catamaran erik lerouge

An Interview with Multihull Designer Erik Lerouge

Here is an interesting exchange that I had recently (April 2009) with the noted French multihull designer Erik Lerouge. As one of my personal favorites, I have long admired his work, being most notable for designs that both look great and sail efficiently. Windage is kept low, wing decks high; combined with overall high beam, floats of high volume and very efficient rigs, often with rotating wing masts. His "Azuli" and "Freydis" designs have been particularly successful.

MW: Can you please first give my readers an idea of your sailing background? EL: I started sailing a TORNADO in 1970. Then bought an IROQUOIS with my father a year later and started designing multihulls in 1976, now having signed off on over 400 different sailing designs, the majority of which have been catamarans. After a few one-offs, I designed the PULSAR 26 which was a highly successful racing and cruising trimaran. A nice blend of comfort, seaworthiness and performance all in a trailerable package. From this, the PULSAR range was developed.

Most interesting is the PULSAR 30 "TROU NOIR" which did very well racing in Finland. Also creating a fascinating history was the PULSAR 50 called "RAYON VERT" a true Class 50 that was homebuilt by a couple in their fifties in only 2 years. She was entirely laminated under vacuum over male plug moulds and had carbon beams, board, mast and boom. The couple then left for a troublefree 3-year Round the World cruise with no other multihull experience other than a couple of sails on a HOBIE 16!

I have become very interested in foil stabilized trimarans. This is something that continues to interest me and I am looking forward to the trials of DINABAR.

MW: Have you used any tank testing in the design of your hulls and if so, how are your designs better because of them? EL: I did do some research on catamaran hulls. First it was to prove my point with regards to forward section dynamic lift and then to optimize stern sections. At that time, there was the debate between fine sterns and flat transoms. This has been extremely useful and I have used these results on all my multihull hulls.

MW: Do you know of other designers that use tank testing to predict and improve performance? EL: This is usually only done for high profile racing programs, such as for'Groupama 2'. I personally do not feel there is a lot more to learn re basic hull shapes. The overall concept is more important and the challenge now is improving behavior in waves of ever faster multihulls. As this cannot yet be analyzed in tank tests, there is fortunately still room for intuition and experience!

MW: Based on any tank test results you may have seen for very slim hulls, what % of the total hull resistance for a typical multihull ama or hull, is frictional compared to wave making? EL: There is no simple answer. It all depends of the range of speed you are considering. In any case, frictional drag is fundamental so there is absolutely no hydrodynamic reason to design wide flat-bottomed hulls. Only the ends might be adjusted for the speed potential or wave behavior. Fine sterns are good at low speed in calm waters but poor at high speed or to damp pitching.

MW: How does the performance of your smallest multihull (26') compare to others out there? EL: Sorry, but it is illegal in France to make these kind of comparisons… our vision of morality! But the main difference with the competition is that my boats have full length, high buoyancy floats. This gives outstanding rough weather ability and allows one to carry a powerful rig.

MW: For a smaller trimaran, do you have any preferred folding system that you'd recommend? EL: It's plain nuts and bolts! This is light, stiff, reliable, cheap and easy to built and maintain. Although folding systems are well marketed, they are rarely used in Europe. But all systems have their drawbacks: Swing-wings exceeds towing width for a roomy 26 footer and increase overall length in marina. What's the point of such a complicated system if you still need to unbolt the floats for transport? Or if you have to pay a size up for marina fees?

(Ed: this unbolting is no longer the case with the latest Dragonfly models. However, Erik points out that "in Europe, this can still be an issue as max. towing width is 2.55 m or 8'-4". Towing in Europe and America is not the same. Neither are the roads, cars or distances".)

On other systems, access from a pontoon, fouling on the topsides, stability in difficult conditions, height on the trailer are other problems. All folding systems work better with small floats so for conventional trimarans, this is bad news.

