Belgacom II then Gitana 11 then Ultim’Emotion
Belgacom II was commissioned for Jean-Luc Nélias. She was VPLP’s first 60’ ORMA to be designed using a hull test tank, in particular for the development of her floats. Sold to the Gitana Team in 2004, she was renamed Gitana 11 and achieved a certain maturity thanks to the improvements made by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild’s team. By slightly raising her floats, reducing her beam and carrying out various modifications to her rudders, central hull and cockpit, the team transformed her into a thoroughbred for solo, offshore racing.
Fred Le Peutrec, Loïck Peyron and Lionel Lemonchois took turns at the helm, with Lemonchois entering her in the 2006 Route du Rhum. “My boat doesn’t sail, she flies!” claimed the latter, finishing much earlier than expected. Even he seemed surprised by her performance. With Gitana 11, he smashed Laurent Bourgnon’s record by more than four days, taking just seven days and seventeen hours to complete the course. Her tremendous pace left the rest of the fleet standing. Every minute of every hour, the boat was pushed to the limit.
In 2010 Gitana 11 was extended to 77’ to enter the Route du Rhum in the Ultim class, Yann Guichard skippering her to fourth place. Sold in 2015, she is currently avail for day charter under the name Ultim’Emotion.
