Energy Observer launched in 1983 and having many records, celebrates its 40th anniversary this yeare anniversary. From the world's fastest racing catamaran in 1994 to the first self-sufficient boat in 2017, the story of this incredible vessel, which has become an ambassador for solutions on Earth, is a must-see.
Prestigious Skippers
40 years is a very good age for a boat. While commercial boats last 25 to 40 years—because the larger they are, the shorter their lifespan—racing boats have longer lifespans. Thanks to exemplary structures, improved and optimized very often throughout their careers, as well as their permanent architecture, they are machines with many lives.
Energy Observer was built in Canada in 1983 by Canadair, the famous aircraft manufacturer, under the name Formule TAG. It has had many prestigious skippers. Mike Birch, the first winner of the Route du Rhum, was the pilot of this revolutionary machine at the time. Mike retired during the last Route du Rhum, a small nod to a destiny marked by the multihull revolution, his historic victory on the small yellow trimaran with Michel Malinowski's beard having left its mark. The boat, Nigel Irens' signature, was at that time the showcase of high technology and composites. 24 m long, built of Kevlar on Airex foam and carbon, weighing less than 10 tons and boasting more than 440 square meters of sail area. The fast boat will however undergo a long fine-tuning punctuated by dismastings and other fires, but we will especially remember some great performances such as the speed record in 24 hours, 512.5 miles in 1984.
Around the world record
In 1992, Sir Peter Blake decided to lengthen it to 25,90 meters in order to break the world speed record, the famous Jules Verne Trophy. In a duo with another British ocean racing legend, Robin Knox Johnson, the ship would eventually break up off the coast of South Africa. Then, with the support of Enza New Zealand, it was decided to lengthen it further to 28m! In a formidable duel with Olivier de Kersauson in 1994, the catamaran, thus fully inflated, won in 74 days 22 hours 17 minutes (14,68 knots average) the Jules Verne Trophy, the true Holy Grail of ocean speed.
The large catamaran, which became the fastest boat around the world, was bought in 1997 by British sailor Tracy Edwards, who made another attempt with an all-female crew for the Jules Verne Trophy but ended up breaking the mast.
Tony Bullimore, Her Majesty's perennial racer, bought it in 2000 and lengthened it further to 102 feet (31 m) to compete in The Race, a millennium round-the-world race, then to the Oryx Cup competition in Doha, Qatar in 2005. Left inactive for a few years, it was finally acquired by Victorien Erussard and his teams from 2015 and extensively remodeled to become Energy Observer.
Boat serving the energy transition
Growing from 15 tons to 35 tons, the boat was given a larger hull volume and, above all, the central nacelle, which was molded in the shape of a racing trimaran. Several designers participated in the change, including Marc Lombard and Marc Van Peteghem, who were also responsible for its aerodynamics and performance.
The goal is no longer pure speed, but now energy autonomy. After testing several propulsion technologies and vertical wind turbines, the catamaran regained its tiny wings in 2019, each measuring 32 square meters compared to the previous more than 400 square meters! Developed by Ayro, they are fully automatic and significantly more efficient, heralding the rigging of the future... as are all the onboard systems developed: an entire hydrogen chain, state-of-the-art solar production, variable-pitch propellers, and numerous innovations.
Longevity record
While Energy Observer's hulls have already completed the equivalent of several round-the-world voyages, often at very high speeds, and demonstrated incredible reliability, all of these onboard systems can also claim longevity records. No hydrogen system has maintained high pressure for more than 50 hours and 000 nautical miles in such a complex and demanding environment.
A thousand on-board sensors, electrical and control circuits, 24v and 400v batteries, motors, desalinators generating drinking water, and even an electrolyser (first on-board electrolyser in 2017!) have practically completed some 50 hours of operation since their installation, in the most extreme conditions (000 degrees Celsius in the hulls this week, etc.), an unprecedented performance far from specialist laboratories and factories.
So, on the occasion of the boat's 40th anniversary, the teams also want to celebrate all the technological partners involved in this feat of longevity by pushing the limits of sustainability and reliability! Energy Observer has been away from its bases for more than 3 years, yet another record for these innovative technologies, heralding the energy systems essential to the energy transition!
Energy Observer Key Figures 2017-2022
Launching : April 14, 2017 in Saint-Malo – Distance traveled : + 50 nautical miles – Number of stopovers 77 from mon to fri XNUMX:XNUMXam to XNUMXpm Number of countries : + 40 – Number of visitors to the village : + 350
About Energy Observer
Energy Observer, originally the name of the first autonomous, zero-emission hydrogen-powered vessel, is both an advocacy and a laboratory for the ecological transition. Developing reliable, sustainable, emission-free, and economically affordable energy solutions are at the heart of the Odyssey and its industrial subsidiary EODev. The boat will sail around the world for seven years, stopping in iconic cities and meeting women and men working to create sustainable and planet-friendly solutions. As the first French Ambassador for the 7 Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN, the mission—reinforced by the Energy Observer Foundation endowment fund—is to raise awareness among all stakeholders about the challenges of the ecological transition and to explore solutions proving that a new energy future is entirely possible.
Energy Observer has received the High Patronage of Mr. Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic. It enjoys the official support of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, UNESCO, the European Union, Irena, and Ademe.
www.energy-observer.org / #EnergyObserver
André Tirlet