My PULSAR models get their performance and safety from their large and long floats, that are just not suitable for folding systems. In my opinion, folding systems require a total rethink of the trimaran concept, with really small floats, most likely foil assisted.

MW: Is it possible that you'll soon be designing a smaller multihull that might interest our readers? EL: The PULSAR 23 is a new model. It is presently conventional but it may evolve into a foil-stabilized folding trimaran.

MW: Can you elaborate more on this new 23' model? EL: Our program is not to do the fastest 23' tri around but a simple, practical, safe fast cruising trimaran. She will be towable with a simple French driving license. (A special license for towing is required in France if total weight of vehicle + trailer exceeds 3.5 tons.) Originally, she was to be a smaller sister to the Pulsar 26. No more standing headroom, just seating. So that it could be lighter and less voluminous to transport. The 7 m length limit avoids certain taxes in France. Then to further reduce building costs and keep a nice interior, I decided to eliminate the dagger board in favor of float keels as already fitted on the Pulsar 33. These were inspired by my successful catamaran keels. See: www.lerouge-yachts.com/cat_TKS.htm

MW: What particular aspects are you testing for, re any new project and will you be reporting on any of this work later on? EL: A problem for trimarans is that they are more expensive to build than catamarans. They require more moulds, have more hulls and more skin area—and also lots of stability [that demands a stronger rig etc]. I am working on this problem and something may happen if I find the correct boatyard willing to invest in this market.

MW: Balanced against cost, do you have any preferences for construction materials for smaller multihulls? EL: Without any doubt, foam-sandwich is ideal for 90% of the cases. Strip planking is a good economic choice for a home-builder in countries where proper wood is readily available and foam prohibitively expensive to obtain.

MW: For foam sandwich, do you use large sheet layup over male stations, or vertical or horizontal strip? And do you use vacuum bagging or hand wet layout? EL: Depends of shape, availability of materials and budget. For one-offs: assuming Airex foam is the choice, I use sheets on a battened male mould for the main hull. Many were built using Corecell foam strips however. Always longitudinally over stations, with the main hull over male sections while the floats were in half female sections, having a joint at the centerline. All this can be done in hand wet layout. If the lightest weight is desired, then I use a male plug, foam sheets and vacuum bagging.

For production boats: all are done in female moulds and resin infusion has become the norm.

MW: What is your latest thinking on % of ama buoyancy? EL: On conventional trimarans, such as my PULSAR, I go for nearly 200%, for both safety and power. On a foil stabilized trimaran, just 90% would be interesting to give a nice static stability curve up to 90° without the main hull lifting.

MW: What has been your experience using a significant knuckle in the main hull re making the boat drier and/or adding interior space or any other reason? EL: I have used a significant knuckle on the PULSAR 26 to be able to fit a nice accommodation within the length limit of the old Micro-Multihull rule. The foredeck then became wider and more comfortable. But the knuckle generally increases building time as well as skin area and weight and can also catch waves. For the same cost of materials, I would prefer to design a simpler but longer hull with simple flare, such as on my PULSAR 31. In normal sub-gale conditions, the knuckle also adds to the dryness of the boat.

Comparing boats by their length has always been the big drama of yacht design. This is done for harbour fees, custom, racing rules or whatever. But what should be really important is to design 'the best boat for a given budget'. For that, a longer simpler boat is difficult to beat. It is undisputed fact that a longer, narrower main hull will be more seakindly than a shorter, wider one.

MW: One can note that many of your designs have wing masts. Do you design these yourself and if so, what is your approach? For example: Do you spread the boats maximum righting moment over the length of the mast - opposed by the two supporting points—the mast step and the hounds (where the shrouds are attached)? EL: All my designs have rotating masts for obvious reasons! .. they are more efficient. When available, aluminum masts are cost effective so I have been pushing mast manufacturers to invest in suitable extrusions for rotating masts.

