Accepting an invitation from the International Multihull Show in La Grande Motte (34) from 14th to 17th April 2011, Solar Odyssey will be making her first call in the Mediterranean under sunny skies. She will be on show and presented by her co-skipper Fred Dahirel.

During what was a rather active winter, the electro-solar powered trimaran was on show at the Düsseldorf boat show in January and then in the shed for a technical overhaul in the Vendée region. Now the orange multi is heading south bound for the Gulf of Lion.
Whilst the platform itself is now complete and is sailing under electrical power, now is the time to give thought to the creation of the manta ray wing which will bear the solar panels. Fred Dahirel, the boat’s skipper : "Ever since we validated the manta ray format, before going ahead with the build, we have to fine tune the details of form, so that we get the right relationship between the lift of the wing and the weight of the boat. We have to make sure that there is no risk of taking off! Our partner Hydrocéan is working on this extremely aspect right now, a complex task the wing has to be built in several parts so that she can be disassembled like the rest of the boat. That is the way we work : each stage has to be validated before we can move on to the next…".
Bear in mind that Solar Odyssey is an experimental craft. She is in the process of being registered as such in the wake of illustrious predecessors : Commandant Cousteau’s Alcyone and L'Hydroptère as dreamed up by Eric Tabarly and developed by Alain Thébault.

 

Partners

 

Yet the solar trimaran’s odyssey could gain still greater momentum.  Fred Dahirel : "… we are pleased with what has been accomplished over the past year, of the fantastic welcome our adventure receives with its ethos of strong values and a step by step approach.  But in order to continue development ,we need major partners to join forces alongside Lemer Pax, the company which got the project up and running. We are working with 3rd generation solar panels wit up-to-the-minute technology which should make us extremely pertinent in terms of speed and autonomy. Investment in development is crucial…".

 

 

For our children’s future

There is no escaping the fact that the 3rd millennium will see an evolution towards renewable clean energy. Current affairs bear powerful witness to the need to shake free of fossil energy or forms which are a danger to mankind. Solar Odyssey wants to demonstrate how that might be done. The Solar Odyssey team intends contributing to protecting the world’s oceans covering 70% of its surface by developing CO2 free solar power maritime propulsion. Frédéric Dahirel : "… in more than 20 years spent sailing the seven seas, I can affirm how the situation has degenerated.  The challenges which Solar Odyssey will be undertaking  – the transatlantic record and the round-the-world record under solar power… With what we have already learnt and still have to learn from the project, I am convinced that the knowledge acquired will be transferable to professional  domains…".

 

Stay tuned

www.solar-odyssey.com
The International Multihull Show
14th to 17th April 2011 / from 10h to 19h
La Grande Motte (34)
www.les-salons-du-multicoque.com/index_uk.php