A highly experienced owner and crew came to us with a clear brief: after years of racing production sailboats, they wanted a purpose-built IRC prototype that could win offshore, remain competitive inshore, and comply with Category 2 of the Admiral's Cup.

 

As an owner's yacht, elegance of proportions and lines was a stated requirement from the outset.

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We therefore designed a 13.40m (44-foot) sailboat, inspired by all our research into the hull hydrodynamics of IMOCA boats, and which benefited from an extensive dedicated CFD optimisation campaign, run in parallel with IRC simulations.

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Indeed, accounting for the effects of architectural choices on the rating was naturally central to the project. The result is a boat with a powerful hull, refined for good performance in waves, with a short waterline length and moderate displacement. The balance between the sail plan, the appendages and the wetted surface area should allow the boat to hold its own in almost all conditions.

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True to the Finot-Conq legacy, Zephyr is highly responsive, always in control, with very sensitive and well-balanced helm feel.

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The deck layout and its systems, the subject of many iterations with the team, is uncompromisingly designed for crewed sailing. In the same vein, the boat features a simple but functional interior, with comfortable headroom.

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The structure is entirely infused glass-epoxy sandwich.

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The boat was built by NST in Le Verdon-sur-Mer.