The ideal is a carbon mast and there are several good manufacturers with suitable moulds and an autoclave who are able to make the lightest masts with high-modulus for a realistic price. Personally, this is the first place where I would put my money on a boat. Some carbon masts are made by the boatyards themselves or even by homebuilders. I have designed and built a couple for myself but while the result is better than an aluminum tube, with low-modulus carbon and "only" vacuum techniques, it cannot compare in weight with the best carbon mast manufacturers.

In some cases, a suitable aluminum rotating mast does not exist for the size of the boat, or is too expensive to import and a carbon mast exceeds the available budget. In such a case, I have designed a plywood/epoxy/carbon wingmast which can be built in 200-300hrs with minimal material cost. The weight is close to that of aluminum but with a far greater chord. The mast is also stiffer and we can save a lot on the rigging. But I am not marketing these masts designs. They are done as an added service to my clients when it seems the best answer.

The engineering of these masts depends of the sailplan. Mainsail loads are spread, while the jib and spinnaker loads are concentrated. Worst cases of sailing are analyzed in various sail configurations, noting that some parts of the mast work in bending, others in compression. In some cases, I could eliminate the spreaders.

MW: For your plywood/epoxy/carbon wingmasts, is all the load taken by the carbon or is the mast primarily built with fibreglass over the ply and only supplemented by carbon at high stress areas? EL: Fiberglass is only there to protect the plywood and with its low modulus has a very small influence on mast thickness. Stress is largely taken by the ply skin and beams. Their scantlings are mostly dictated by the building process. Carbon is cost/weight effective to take the remainder of the load.

MW: Merci beaucoup Erik for your time and enthusiasm to answer these questions for my readers. EL: You are most welcome. Au revoir et bonne chance!

We recommend that our readers also visit Erik's website. Go to www.lerouge-yachts.com/trimarans.htm and this links to many of his wonderful boats as well as good info on various building methods.

Interesting also for the pics (text in French) is this website from a Pulsar 26 enthusiast trimarandiomedea.free.fr/ Also for the pics (text in Finnish) is this site on the Pulsar 30 'Trou Noir': www.trounoir.fi/trimaraani

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MULTIHULLS MATCH Classic or avant-garde design for ocean cruising?

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Published 01/06/2015

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Issue #: 142

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For the 'classics’ James Wharram

James Wharram was born in 1928, in Manchester, UK. This celestial adventurer opened the way to roaming the oceans in a multihull, and was the first sailor to cross the Atlantic with the Tangaroa catamaran he had built himself. He has become one of the most prolific architects in the world and an important figure in leisure sailing on more than one hull. His designs (now in co-creation with Hanneke Boon) are inspired directly by Polynesian designs, artistically reinterpreted.

