Tripon marked the 2020/2021 Vendée Globe aboard a brand new boat (L'Occitane) by sharing his discovery of the solo round the world race, at the end of which he finished eleventh.

The Imoca 60 Occitane, helmed by French skipper Armel Tripon, shortly after the start of the Vendée Globe, on November 8, 2020 off Les Sables-d'Olonne Loic VENANCE AFP / Archives

But as soon as he set foot on land, he learned that the sponsor was putting an end to the offshore racing adventure and selling the boat, which was immediately bought by navigator Louis Burton.

Without a mount, Tripon quickly rebounded.

"The Vendée Globe ended quite quickly, and very quickly I turned the page, it was brutal," said the Nantes sailor to AFP.

"I was super happy with this experience, it's quite incredible. And I want to go back. To leave for 2024 with a slightly offbeat project".

French skipper Armel Tripon, in his Imoca 60 Occitane, on January 31, 2021, during the Vendée Globe, a solo round the world Armel TRIPON Armel Tripon / AFP / Archives

"We were able to meet Airbus, in Nantes. They were also looking to develop other technological outlets than their planes. And with the Imoca class (Vendée Globe boats, editor's note) we proposed to build a first boat from everything carbon at the end of its life, at the end of its validity date, at Airbus", he explains.

Airbus keeps carbon intended for aircraft construction in freezers and quantities of material not used after the expiry date are sent to landfill.

The naval architect firm VPLP is working with the skipper on the project.

"It turns out that the aeronautical standards at Airbus are very restrictive, carbons are downgraded from a certain date, they go to destruction", details Vincent Lauriot-Prévost, co-founder of VPLP.

"All these materials are very similar to those used in boating where we don't have the same constraints. We can make almost 100% of a boat with these materials".

'Pilot Operation'

Only a few concessions will have to be made, in particular with a slightly heavier structure, indicates the naval architect.

He specifies that two to three tons of carbon are necessary for the construction of an Imoca (18.28 m monohull) and estimates that Airbus has "at least ten times more than that".

"It opens up prospects. It could be a pilot operation for a wider use of decommissioned materials for the general public and industry. It's also a strong message: we can do offshore racing at a level of competitiveness maximum by diverting materials intended for destruction", notes Lauriot-Prévost.

Such a project had never been considered before and Tripon hopes to bring it to fruition, even if it still has funding to find.

“We are looking for two million euros a year,” he announces.

The raw material is not the most expensive in the construction of a boat.

"It's the labor that is expensive. For 12 months, you have 20 people minimum. In France it's 50, 60 euros per hour and an Imoca it's 30,000 hours", details Tripon, who sees even further in the search for lasting solutions.

The fittings (deck equipment) will be made from recycled titanium from prostheses, thanks to the association "Les p'tits doudous", of which he is the sponsor and under the colors of which he sails.

"Before, everyone was throwing," summarizes Tripon.

"It was stupid, it's an awareness. I would like it to be just a start and for there to be a real nautical sector behind it".

The French skipper Armel Tripon, aboard his multihull "Ocean Fifty les P'tits Doudous", on November 6, 2021 in the port of Le Havre, on the eve of the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre LOIC VENANCE AFP / Archives

The skipper hopes to launch the construction of his future boat in June - with already existing molds - for a launch in the summer of 2023.

© 2022 AFP