Feature

New offshore 30-footer on a roll

Published on July 13th, 2023

In 2021, a collaborative effort involving UK’s Royal Ocean Racing Club, France’s UNCL Pole Course du YCF, and USA’s Storm Trysail Club started a project to create an affordable offshore race boat designed to attract youth sailors.

Previously known as the Class 30 One Design, the rebranded Sun Fast 30 is now in production with Hull #1 to be on display this month at the Rolex Fastnet Race Village in Cherbourg, France.

The one-design Sun Fast 30, which will also be raced under IRC, is conceived for youth offshore sailing, a fun and accessible boat intended to excite the young generation and train tomorrow’s champions. Additionally, environmental concern lies at the heart of its philosophy since the beginning.

With Beneteau Group’s involvement, the selected duo VPLP/MULTIPLAST relies on the innovation and industrial agility of the world leader in boating. The boat is versatile enough to respond to the requirements of clubs willing to replace their aging fleet for one-design racing enthusiasts as well as for IRC sailors.

The Sun Fast 30 seeks to provide a vibrant and powerful monohull, be simple – without foils or ballasts – and economical, while geared towards competition over several days with a crew of 4 to 5 people, double or even single-handed, with certification eligible for transatlantic races.

The racing division of the YCF (Yacht Club de France) has established, together with Multiplast, the rules for the new C30 Class Association with a race program soon to be announced. Several Sun Fast 30s have already enrolled for the second edition of the Cap-Martinique Transatlantic Race which will start from La Trinité sur Meron on April 14, 2024.

In 2024, the Sunfast 30 Class is expected to be racing in the RORC Season’s Points Championship, as well as other high-profile events in Europe such as Spi Oest and the Armen Race. Scheduled for the end of summer 2024 will be a project like the original “Tour de France à la Voile” is being planned.

At the initiative of a private investor who has ordered around twenty boats, collective fleets of Sun Fast 30s will be available for charter located in Portsmouth UK, and in France at Lorient and Marseille.

The Sun Fast 30 construction benefits from a new technology taking over three years of research and development to perfect. The implementation of the first liquid thermoplastic resin, Arkema’s Elium®, which can be reheated at the end of the boat’s lifecycle to eliminate the fibers and recover the polymer, leads the boating industry into a new era.

The boat is distributed by Jeanneau’s network, while construction is ongoing at the Bénéteau Racing yard in Cheviré (Nantes) made famous by the production of the Figaro 3. The Sun Fast 30 will be produced at the rate of one boat per week from September 2023.

Technically, the molds are the same as those needed to manufacture a polyester laminate, with equivalent structural properties and weight specifications. However, the infusion moldings process had to be rethought with the introduction of a new component. It also relies on the Group’s industrial agility to ensure strict cost control. To date, 43 units have already been sold.