Inspired by the French sailor Eric de Bisschop, I became a pioneer of catamaran design. Like Eric de Bisschop my early voyages in the 1950s were driven by a wish to prove that the Pacific double canoe was a seaworthy vessel, capable of crossing oceans. My first catamaran designs were based on studies in museums and libraries, making me one of the early experimental marine archaeologists. Watercraft is one of Man’s earliest artefacts. Early Man migrated to the far reaches of the world via the coasts and rivers. Man first reached Australia more than 50,000 years ago. He must have done so by watercraft because there was always a substantial water gap between what is now Indonesia and Australia, a gap no other mammal managed to cross. Watercraft and living on and by the sea is therefor part of our genetic make-up, or in Jungian psychology, it is one of the ‘arch-types of our sub-conscious’. It explains modern Man’s attraction to the sea, swimming and sailing. We design boats to fulfil this sub-conscious need by not only supplying a boat design, but also encouraging - through design - a lifestyle suitable for sea living, using simplicity as its basis. This allows people to get in touch with the archaic Sea Nomad in their subconscious. Designing in this way requires a strong design discipline. The aim for simplicity leads us to look for the most appropriate, cost-effective building materials. Since the early 1980s we have developed the use of wood/epoxy/glass into a simple system, which we have constantly improved on. Using this system we have designed a whole range of wood/epoxy catamarans, from 17ft – 65 ft, all keeping to the strict discipline of simplicity and keeping cost low, while achieving all the needs of a fast, elegant, safe, STABLE, seagoing design. These are the design disciplines we consistently adhere to: - traditional sailing ship hull proportions, i.e. modest freeboard, never higher than 13%. This keeps windage to the minimum, requiring minimum driving force (i.e. sailarea and engine power) - slim hulls of around 12:1 or slimmer to reduce wave drag, to achieve speed without the need for excessive rigs, - high stability, achieved through low rig proportions, so the boat will always look after the crew, not the other way around - flexible hull joining, allowing the boat to flow over the seas, reducing stresses on the structure and increasing durability. Keeping boat weight low is an advantage in an unballasted, form-stable catamaran, as it increases load carrying capacity, essential for a cruising catamaran. The latest high tech designers achieve low weight with the use of expensive, exotic materials and highly industrialised building methods. These are not appropriate for the majority of sailors working on a low budget. We achieve low weight by making every piece of cabin furniture also a structural strength element, thereby saving both weight and cost. This way we can use moderate cost, easy to use materials and still achieve the light weights of the high-tech more elaborate designs.To achieve maximum stability and still high speeds we developed a new simple low aspect ratio rig, which we call the Wharram Wingsail Rig, which can be in one-masted or two-masted configuration, keeping C of E low. This rig combines efficient aerodynamics with great simplicity and moderate cost due to the minimum use of expensive hardware. It predates the high-tech square headed sail rigs seen on most of the recently designed multihulls by nearly 20 years. Present day multihulls are strongly influenced by modern styling, following the same trends as car and luxury hotel design. They are often based on previous generation multihulls with new styling and popular modern features added, without ever going back to basic design principles. Hence we see higher and higher freeboard to accommodate all the urban luxury needs of modern Man, as well as higher and higher rigs to achieve the urge to go faster than others in this ‘competitive world’. Higher freeboards mean higher windage and hence a need for larger rigs and larger engines, leading to higher weight, leading to fatter hulls, leading again to larger engines, rigs etc. etc. However my concern is the latest trend in expensive luxury fast cruising cats that achieve speed through very large rigs modelled on racing multihulls, with aspect ratios of 150% LOA. We are seriously concerned about the stability of these catamarans. They are often shown with one hull lifted clear of the water, sailing on the edge of capsize (remember that once the windward hull is lifted clear of the water the righting moment decreases very rapidly on a catamaran). Film footage of one of these designs nominated for Sail Magazine’s prestigious “Best Boat 2013” award, shows her sailing with the windward hull kissing the surface in winds of just 12-18 knots! It should always be remembered that multihulls are FORM-STABLE vessels with a very long history. I have taken my design inspiration from the fantastic ancient boats of the Pacific that made long ocean voyages before any other type of vessel. This is a heritage we modern designers must be proud of and not abuse by forcing it to conform to our luxury, urban, competitive Western demands. You can read all about our design principles (Stability, Wharram Wingsail rig, Freeboard heights, Heavy weather performance etc.

For the ‘avant-garde’ Erik Lerouge

Eric Lerouge has been designing, sailing and thinking multihulls since 1976. He is one of the most well-known French architects and also a passionate believer in popularizing multihulls; he is at the origin of countless fast, modern creations. Ville Audrain was, in 1984, the first big production catamaran exhibited at the Grand Pavois Boat Show in La Rochelle. His designs, sometimes avant-garde (Petter 50, Maia 147) are efficient, seaworthy and reliable. A large number of Lerouge-designed boats are today sailing the oceans.

