For Actual leader, Yves le Blevec's Ultim, the winter construction site is not a time out of the season. On the contrary, during our visit, the hangar in Lorient La Base is in full effervescence and looks like a hive in spring.
Yves le Blevec's new Ultim leaves Sodebo's colours to take on those of Actual Leader, his sponsor who has been following him for 18 years now.
A team for the new Ultim
The complete painting of a trimaran of this size is a heavy operation. So in the face of such an immobilization, it is an opportunity to dismantle and completely overhaul the deck fittings and transmission systems.
It is a huge puzzle with very complex pieces and most of them are prototypes made of such noble materials as carbon and titanium. To carry out this project successfully, the Actual Leader team is full of competent and versatile professionals. This episode 2 of the web-series Construction site presents the work of Christophe Gouineau and David Cano.
Mechanical systems under good surveillance
Christophe is responsible for the mechanics, hydraulics, and fittings.
His job requires a lot of versatility, but when you have a mechanical mind you can do anything. Christophe is in charge of the integrated hydrogen generator, the engine and generator, the transmission, but also the steering systems and pilots, winches, trolleys and sheet drops.
Christophe is a true reference in ocean racing in his field of expertise. He works as closely as possible with the engineers to whom he brings his field expertise.
In a container, a high-tech workshop
In this painting site, the Ultim trimaran is suspended several metres high. Under the floats are parked containers. One of them is dedicated to electronics.
When you enter it, you think you're entering an electronic experimentation laboratory, there are cables everywhere, control screens, electronic boards, black boxes and what looks like a scale 1 model of an electrical panel.
This is David Cano's workshop, within the Team Actual Leader, he is in charge of electricity, electronics and on-board computing. Passionate, curious, competent, David designs and implements tailor-made solutions to meet Yves' specific expectations.
For him, this construction phase is an opportunity to dismantle the existing installation in order to improve it. With the skipper, he is working on the ergonomics of the electrical and electronic implementation to facilitate Yves' work in the event of an intervention.
Professions guided by a passion for performance
The professions of offshore racing are many and varied. A team like Actual Leader integrates heterogeneous profiles in the search for performance. Yves Le Blevec concluded about the team:" The exchanges are rich, each one has its own point of view, its own expertise, its own dynamism. The exchanges are very constructive, we are constantly looking to optimize and it is progressing. "
