Russell Coutts design shorlisted for the 2011 Tour de France à la Voile boat

The organizers of the Tour de France à la Voile had presented last November the specifications for a new boat that would replace the current Farr 30 (ex Mumm 30) from the 2011 race onwards and set a deadline on January 31st for the reception of all designs and projects from any interested designer. When the deadline was reached a total of 23 projects were received by William Borel, Sports Director of the Race.

It was an irrefutable success in terms of participation since a total of 23 projects were received from 9 different countries (Spain, France, Japan, New Zealand, Netherlands, Switzerland, Slovenia, Turkey and USA) as well as the conceptual quality of the designs that had to comply with an official set of specifications that was precise, open and known to everybody.

Following numerous consultations with sailors, race organizers, sports managers and personalities of the sailing world, such as Marc Bouvet, Jean-Pierre Champion, Dimitri Deruelle, Fabien Henry, Thierry Leret, Bernard Mallaret, Nanda Nengerman, Bertrand Pacé, Cino Ricci, Daniel Souben and Bruno Troublé, the Tour de France à la Voile now officially announces the three projects that have been shortlisted.

The three designs shortlisted for the 2011 Tour de France à la Voile onwards

The three boats retained by the organization are:

1. JPK 998 presented by JPK Composites and designed by Jacques Valer
2. One Design T2011 presented by K-Challenge and designed by the duo Russel Coutts/Andrej Justin,
3. M34 presented by the Archambault boatyard and designed by Joubert Nivelt Design.

In addition to subjective criteria, the 23 candidates were also evaluated on precise points such as aesthetics, innovation, reliability of the builder or contractor, the draft, the transportability on a trailer, the internationalization and the distribution, creation of a charter fleet and the marine potential.

For the three shortlisted projects a new race will now start and its final winner will be announced no later than the 31st of July, 2009.

Technical specifications of the 3 finalists

	JPK 998	One design T2011 / K-Challenge	M34 Archambault
LOA	9.98 m	11.00 m	10.34 m
Beam	2.99 m	2.99 m	2.98 m
Displacement	2,700 kg	2,420 kg	2,400 kg
Bulb	1,350 kg	1,240 kg	1,100 kg
Draft	2.10 m	1.85 / 2.65 m	1.70 / 2.50 m
Upwind s/a	68 m2	83 m2	72 m2
Spinnaker	120 m2	145 m2	130 m2
Designer	Jacques Valer	Russell Coutts / Andrej Justin	Joubert Nivelt Design
Builder	JPK Composites	Pauger Carbon	Archambault
Price	109,800 €	119,000 €	120,000 €