VPLP Design

VPLP Design
Name	VPLP Design
Founded	1983
Founders	François Luneau, Marc Van Peteghem, Vincent Lauriot-Prévost
Headquarters	La Forêt-Fouesnant, Brittany, France
Industry	Naval architecture, yacht design

VPLP Design VPLP Design is a French naval architecture and yacht design firm established in 1983 by François Luneau, Marc Van Peteghem, and Vincent Lauriot-Prévost. The studio is renowned for pioneering multihull racing yachts, cruising catamarans, and high-performance offshore platforms, collaborating with teams, yards, and skippers across events such as the Whitbread Round the World Race, America's Cup, Vendée Globe, Transat Jacques Vabre, and Route du Rhum. Its practice intersects with naval engineering firms, sailmakers, shipyards, and professional skippers from Ellen MacArthur to François Gabart.

History

The firm was founded in Brittany amid the contemporary context of designers like Olin Stephens, Philippe Briand, Gérard Lambert, Bruce Farr, and German Frers. Early projects responded to trends set by campaigns such as the Transpacific Yacht Race and the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, and to contemporaries including Jean-Marie Finot, Laurent Giles, Nigel Irens, and Tom Fexas. VPLP gained prominence with multihull specialists and racing syndicates similar to those backing Team New Zealand, Alinghi, Oracle Team USA, and Emirates Team New Zealand in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Collaborations and competitions linked them to skippers and yards represented by names like Ellen MacArthur, Loïck Peyron, Marco Nannini, Yvan Bourgnon, Sébastien Josse, and institutions including World Sailing, International Sailing Federation, and naval research groups across France and the United Kingdom.

Design Philosophy and Methods

VPLP's methods combine computational fluid dynamics (CFD), towing tank testing, and empirical feedback from ocean racing campaigns, aligning with practices used by design houses such as MIT, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, École Polytechnique, Imperial College London, and consultancies like Bureau Veritas and Lloyd's Register. The studio emphasizes optimization of hullform, appendages, and weight distribution, drawing parallels with approaches from UCL Energy Institute, École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées, and research groups at Ifremer. Iterative prototyping, model testing at facilities like the Société des Chantiers de l'Atlantique and cooperation with yards such as Multiplast, JMV Industries, Persico Marine, and Southern Ocean Shipyard are central. Design teams liaise with sailmakers and equipment makers including North Sails, Elvstrøm Sails, Musto, and Spinlock to refine performance targets.

Notable Yacht Designs

VPLP's portfolio includes racing and cruising multihulls commissioned by skippers and teams active in events like the Transat and the Route du Rhum. Noteworthy projects correspond to vessels campaigned by figures such as Ellen MacArthur, François Gabart, Loïck Peyron, Thomas Coville, Armel Le Cléac'h, and Yannick Bestaven. The studio produced designs for classes and platforms that competed in the Mini Transat, Class40, IMOCA 60, Class 40, ORMA 60 and maxi multihull categories. Collaborators and owners include shipyards and teams associated with Banque Populaire, Groupama, Team Banque Populaire, Axa, Team Banque Populaire V, and private clients linked to luxury builders such as Sunreef Yachts, Lagoon, Fountaine Pajot, and Gunboat.

Innovations and Technologies

VPLP advanced technologies including foiling configurations, stepped hulls, curved daggerboards, and inverse deadrise geometries, paralleling innovations by designers and teams like Paul Ricard Institute, Hydroptère, America's Cup Class, Emirates Team New Zealand, ETNZ Innovation, and laboratories at CNRS. They adopted carbon composite engineering methods used by Huntsman Marine, Gurit, Hexcel, and structural analysis standards from Eurocode frameworks and classification societies including DNV GL. The practice integrated developments in hydrofoils and flight control akin to research at NASA, ONERA, and university labs at Delft University of Technology and University of Southampton.

Racing Performance and Records

VPLP designs have set benchmarks in offshore racing and speed records during events such as the Transat Jacques Vabre, Route du Rhum, Transpac, and Velux 5 Oceans Race. Their multihulls and foiling prototypes have contested records previously held by competitors associated with Loïck Peyron, Ellen MacArthur, François Gabart, Armel Le Cléac'h, Thomas Coville, and Alex Thomson. Race campaigns often involved teams sponsored by corporations like Banque Populaire, Groupama, Macif, Initiatives-Cœur, Hugo Boss, and Dongfeng Race Team, and were timed and validated by authorities such as World Sailing and national maritime federations.

Commercial and Offshore Projects

Beyond racing, VPLP worked on passenger and commercial catamarans, fast ferries, and offshore support platforms comparable to projects by Wight Shipyard, Damen Shipyards, Fincantieri, STX France, Austal, and Chantiers de l'Atlantique. They contributed to ferry concepts and wind-farm support vessels similar to initiatives by Ørsted, Equinor, Siemens Gamesa, and offshore logistics groups. Commercial collaborations encompassed yards and operators like Brittany Ferries, Condor Ferries, Fred. Olsen Express, and research consortia funded by the European Commission and national maritime agencies.

Influence and Legacy

The studio influenced multihull acceptance in ocean racing and cruising, shaping trends followed by designers such as Xavier Revil, Antoine Koch, Guillaume Verdier, Marc Lombard, and Herbert A. "Herb" David. Its work impacted training programs at institutions including École Nationale Supérieure Maritime, École Centrale de Nantes, and inspired manufacturers like Lagoon Catamarans and Fountaine Pajot. VPLP's legacy is reflected in museum exhibits, technical papers presented at conferences hosted by SNAME, RINA, IYRU, and in the pedigrees of skippers and teams who raced their boats in events including the America's Cup, Vendée Globe, Transat Jacques Vabre, and Route du Rhum.

Category:French shipbuilders Category:Naval architecture firms