With an excellent reputation in the maritime world, MerConcept’s know-how also meant that the company was contacted in 2019 by the people behind the 11th Hour Racing Team project, Charlie Enright and Mark Towill of 1Degree, who were attracted by MerConcept’s sporting achievements and who wanted to work in the epicentre of the ocean racing world, working alongside a high-performance technical partner who is committed to sustainable development.

CONSTRUCTION DEPARTMENT INVOLVEMENT

FOIL SYSTEM DESIGN – Alaka’i

Contacted to redesign the hydrofoil system of the ex IMOCA Hugo Boss 6, MerConcept’s design office and its workshop intervened as technical partner in a host of aspect (design of the hydrofoils and associated systems, one-off part manufacture, design and integration of on board hydrofoil systems, hosting of the project during the final reworking and finalisation phases).

2021 demonstrated the full relevance and effectiveness of the work carried out by MerConcept. Second in the crewed Ocean Race Europe,third in the Rolex Fastnet Race then second in the Azimut challenge with Justine Mettraux and Simon Fisher at the helm, Alaka’i is always one of the best boats in the race.

BOAT DESIGN IN COLLABORATION WITH THE ARCHITECT GUILLAUME VERDIER – Mālama

Mark Towill and Charlie Enright renewed their faith in MerConcept to join CDK Technologies in the team to construct an IMOCA 60, designed for crewed sailing. Two years’ work and tens of thousands of hours were needed to design and build Mālama in CDK’s yards.

In addition to the sporting challenge of winning the The Ocean Race 2022/2023, 11th Hour Racing Team wanted to inspire radical change in the maritime industry by integrating the concept of sustainable development, a vision which MerConcept fully shares.

Mālama entered the water for the first time on 13th August 2021, before heading out on its first cruise two weeks later. After taking the start of the Azimut challenge in Lorient in mid-September with Charlie Enright and Pascal Bidégorry on board, the boat showed its full potential by winning the speed runs classification