First of all, there's dust everywhere and the technicians are dressed like cosmonauts. What's the sound? Sweet music from the sanders, which are switched on just as the day is dawning. The closer we get to the launch, the longer the days get... All hands on deck. Heads screwed on, we dismantle, check, replace if necessary, then reassemble. All the systems are examined in detail: "All the sensitive parts have been dismantled and overhauled: keel actuator, hydrogenerators, rudder quadrant, keel bearings, winch column, etc. All the wear points are checked. It's a long and meticulous job," explains Louis Duc, skipper of the IMOCA Fives Group - Lantana Environnement. For some projects, the work involved is more significant. This is the case for the Hublot team, which has put its IMOCA - Alex Thomson's former Hugo Boss in the last Vendée Globe - through a veritable surgical operation that could be described as a 'rhinoplasty', with a complete modification of its bow. First cut out over 4 metres, a new part was then grafted onto it, designed by VPLP, the architects who designed the boat. It was a major modification, necessary to improve performance, as Alan Roura, the skipper, explains: "Since we first sailed the boat, we noticed that the shape of the bow wasn't optimal and tended to slow the boat down when sailing downwind. With this new bow, we're aiming for a theoretical gain of 3 knots on each descent, an easier passage through the sea, a more comfortable life on board and an inevitably improved average speed... I can't wait to test this out as soon as we're back in the water in the spring!" For others, the improvements are smaller, but nonetheless numerous, as Paul Meilhat, skipper of the IMOCA Biotherm, points out: "The whole team is working hard on this winter refit, which doesn't involve any revolutionary changes, but will enable us to make this boat as reliable as possible."
At the heart of winter refit: where do we stand with the job list?
For the IMOCA teams, winter means work in the yard. While the skippers are taking this much-needed time to rest, the technical teams are busy at work! The expression "job list" is on everyone's lips. With the Vendée Globe and two solo transatlantic races underway, there's no time to lose. But what does an IMOCA 'winter refit' actually look like?
Ergonomics, an increasingly central issue
Victim of a concussion during the Retour à la Base, a single-handed transatlantic race on the 2023 calendar, Sébastien Simon - who is still wearing a brace following this misadventure - and his team are concentrating part of their efforts on ergonomics during this winter refit. Two custom-made, spring-mounted watch seats will be installed on either side of the cockpit of the IMOCA Groupe Dubreuil. Two more comfortable bunks are also being designed. The Malizia team is also busy designing an optimised watch seat. And that's no luxury, considering the time sailors spend on it during a round-the-world race! The Groupe Apicil team is paying particular attention to the acoustics on board the boat. Damien Seguin's team and his sponsor are working with the association Journée Nationale de l'Audition to find solutions to reduce the ambient noise on board the IMOCA boat that won the last Vendée Globe, which is now equipped with the latest generation of large foils, making it even more difficult to handle.