A fascinating question in relation to sustainable development! Progress must be defined as an improvement on what exists, and not creating new products at any cost. Every era has created masterpieces which corresponded to the techniques available. I have sailed on a replica of a Viking ship; designed by great sailors, we were quite comfortable aboard and the harmony of the lines is perfect - but it wouldn’t cross my mind to build one of those hulls in polyester! Closer to home, the Tornado, which gave me the catamaran bug, was a brilliant example of the use of plywood, yet a C Class catamaran has much more developed lines, thanks to composites. Over the forty years I have been designing multihulls, I have been able to confirm the benefits of the techniques coming from the competition world. Without them there would be no roller furlers, no self tailing winches, no autopilots, no stretch-free halyards... On my first ‘Ville Audrain’, the fittings were rather ‘agricultural’. The main traveler, on rollers, didn’t move under tension – not too good from a safety point of view, that! During the refits of my first designs, I was able to appreciate the gain provided by these new techniques. There is a whole world of difference between a Freydis from the 90s, with an aluminum mast and Dacron sails, and the same boat rigged with a carbon mast, a square-headed Spectra mainsail and textile shrouds. One of my favorite cats is the Azuli. Fast, seaworthy, reliable and aesthetically pleasing. Yet the very latest Windbliss 110, the same size, will offer comparable performance, with a galley and headroom in the saloon, greater load-carrying capacity, two inboard engines and a semi-rigid on the davits. Not bad? It’s the gain allowed by progress. Silent, reliable wind generators, high-performance solar panels, powerful hydro-alternators, longer lasting, lighter batteries allow total self-sufficiency to be envisaged, free of mechanical constraints. We can always build boats in wood, as it is renewable, but without epoxy, wood isn’t durable, and I am not ready to sacrifice months of sailing to repaint and revarnish. Ecology is above all about the product’s durability, its reduced maintenance. In this field, we have not done better than the current infused constructions. What does leisure sailing hold in store for us in the future? We can use new techniques on traditional boats, but from my point of view, this would be lacking in taste and a waste. The basis of ecology is not to throw away or waste; it is better to keep our valiant ancestors sailing than to plagiarize them in new constructions. The future will oblige us to be more mature in our real needs, and it’s here that our nautical preoccupations join the issues in society. Each technical advance opens new doors in naval architecture. Concepts which we had trouble making successful are becoming possible. The major challenge will without a doubt be the rig. Although the Bermudan sloop offers good efficiency, it is probably at the end of its development. Even with electric winches, a mainsail of over 100m² is a brute to handle. The America’s Cup has demonstrated that wings are more efficient and easier to maneuver, with less effort. All that remains is to make them useable, with the possibility of reducing their area and furling them. With lift coefficients double those of traditional sails, safety will improve, as enormous rigs will no longer be necessary for satisfactory performance, and the fibers will allow us to manufacture light, unstayed masts. You mustn’t confuse modernism and progress, and technology must be used judiciously, without looking to create something new at any price. Marketing principles lead us to think that boats only sail in good weather, so it is useless to deal with bad weather! However the sea doesn’t change, the waves are still just as high. The growing trend for inverted bows is understandable on a sport cat, whose trim is adjusted by the movements of the crew; their usefulness on an ocean cruiser can be questioned! Under bare poles in the Bay of Biscay, the bottom line is the longitudinal stability curve. The wind doesn’t change, its density remains the same, and sailing to windward in a fresh breeze is still a punishment! You must however be able to beat off a hostile coast or cut short the unpleasantness, and the engine is not a solution; too uncomfortable in these conditions. The laws of aerodynamics don’t change, the stronger the wind, the more the windage of the superstructure is a handicap, with respect to the power of a reefed sail. On the other hand, it doesn’t upset me to see the owner of a 60-footer enjoying himself with one hull in the air, if he has the means to pay for his mistakes! And what if the boat of the future were a return to the roots, simpler, closer to nature, more reasonably priced? I had so much fun in my youth aboard the family Iroquois, that I think it might be time to use some real industrial means to bring the cruising cat within everyone’s reach. Naval architecture remains a constant arbitrage between the contradictory demands of the specifications: comfort, performance, safety, aesthetics, economics, and we have to take into the panoply the avant-garde solutions which bring a genuine plus to the project, and be wary of others, which are just fads or gadgets.

