Holcim-PRB has been relaunched after a three-month refit. Since the arrival of “Retour à la Base” on December 11th, the technical team of Team Holcim-PRB has been working in Port-la-Forêt to prepare the 60-foot IMOCA for the 2024 season, which will be highlighted in November by the start of the Vendée Globe. Before then, the skipper of the green and blue monohull, Nicolas Lunven, will tackle The Transat CIC on April 28th, a solo race between Lorient and New York.
Having completed a round-the-world journey during The Ocean Race, followed by two transatlantic crossings last winter, this refit period proved to be a crucial step for the monohull. Every component was meticulously disassembled, inspected, and revised.
In parallel with this work, several changes were made. The number of solar panels was increased, and two hydrogenerators were added to the boat. These modifications will maximize the use of renewable energy and minimize dependence on fossil fuels during racing.
The beginning of the year was dedicated to refining meteorological knowledge before a season focused on solo sailing.
While Holcim-PRB was in the shipyard, the skipper joined the routing team of the Banque Populaire trimaran during the Arkéa Ultim Challenge. An exciting and enriching experience that is also part of Nicolas’s preparation for the Vendée Globe: “It was really interesting. It’s good preparation for the Vendée Globe because even though the boats are different, the course is the same. It allows for accumulating even more knowledge, especially about the weather conditions and the state of the sea in these areas, thus better anticipating the various weather scenarios that the Vendée Globe may present us.”
The relaunch of Holcim-PRB this afternoon feels like a reunion between Nicolas and the boat he will sail around the world in a few months. At its helm, he completed a delivery transatlantic last year followed by another one in racing and solo mode, “Retour à la Base.” The miles covered allowed him to find his bearings. Now, Nicolas is no longer in the discovery phase and wants to continue gaining experience against very tough competition. For this reason, he chose to participate in all the races of the season. The Transat CIC will certainly be one of the most demanding events before the Vendée Globe. “The Transat CIC is an emblematic race. Historically, it’s the English Transat, won twice by Eric Tabarly. It allowed France to discover sailing and offshore racing. It’s a demanding race in the North Atlantic, against the prevailing winds, with a fabulous arrival in New York. Sailing to the United States is rare, and arriving in New York by sail, on an IMOCA after crossing the Atlantic, is a dream. I can’t wait to experience this adventure aboard Holcim-PRB,” exclaimed the skipper enthusiastically.
After this first major event of the season, the skipper of Holcim-PRB will compete in the New York – Vendée race before finishing his preparation with the Défi Azimut. Then, it will be the appointment of a lifetime, the Vendée Globe, which he has been dreaming of for years.
In the coming days, Nicolas Lunven and his team will undertake technical test sails to finalise the last adjustments of the boat before the delivery to Lorient La Base in a few weeks, where the IMOCA Holcim-PRB will remain moored until the start of The Transat CIC, scheduled for April 28th.
