Future Fibres ECsix rigging product has been at the heart of the two-and-a-half-month ocean match race around the world between Vendee Globe skippers Armel Le Cléac’h and Alex Thomson.
The 24,000-mile battle between the French and British sailors has at times pushed them and their state-of-the-art IMOCA 60 yachts to the very limit while keeping a worldwide audience of yacht racing fans on their edge of their seats.
Yesterday, after 74 days of nonstop racing it was Le Cléac’h who finally gained the upper hand to win the Vendee Globe at his third attempt. The 39-year old Breton crossed the finish line off Les Sables D’Olonne, Brittany surrounded by flotilla of cheering supporters who had braved sub-zero evening temperatures on the water to celebrate their local hero’s homecoming.
His time of 74 days, three hours, 35 minutes and 46 seconds was a new record – three days, 22 hours and 41 minutes faster than 2012-13 winner Francois Gabart. Meanwhile, second placed Thomson can take consolation in having lived up to his promise to ‘fight to the very end’. He led the fleet into the Southern Ocean until a broken starboard daggerboard dramatically limited his boatspeed on port tack and allowed Le Cléac’h to overtake.
Thomson and Le Cléac’h both led the race for prolonged periods and made the most of their revolutionary foil daggerboards to knock over Vendee Globe record milestones one after another. They pushed each other non-stop, even in the Southern Ocean where they both had to hunker down several times as vicious storm systems lashed their boats with freezing spray and 60-knots winds that screamed through their rigging.
Vendee Globe skippers face a multitude of problems of on board problems every day and are adept at coming up with ingenious solutions. When it comes to their masts however, they rely 100 per cent on their rigging to be up to the task.
Le Cléac’h’s Banque Populaire and Thomson’s Hugo Boss yachts were both fitted out with Future Fibres ECsix multistrand rigging – a product first developed specifically for Vendee Globe competitors for its strength, durability and aerodynamic optimisation.
Since then ECsix has been used extensively on grand prix racing campaigns like the Volvo Ocean Race, 52SuperSeries and Maxi 72 circuits and on many of the world’s largest superyachts. As well as Le Cléac’h and Thomson a further 22 competitors in the 2016-17 Vendee Globe fleet also opted for ECsix rigging.
Congratulations to you both Armel and Alex from all of us at Future Fibres. Looking forward to wellcome the rest of the brave skippers at Les Sables D’Olonne.