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ERIK LEROUGE

• ERIK LEROUGE YACHT DESIGNS
• 85240 FOUSSAIS-PAYRE

54 year old, married, 1 boy.

Erik LEROUGE started sailing in 1960. He successfully raced his designs in events such as Speed Weeks, Bol d'Or, Trophee des Multicoques, F28 European Championship, MULTI 2000 Challenge, Transat des Alizes, Transat des Passionnes, RORC Championships, JOG Championships or Sydney Harbour 18 footers Worlds. He enjoys very much cruising single-handed as well as crewed, offshore or coastal. He test sailed or delivered his latest designs in most part of the world.

His son Aubert shares the same love for see. He is a keen Optimist racer when he does not sails with his father.

Erik LEROUGE has often partly or completely built his own boats. He feels that the experience gained is essential to advise homebuilders as well as to know the problems faced by professional builders. Planning to built his eleventh sailing yacht!

• Vice-president of the Institut Francais des Architectes Navals.
• Member of the Association des Multicoques Habitables directing committee, in charge of the International MULTI 2000 rule.
• Rear-commodore of Nautisme-Fontenay-Mervent.
• Seats at ISO meetings on sailing yachts stability and scantlings.

Soaring is his main hobby. Currently building a motorglider.

YACHT DESIGNER

Since 1976, Erik LEROUGE, IFAN naval architect, has designed over 300 different sailing yachts built all over the world. His cruising designs have crossed many oceans with family crews while his racing designs gained trophies in Multihull Grand Prix, Lake racing or Short handed racing.

Erik LEROUGE has an impressive technical background and his design concepts has been validated by tank testing.

All new drawings and all updates of stock plans are done in CAD using Maxsurf for hulls, TopSolid for 3D modelling and Autocad for 2D building plans. They are metric, in English or French. Drawings are printed on an A0 jet plotter. Perspective drawings or brochures are printed on an A2 colour jet plotter or stored on a CD-ROM.

Contracts and of drawings are based on the IFAN Naval Architect practice.

Main racing successes as skipper or crew on his designs -Takes part in SYDNEY HARBOUR 18 FOOT SKIFF 1978 Open World and French championships. -Wins many club races, 1985 Shamrock cup and 1986 Otis cup with RED MAGNUM, 36' ULDB. -Wins 1984, 1985,1986 et 1987 Brest Speed weeks (Open French speed record), 6th at 1986 Bol d'or (on 550 boats), 12th at 1987 Bol d'or (1st French) with HARO, 38' racing catamaran. -Wins 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1990 Trophee des Multicoques, 1986 UNM cup and SAM , 1986 and 1987 Challenge Multicoques Mag with INOUI, 40' catamaran cruiser-racer. -Wins 1985 Double Cup with VILLE AUDRAIN, 43' production catamaran. -Wins 1986 GP de Benodet, 1988 and 1991 Trophee des Multicoques, 1988 SAM, 1988 Challenge Multicoques Mag and 1998 Le Tour Dauvergne with various AZULI, 38' production catamarans. -Wins 1987 Grande M, 1987 Challenge Multicoques Magazine and 2nd 1987 MICRO European championship with CATMAN MICRO, 26' production catamaran. -5th of 1987 Transat des Alizes first leg with PAMPERO, 43' production ULDB. -Wins 1989 GP de Cornouailles with NATHANAEL, 31' production catamaran. -3 best days at 1990 Brest Speed week, wins 1990 GP de Torquay and 7th of 1990 F28 European Championship with BARON NOIR, 28' racing catamaran. -Wins the coastal race, first leg and 3rd of second leg in 1991 Transat des Passionnes 1991, wins Tour de l'Ile de Re 2000 and 2002 with various FREYDIS, 46' production catamaran. -4th of 1996 MICRO European championship with KUPPERSBUCH, 26' racing trimaran. -Elapsed time winner of 1997 Multiforbans with SPIRIT, 35' catamaran. -Elapsed time winner of 1998 Trophee Le Monde du Catamaran with MAVIE, 55' production catamaran.

