Jean-François Buléon, Composites Distribution sales manager, was as happy as Kojiro Shiraishi to see the ‘DMG Mori Global One’ boat cross the finish line of the Vendée Globe in Les Sables-d’Olonne (Pays-de-la-Loire). The success of the first Asian skipper to sail around the world in this race was due in part to a remarkable boat. Built at Multiplast in 2019, the fast and sturdy yacht is made, among other things, of Gurit prepreg carbon supplied by Composites Distribution. ‘We had to be highly responsive because construction of the boat started very late and was completed in less than a year, around six months ahead of the usual time frame’, says Jean-François Buléon. The ‘DMG Mori Global One’ is the sister ship of the ‘Charal’ skippered by Jérémie Beyou (13th in the race), also built by Multiplast in Vannes (Brittany).
Kojiro Shiraishi built on the experience gained in his previous Vendée Globe, which he abandoned, to finish 16th in the 2020-2021 race. The boat was put to the test and the skipper had to repair the top of the sail after it was torn by a gust of wind. But the yacht chopped through the waves with power and flexibility, allowing Kojiro Shiraishi to cross the finish line and step onto the dock in… a kimono.