La Roche-Posay Racing Team took their AC75 sailing for the first time off Lorient, marking the first time an AC75 has sailed in French waters.
The team towed out of their new bespoke AC75 base to considerable spectator interest, with a number of boats on the water to witness the occasion. The azure blue and white livery caught the light as helmsmen Quentin Delapierre and Diego Botin got to grips with the boat under sail for the first time.
As a sister-ship to Emirates Team New Zealand's all-conquering 'Taihoro,' the team has a solid foundation to build on. The coming months will be used to work the boat up to race mode ahead of Naples in 2027.
The version three AC75 has done away with the cyclors, replaced by battery power that equates to manual output and requires careful management. The six pods have been reconfigured high on the combing arc of the deck, in a layout similar if not identical to the Kiwi set-up, with trimmers and flight controllers forward, helms tucked in behind, and an undefined fifth role just behind the helm on the starboard side. The aft port pod will eventually serve as the Guest Racer position.
The boat rolled out of the shed at around 08:15, with foils, rudder and rig stepped before it was craned into the water at approximately 09:42. An extended dockside validation followed, covering mast rotation, full foil cant cycles, and checks of the mainsheet, traveller, sheeting angle and mast rotation systems. Both mainsail skins were loaded along with two jibs, J3-2 and J4-2.
The boat docked out at approximately 11:12 and, after a short tow clear of the harbour, sailed in displacement mode before lifting onto the foils at around 13:02. It reached up and bore away to an estimated true wind angle of around 150 degrees on starboard, with boat speed appearing to be around 30 knots and possibly approaching 40 knots.
A single gybe followed with a pronounced touchdown, after which the boat struggled to return to stable foiling before eventually recovering. Ride height and pitch remained irregular and, after around 15 minutes of sailing, the boat stopped on the water at approximately 13:14.
The technical team boarded to carry out checks while the crew completed team photographs. A further interruption followed, with the technical team boarding again before a prolonged wait on the water. The boat was eventually bow-towed back to base from approximately 14:37, after the mainsail and jib had been lowered following work around the mainsail tack. The reason for the curtailed session could not be confirmed.
Jason Saunders and Timothé Lapauw handled the trim and controls throughout. The atmosphere ashore appeared slightly subdued following the shortened session, suggesting the interruption had not been entirely routine, though this could not be confirmed.
Skipper Quentin Delapierre spoke to the crew afterwards. "It was a good setup. Just checking all the hydro settings and the aero systems. Also, first time sailing with sails on an AC75 in France, on water. So yeah, it was pretty special. We had a decent day. All the checks are done, and we're ready for the rest of the week. Today, first we had to check all the systems. It was the first time. Also check the sails. We had a bit of upwind, a bear away, a downwind, and after we tried to fine-tune some of the systems before we went back to the harbour."
Delapierre had briefed the sailing team before heading out that they were there in service of the shore crew. "Yeah, it was just because the shore crew and the team worked pretty hard in the last weeks, and it's pretty hard work. Today was honestly just to follow the checklist and see if all the systems are in and in a good shape, and the performance and sailing will come after. It was not a super high-pressure day."