Some other victories of Erik LEROUGE's sailing designs 1986, 1994 and 1995 Multitonic, 1996 Multithaunic, Challenge Menu, Cowes-Dinard, Coupe de Normandie, 24H de St-Cast, 24H de Cherbourg, Geneve-Rolle-Geneve, Route du Rhone, General Guisan, 1989, Semaine de La Rochelle, 1989, 1994 et 1995, 1997 and 2001 Tour de l'Ile de Re, Semaine d'Horta, 1993, 1994 and 1995 Trophee des Multicoques, 1994, 1998 and 2001 Barqueira, 1993 Transmed des Passionnes, 1993 and 1994 Challenge Multicoques Mag, 1995 and 1996 Challenge AMH, 1996 EUROPE 1 STAR , 1996 MICRO European championship, 1996 MULTI 2000 Open Europeans, 1997 Multiforbans, 1997 MICRO British Nationals, Pop Yachting, Challenge Inter-Entreprises, 1998 Grand prix de St-Georges de Didonne, 1998 Multiforbans, 1999 Dresdner C.I. Challenge, 1999 Casino's cup, 1999 Vire les Isles, 2000 Pierre Sangan, 2002 Gascogne-Asturias, 2003 Saguenay-St Pierre, 2003 Route des Hortensias, 2003 Teleregatta, 2003 Tulokset, 2004, 2005 and 2007 MultiMalo, 2004 24-Uurs Zeilrace, 2004 Round the Island, 2004 and 2005 Emasalon lenkki, 2004 and 2006 Henry Lloyd, 2005, 2006 and 2007 Multi d'Automne, 2005 Tour de Cordouan, 40' Trophee SNSM, 2005 IMM, 2006 Alant Runt, 2006 MMM Kilpailut, 2006 Cowes-Dinard, , 2007 Monirunhko ratakisa, etc.

Some good performances of Erik LEROUGE's sailing designs in International racing 1984, 1988 and 1992 OSTAR, 1985 RBR, Multicup, EDHEC, Nioulargue, GP de La Rochelle, Route des 3 caps, 1988, 1991 and 1995 IMM, 1989 to 2005 Bol d'or, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1997 MICRO Europeans, F28 World championship, 1993 Transat des Passionnes, 1994 and 1999 Transmed des Passionnes, 2004 The Transat, 2005 Transat Jacques Vabre, etc...

Many voyages are done by Erik LEROUGE's sailing yachts, some even completed their third time around or been around Cape Horn!

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Grand Citron Vert

Sail More - Work Less

because life is about sailing

44' catamaran ville audrain designed by erik lerouge, about grand citron vert, recently about gcv.

The blog of Grand Citron Vert! What's new? Updated if we have time to post what is happening with GCV. At least to build GCV's history.

The pictures of Grand Citron Vert since day 1, when I first visited her in April 2019. Everything about the boat, the refit, the cruises...

Let's see if we can create interesting videos of the refit and of our sailing adventure. We have drone and GoPro and camera and different phones!

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Bought on 19/06/2019 in Valencia, Spain. What happened since then? Follow GCV's chaotic journey as it never goes as planned.

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I started sailing at the age of 6 yo at Ile Tudy sailing school, a village on the seaside in Brittany .

At 23, I started sailing cruises. Since then, I have done more than 50 sailing cruises in many different countries in the world. I have skipped sailing boats up to 55 ft, and organised sailing cruises with crew up to 12 people for period up to 3 weeks.

Since 19/06/2019 I am the proud owner of Grand Citron Vert, a 42′ catamaran Ville Audrain – increased to 45′ – designed by Erik Lerouge . My objective is to go sailing around the world.

