Class40 : les dernières infos Tip & Shaft

With a background in Olympic sailing and the Tour Voile, Guillaume Pirouelle, 32, is riding a wave of success. Runner-up and top rookie in the 2022 Solitaire du Figaro, he is now one of the leading figures on the Class40 circuit, having won the Transat Café L’Or, the Trin’40 and, on Wednesday, the CIC Normandy Channel Race with Jules Ducelier, all within the space of six months. Not to mention winning the Jules Verne Trophy last winter aboard Sodebo Ultim 3. Sailorz caught up with the Normandy skipper of Sogestran-Seafrigo.

While the Rorc Caribbean 600 kicked off the season on 23 February, things really get underway for the Class40 in April with the Spi Ouest-France BPGO followed by the Trin’40. A new solo race designed to prepare sailors for the year’s flagship event, the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe, the highlight of the four-year cycle for a class that remains as dynamic as ever.

The fifth and penultimate leg of the Globe40, between Valparaiso (Chile) and Recife (Brazil), sets sail on Wednesday, February 18. For Sailorz, the organizer, skippers, and architects provide an initial technical and sporting assessment of this second edition of the double-handed round-the-world race in Class40s.

After a prologue between Lorient and Cadiz won by the duo Ian Lipinski/Antoine Carpentier (Crédit Mutuel), eight crews set sail on Sunday for the first leg of the Globe40 between Cadiz and Mindelo (Cape Verde). Tip & Shaft takes stock of the second edition of this double-handed round-the-world race in Class40 with organiser Manfred Ramspacher and some of the participants. 

On Sunday 31 August, Ian Lipinski will set sail from Lorient aboard Crédit Mutuel for the prologue of the second edition of the Globe40, a double-handed round-the-world race with stopovers in Class40. A challenge full of new experiences for the skipper. Interview.

The 2025 edition of the CIC Normandy Channel Race was marked by a rare incident: the collision between a container ship and the Class40 NST-Cabinet Z, which was cut in two before its skippers, Thomas Jourdren and Cédric de Kervenoaël, were rescued by helicopter. Tip & Shaft looks back at the sequence of events.

After a period of strong growth, the Class40, which made its 2025 debut with the Spi Ouest-France Banque Populaire Grand Ouest last weekend, is now back at cruising speed, while at the same time succeeding in renewing itself. With a brand-new race in the Mediterranean, an ever-expanding round-the-world race, architectural innovations and an ever-increasing number of competitors, the formula continues to attract.

After two seasons in Class40 under the colours of Zeiss, Timothé Polet (24) is preparing to move up the range, as he launches a new Mach 40.6 designed by Sam Manuard and built by JPS in La Trinité-sur-Mer on Monday 25 November. An opportunity for Tip & Shaft to talk to Nicolas Series, president of Zeiss France, who is committed to working alongside the Norman sailor until the end of 2026.

25 Class40s – and 4 monohulls from 45 to 70 feet – set off on 30 June for the 10th edition of the Transat Québec Saint-Malo, raced as a crew. One of these is the Crédit Mutuel boat, n°158, launched in August 2019, which skipper Ian Lipinski will be sailing for the last time, before taking the helm of his new Raison design, unveiled in April. An opportunity for Tip & Shaft to chat to the man who took second place in The Transat CIC in May.

With two new races on the calendar, several new designs in the water and a growing number of contenders to join the circuit, Class40 continues to be buoyed by favourable winds at the start of the 2024 season. Tip & Shaft takes stock.