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Flo: the iconic racing trimaran

Trimaran Flo is an updated legendary trimaran of yachtswoman Florence Artaud – Pierre 1er. We tell you about the exciting story of one multihull!

Florence Artaud and the unexpected start of a career

In fact, there are a great many iconic racing yachts, catamarans and trimarans. Among this multitude, alas, not all boats can convey one important aspect - the feeling of the era, its physical imprint in the hull.

Today's hero is the racing trimaran Flo, formerly called the Pierre 1er, just one of those multihulls that perfectly convey the spirit of their native era, namely the 1990s. With this trimaran, Florence Artaud won the 1990 Route du Rhum regatta.

Then Artaud overtook Philippe Poupon, who won the previous regatta, by eight hours. Florence became the first woman to win such a major offshore race. With this victory, the yachtswoman inspired a whole generation of girls and women to go in for sailing.

But Florence's influence is not limited to this. In addition to winning the Route du Rhum in 1990, she had already managed to break the transatlantic race record at that time. Then Florence was able to get ahead of Bruno Peyron at 20%, setting a new record.

In addition, Artaud also became the first yachtswoman to be able to receive the title of "Champion of Champions of the French Team". All these regalia occurred against the backdrop of Florence's personal tragedy. In principle, her entire career began in a strange way - with the fact that Florence, then still a girl, had an accident.

Fast forward four years to the first Route du Rhum regatta in which the yachtswoman took part. The year is 1974, Florence is only 17 and she gets into a terrible car accident. Doctors said that the girl was born in a shirt, because after this they don’t survive, but the prognosis was disappointing. Although the girl survived, she fell into a coma. Flo spent almost half a year in the hospital, being bedridden.

It took her two years to recover from the accident. However, she was not only able to fully return to normal life, but also began to sail!

ORMA 60 - the beginning of the beginning

If you think that crazy concepts of sailing and motor boats are something new, then you are mistaken. In the 1980s, the number of interesting models that remained only on paper was no less. The only difference is that today there is more talk about concepts.

ORMA 60 trimarans could have remained such concepts, but they appeared, as they say, “at the right time and in the right place”. ORMA 60 quickly gained popularity among racers and ordinary yachtsmen already in the mid-1980s. Then the shipyards competed in the innovativeness of materials, the audacity of design and tried to reinvent the wheel - they used the latest engineering developments. Has anything changed since then?

One of the trimarans ORMA 60, namely Pierre 1er, was destined for a great destiny. The entire line, including the Pierre 1er, was produced by VPLP (project) and Jeanneau JTA (technology and production facilities). When creating the trimarans of the line, fiberglass and Kevlar were used to increase strength and reliability.

However, this trimaran also had a critical drawback, which was an unprecedented weight-to-power ratio. Despite the fact that the trimaran itself is very stable, due to weight imbalance at high speeds, the trimaran could simply turn over.

This was the final nail in the coffin of the ORMA 60 class. In 2002, during the same Route du Rhum regatta, there were five accidents. All of them were connected with capsizing trimarans of this model during the race. Then investors and sponsors stopped sponsoring the class and turned their attention to more promising models. Yes, ORMA 60 can still be found at regattas, but they are clearly not in the spotlight anymore.

However, this did not prevent both the entire ORMA 60 class and the Pierre 1er from gaining a glorious racing history.

History of Flo

And now, after this grandiose introduction, we will tell you about the Flo trimaran. Why was such a long interlude necessary? So that you, dear readers, understand the historical context.

On board the Pierre 1er trimaran, Florence Artaud managed to break several world records and win regattas. This trimaran is the most important part of the history of the yachtswoman herself.

When Flo was still 19 years old, life brought her together with Philippe Poupon, another famous yachtsman. It was then that the foundation of a long friendship was laid. Over time, Poupon's wife, Geraldine Danon, also became close to Florence. The couple referred to Artaud as a member of the family.

Poupon and Artaud took part in the 2000 Transat regatta together, and also helped each other on numerous occasions, replacing members of their teams. Arto once took part in Figaro ll and Transat Jacques Vabre along with Poupon's brother Luc in the mid-2000s.

Shortly before Florence's death in 2015, Geraldine, being a director, discussed with the yachtswoman the idea of creating a film about her non-trivial career. Then the women agreed that one of the heroes of the film was to be the famous trimaran Pierre 1er.