Let's chat!

Need more information? Send me an email or drop me a line. I don’t bite!

• [email protected]
• South Finistere, Brittany, France

804 815 1233

Instructional passages coming in 2024. Still cruising in 2023. 

The progression from long distance sailing to chartering and on to helping others solidify their voyaging skills has been natural

About the Boat

Cénou.

Cénou is a Freydis 46 designed by Erik Lerouge. It offers a blend of comfort and performance. Able to sail at or better than wind speed in lighter winds, Cénou will average 8 to 10 knots all day in heavier air, rewarding those who like to sail without leaving behind comfort.

Contact us today!

Sail the blue llc, 270 bellevue ave, newport, ri.    , ph: 804-815-1233.

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LEROUGE CITE D’ALETH 9,50 (VENDU)

Magnificent modern catamaran designed by Erik Lerouge and built by Raymond Labbé in St Malo. Very smart, very habitable, light and solid, this little multihull is the perfect instrument for family cruising. It can also take you across the Atlantic! Perfect condition, complete refit 2020. VISIBLE SOUTH FRANCE

Description

Caractéristiques

Voir également:

catamaran MUMBY 48 (vente suspendue)

CATATHAI 40-43′

Erik Lerouge Ville Audrin

Used yachts for sale, sail catamarans 40ft > 50ft,        erik lerouge boats for sale.

• 1103 (planned)

Do you want to embark on an exciting journey witch Libertist?

We are looking for dealers..

Our beautiful 853

We have it!

Model 703 is.

"A trimaran that'll take your breath away"

The freedom of sailing at its best..

Libertist stands for freedom, fastness and fun – the pure essence of sailing. It represents the ultimate quality of craft production and innovative materials. An ultralight carbon rotating mast equipped with mini foils and cutting-edge electronic solutions have been created to satisfy the needs of the most demanding sailing fans who truly cherish the sport.

Libertist redefines the feeling of liberty.

Why Libertist?

Top quality materials, innovations and craft precision

The most up-to-date cruiser-

racer constructions on the

Extremely low mass nesures

unrivalled speed and security

Permanent mini foils, large

volume floats

Carbon rotating mast

Cutting-edge electronic

solutions by the French

company NKE

The sails by Ocean Sails

Full standing height

(headroom), electric engine

Designed by one of top

constructors in the industry

Built in a renown Polish

Disassembled and folding

floats - comfortable transport

in a trailer

On water? Full on excitement!

Let’s see what those who caught the wind in their sails with libertist have to say.

Erik Lerouge, water and wind architect

An experienced sailor who often participates in regatta races, a devoted sailing fan with vast expertise, and impressive experience in yacht design

No matter whether he sails downwind or upwind, his designs always go against the current. They are characterized by an innovative approach towards applied solutions, excellent quality of the materials used, and ultimate precision and robustness confirmed by rigorous testing. He designs for highly demanding customers – the sailing fans in search of the new definition of freedom. Due to Lerouge’s professionalism and passion, his projects have been acknowledged around the world for decades. His portfolio features many monohulls, double-hulls and trimarans. In 2016 he cooperated with a Polish investor to create dedicated hydrofoil trimarans.

„When creating Libertist 853 I was given full freedom to improve the ever-problematic compromise between comfort and nautical qualities that I am so attached to. The 28 feet size has been chosen to fit a sizable saloon, a bow cabin, a double cockpit bunk bed, a galley and a separate toilet, while ensuring spaciousness and full standing height. It was also crucial that floats and beams were easy to disassemble for comfortable transport. The idea to add extra mini foils has been in my head for a while. The efficiency of foils has been systematically increasing, yet some new solutions are still required. The goal is not to fly, of course, it is rather to increase the security and control the pitching in greater speed. The yacht has been beautifully constructed by Rega Yacht. The design is timeless. The tests have confirmed our expectations on maintaining control while sailing downwind and reducing pitching in tougher weather conditions.”