes by without the yard manager coming to see us,” Gilles Ollier told us. “It is a question of ongoing exchange.”

More on Code Zero

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