Armare Ropes, together with Soluzioni Tessili Rigging who handle design and installation, have supplied ropes and cables for the new rigging of Imoca “Compagnie du Lit”, skipper Clément Giraud. The boat will participate to the legendary Vendee Globe 2020, a solo race around the world, non-stop and without assistance. The race will start on November 8th from Les Sables d’Olonne, France.
La Vendee Globe – Presentation
The legendary Vendée Globe: an extreme feat for skipper boat and materials. Currently the Vendee Globe is the only sailing race round the world solo, non-stop, and without assistance. The event followed in the wake of the Golden Globe which had initiated the first circumnavigation of this type via the three capes (Good Hope, Leeuwin and Horn) in 1968. Only one out of the nine pioneers who had set off in 1968 succeeded in returning to Falmouth, the major port of British Cornwall. On 6th April 1969 after 313 days at sea British sailor Robin Knox-Johnston finally reached his goal.
Twenty years later, after having won the BOC Challenge twice, (solo round the world with stopovers) navigator Philippe Jeantot introduced the idea of a new race around the world but.. non-stop! The Vendée Globe race was born. On 26th November 1989 thirteen sailors took the start of the first edition which lasted over three months. Only seven returned to Les Sables d’Olonne.
Clément Giraud – Compagnie du Lit
The eight editions of what is now called the “Everest of the seas” by the public have enabled 167 contenders to take the start of this extraordinary race. Only 89 of them managed to cross the finish line. This figure alone shows the extreme difficulty of this global event in which solo racers are confronted to freezing cold gigantic waves and heavy skies which sweep the oceans. Discover more about Vendee Globe.
Compagnie du Lit – Photo Vincent Olivaud
The “Compagnie du Lit” rigging
Working closely with Soluzioni Tessili Rigging, we have produced both standing and running rigging, designed with the primary goal of being reliable performing and long-lasting. The entire supply of custom equipment was processed in a record time of 10 days! Visit Clément Giraud website.
Photo: Soluzioni Tessili Rigging
For the running rigging we have chosen covers with differentiated percentages of technical fibers, suitable for different uses on board. The covers in Black Technora® and Kevlar® are optimal to resist at abrasion and high temperatures, while the Polyester is excellent as a versatile fiber that allows the distinction of the different rigging, thanks to the numerous chromatic alternatives introduced. Dyneema® guarantee also an excellent fluidity and smoothness and increases the effective duration of ropes, especially if used in all those rigging which are subject to frequent movements and high loads.
For the cores we have chosen Dyneema® SK99 HPS+PU and Dyneema® SK78 HPS+PU, according to different needs. For example, in order to obtain the lowest possible elongation and high resistance the sheets have been made with a core in Dyneema® SK99 HPS+PU with high tenacity and greater modulus, respectively of 20% and 35%, when compared with Dyneema® SK78.
Photo: Soluzioni Tessili Rigging
The supply of the entire standing rigging also included the textile rigging, featuring composite cables with an unidirectional core in PBO-Zylon® and covers in Black Dyneema®. Finally we have also created torsional and structural PBO cables for various purpose onboard.
Photo: Soluzioni Tessili Rigging
Vendee Globe website: https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en
Clément Giraud website: https://www.clementgiraud.com/