TR Racing, the Malizia and Banque Populaire teams announced on Monday their partnership for the design and construction of their respective Imoca yachts, Antoine Koch designs built at CDK. Tip & Shaft tells you more.
During a 45-minute video press conference on Monday, Thomas Ruyant, Boris Herrmann and Loïs Berrehar unveiled the outlines of their partnership for the design of their three Imoca boats, which will be launched in June 2026 for the first two, and in the first quarter of 2027 for the last. When and how did the idea of pooling resources come about? “At TRR, it all started with the desire to design a new boat by upgrading the one we currently have, and to integrate crewed races into our program, The Ocean Race 2027 in particular,” explains Thomas Ruyant, whom Tip & Shaft also contacted on Thursday. There was also a desire to continue the work initiated since 2019 with Antoine Koch.”
Commenting on the decision to join forces with other teams, the 2022 Route du Rhum winner adds: “Several factors came into play: firstly, the evolution of class rules with the introduction of the eco-score [which requires a 15% reduction in the carbon impact of a new build compared to the previous cycle, editor’s note]; secondly, the fact, following the experience I had with Sam Goodchild, that if it’s well organized, pooling can lead to some pretty fantastic things; and thirdly, a financial issue that is far from negligible.”
All that remained was to find one or more teams sharing the same vision, which was the case for Team Malizia, as Pierre-François Dargnies, general and technical manager of Boris Herrmann’s team, tells us: “After The Ocean Race 2023, Boris talked to his partners to do the following on a new boat, and he got the go ahead at the end of 2023 to launch construction. He was very keen to work with Antoine Koch, so I insisted that we consult all the architects, which we did in January/February 2024, seeing Antoine, but also VPLP, Guillaume Verdier and Sam Manuard.”
The choice finally fell on Antoine Koch, who, Pierre-François Dargnies continues, “had told us from our first discussions that he was available and motivated, but that he would give priority to his historic customers, TRR and Paprec Arkéa.” He adds: “In February 2024, TRR confirmed the order; as Paprec has not decided yet [the project will be made official on June 5, editor’s note], the timing was perfect for Antoine to have time to design our two boats. It was then up to us to see if we wanted to pool our efforts, which was indeed our intention. In fact, I had sounded out all the teams likely to build, including TRR and Banque Populaire.”
Banque Populaire
in a second step
The agreement between Malizia and TRR was then sealed, and it was only later that Banque Populaire joined the adventure. “When I contacted them, they told me straight away that they were interested, but they weren’t sure at the time that they’d make a Koch,” explains Pierre-François Dargnies. Jean-Marc Failler, in charge of the Imoca project within the Banque Populaire team, confirms: “When we validated the idea of doing the Vendée in 2028, we quickly booked a construction slot at CDK and saw all the architects. We also decided that, between the new rules and budget considerations, we needed to find a team to partner with. We did the rounds of the teams, and when Thomas told us he was going back with Antoine, we said yes.”
Thomas Ruyant adds: “If we’d all wanted the boats at the same time, it wouldn’t have been possible, but the fact that Banque Pop was less rushed and more focused on the Vendée Globe made it possible to come up with this solution.” It was therefore in the spring of 2024 that this three-team association was decided, which, together with Yoann Richomme’s new project, led Antoine Koch to expand his AKOcéan structure.
“Thomas Dalmas and I have been joined by Armand de Jacquelot and Félix de Navacelle, while our two Cup guest-stars, who were already here last time, are working even more closely with us, namely Bobby Kleinschmidt (Team New Zealand) on the hulls and Guénolé Bernard (Luna Rossa) on the foil and rudder systems. We hadn’t originally thought we’d have to design three boats, but we’ve always been convinced that pooling our efforts has only advantages,” explains Antoine Koch.
Financial gain
“on the order of 15-20%”
When asked about the budgetary savings of such pooling, Thomas Ruyant replies: “I’d find it hard to give a figure for fear of saying the wrong thing, but if someone works alone in their own corner, it’s not just a little more expensive, it’s a lot more expensive! If you take the example of molds, it’s not just the hull that’s shared, it’s all the other parts too. And in terms of construction, there are big savings in terms of time spent by CDK, which has also adapted its way of working to reduce costs: when they cut a bulkhead or drape a part, they make two in the process.” For his part, Pierre-François Dargnies estimates savings “in the order of 15-20%” for boats currently costing around 6 to 7 million euros.
Is this pooling of resources enough to comply with the famous eco-score? Antoine Koch answers, “It’s valued at around 5%, but in any case, we’re aiming for a figure a little more ambitious than the 15% eco-score.” Thomas Ruyant confirms: “We’re doing a lot of work on a lot of other subjects, particularly on the way we make molds and tooling, not just in full carbon, but also on the amount of carbon used.”
In other words, there are a lot of topics for discussion at the Tuesday afternoon meetings between the three teams, who, according to our contacts, play the transparency card. “Things are going really well,” confirms Pierre-François Dargnies. Firstly, because we’re all friends, and secondly, because as we’ll be racing the same boats, there’s really no point in hiding things from each other.”
On the Banque Populaire side, Jean-Marc Failler confides: “I have to admit that this total transparency surprised me. We tend to have a culture of secrecy, but when we got into it with the other two teams, it was an open book. We discuss everything, and that helps us make progress, because everyone brings their own experience, being three around the table helps us to have more ideas.” However, he adds: “We did tell them that at some point we would deviate to configure the cockpit for solo sailing.”
An adapted cockpit
for Banque Populaire
While Thomas Ruyant and Boris Herrmann’s Imoca boats will be true sisterships, designed for crewed sailing – they will be reconfigured for solo sailing after The Ocean Race 2027 – Loïs Berrehar’s boat will have a typical Vendée Globe cockpit, which makes Antoine Koch say: “Even if the original project was to make strictly identical boats, it was perfectly understandable to make a more solo-oriented cockpit, and therefore a little more compact.”
Commenting on the future boat, which has been designed by AKO – Finot-Conq and GSea Design were involved in the CFD and structural work: “There won’t be any technological breakthroughs, it’s always a question of optimizing what you’ve done before. The previous boat performed very well in certain conditions, particularly downwind, so we’re keen to make some progress in terms of versatility.”
The results of these evolutions will be visible from June 2026, the launch date which doesn’t seem to have been affected by the cooking problem on the first hull. “There was indeed a problem,” confirms Thomas Ruyant. We’re currently in discussions about this first hull, will it be for us or another team?” Another team that could be outside the three-team project, he adds. Ruyant reassures us: “We had taken on some advance, so whatever the option, the planned program remains unchanged.”
When asked about this, Pierre-François Dargnies mentions “some planning adjustments, but we’ll start draping as planned on July 1″. The first two boats should therefore be sailing together in the summer of 2026, with Thomas Ruyant hoping that the collaboration between the teams will continue beyond the design/build phase: “I know how much progress can be made by exchanging ideas, so I imagine we won’t stop there. In many ways, I think the three of us will continue to work together.”
Photo : Eloi Stichelbaut / polaRYSE