However, after the victories and records of the road, Florence and her faithful partner parted ways. In 1993, American billionaire and adventurer Steve Fossett bought the trimaran. He renamed the multihull Lakota. In 1994, he even took 5th place on the Route du Rhum, and a year later - first place in the Transpac regatta.

On the Pierre 1er, Steve managed to break 12 world records, and also managed to circumnavigate the world. After a while, Atlant Ocean Racing became the new owner of the trimaran, and then ... Over the years of its existence, Pierre 1er managed to change many owners and names.

After Florence's death, Philippe and Gerardin decided that the trimaran needed to be restored and given a second chance. In addition, Gerardine is still working on the script for the film about Florence. The couple decided that it was Pierre 1er who should become the key character of the film along with Flo herself.

Restoration and preparation for the regatta

Together with his wife, Philip went in search in 2022. The couple ended up finding a trimaran in the Philippines and shipping it to France. Philippe says: “I was amazed at how well the yacht has been preserved.” The electronics were periodically updated, but there were no cardinal changes in the design at all.

However, Philip did not have 250,000 euros in his pocket to buy. The new owner loaned the trimaran to Poupon to take part in Route du Rhum 2022 and to film his wife's film.

Below deck, the trimaran has little space. There is a galley, one berth and a small navigation station. However, this yacht was created for speeds and records, and not for measured cruises in the Mediterranean.

Restoration began at the shipyard. Basically, the restoration concerned only cosmetic aspects. Philip also insisted on renaming the multihull, paying tribute to his deceased girlfriend - you have already seen the new name more than once in this text - Flo.

When the basic restoration was completed, it was time to prepare for the regatta. This is how the story beautifully looped - decades later, Flo sets off on his final tour along the same route on which it all began.

Preparations for the journey began to boil. Philip noted in an interview that in preparation for a new serious test, it was necessary to make a minimum of changes. The electrical system was updated, but the deck equipment and sailing layout remained virtually unchanged.

Last July, Poupon got his hands on a fully completed Flo. It happened in Cannes, where the shooting of the film about Florence also began. The trimaran received its place of honor in the port of Vieux.

On Friday, September 9, 2022, the trimaran was re-launched. After a while, he arrived at La Trinite for sea trials.

legendary return

To participate in Route du Rhum 2022, it was required to pass the qualifying stage - a solo passage of a 1200-mile stretch of track. When this test was successfully passed, the regatta began, where Pupon competed in the Rhum Multi class.

Philipp successfully finished the race in an honorable 7th place out of 17 available. The entire race aboard the Flo took 18 days and 19 hours. However, Philip failed to beat his friend's record. Florence managed to cover the same distance three and a half days faster.

Florence's victory at Route du Rhum 1990 came just months after the women's team won second place at the Whitbread Round the World. Then the athletes and athletes noted that with the latest big names and records, it is likely that the focus of attention from male yachtsmen will shift towards women's teams.

However, three decades have passed since then. At the last regatta Route du Rhum, out of 138 skippers, only 7 were women. This problem was brought to the attention of Knut Frostad, one of the winners of the Volvo Ocean Race, as well as the CEO of the Navico Group, a marine electronics and equipment conglomerate.

In his speech at the last regatta forum, he noted: “... not only for the sake of fairness, we should attract more women to sailing. The absence of female representatives is a threat to any sport in the long term. Our industry will die in a generation if we continue like this…”

What's next for Flo? After participating in the regatta, the trimaran went to shoot a film about Florence Artaud. Its further fate remains in question, but most likely it will go back to its owner.

Specifications

Length	18,28
Width	15.10 m
Draft	1.54 - 2.88 m
Displacement	6 t
Sail area	230 m2
Design	VPLP
Launching	1989

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After Florence Arthaud’s victory in the 1994 Route du Rhum on the trimaran Pierre 1er , VPLP was commissioned by Universal to design and build the boat used by the main character played by Kevin Costner in the film Waterworld .

In fact there were two versions of the boat. One was fully operational and used for the sailing sequences at sea. It had a maximum speed of about 15 knots. The other version was used for filming above and below deck, in particular for shots requiring special effects, and it was fitted with numerous gadgets including a telescopic mast for taking 360° views.

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