Guillaume Verdier is a French

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture by occupation Design occupations Occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's rol ...

noted for his designs of high performance sailboats.

Life

Verdier was born 28 September 1970. From 1990 to 1993 he studied at MSc in Yacht and Powercraft Design at what is now Southampton

Solent University Southampton Solent University (formerly and commonly known as Solent University) is a public university based in Southampton, United Kingdom. It has approximately 10,500 students (2019/20). Its main campus is located on East Park Terrace near ...

before moving to do a post graduate master at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

in Naval Architecture from 1994 to 1995. On completing his degree and then became a member f Naval Architecture Research Department of the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

developing design tools.

Awards

In 2016, the

, his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

, awarded him with an honorary doctorate of engineering degree.

Career

Verdier was recruited in 1997 by the company Finot-Conq, Which is known for its designs of 60-foot sailboats. He worked notably on the development of

Christophe Auguin Christophe Auguin (born 10 December 1959 in Granville, Manche) is a French yachtsman. He is the only sailor to have won three single-handled sailing races around the globe: the BOC Challenge twice (1990-1991 and 1994-1995) and the Vendée Globe (1 ...

's Geodis,

Yves Parlier Yves Parlier (born 14 November 1960) is a French sailor. He is very well known in the offshore sailing world and generally in France, where he waFrance's top sports personality in 2002. Nicknamed "The extra-terrestrial" for his amazing explo ...

's Aquitaine Innovations and on the conception of ''Sodebo'', ''Somewhere'' and on ''PRB 3'' as well, the winner of the

Vendée Globe --> The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop, unassisted round the world yacht race. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. It is named after the Département of Vendé ...

in 2000–2001 with

Michel Desjoyeaux Michel Desjoyeaux (born 16 July 1965 in Concarneau) is a French sailor, known for competing successfully in several long-distance single-handed races. He won the Vendée Globe race in 2000-01 and 2008–09, making him the only person to win th ...

. In 2001, he founded his own company, whose first design was the Yves Parlier's ''Hydraplaneur''. In 2004, he was part of the design team for the

Areva Challenge Orient Express Racing Team is a French yacht racing team that competes in International America's Cup Class races. The team has formally competed as K-Challenge, Areva Challenge (between 2005 and 2007) and ALL4ONE Challenge. History As Areva Cha ...

, which participated in 2007

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

. From 2006, he began working with naval architects

Marc Van Peteghem Marc Van Peteghem is a French people, French naval architect, co-founder of VPLP (Van Peteghem Lauriot-Prévost) a France, French based naval architectural firm, since 1983. Studies Born on January 9, 1957, in Paris, Marc Van Peteghem studied at S ...

et Vincent Lauriot-Prévost of

VPLP design VPLP Design (Van Peteghem Lauriot-Prévost) is a French-based naval architectural firm founded by Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prévost, responsible for designing some of the world's most innovative racing boats. Their designs presently ...

. Together, they created numerous 60-foot boats: * ''Safran'' * ''Groupe Bel'' for the Vendée Globe 2006–2007, * ''PRB 5'', * ''Virbac Paprec 3'', * ''Banque populaire'' and * ''Macif'' In 2010, he joined the

Emirates Team New Zealand Team New Zealand or TNZ is a sailing team based in Auckland, New Zealand, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. The team has been branded as Emirates Team New Zealand at America's Cup competitions since 2007. Team New Zealand be ...

to design the

AC72 The AC72 (America's Cup 72 class) is a class of wingsail catamarans built to a box rule, which governs the construction and operation of yachts competing in the 2013 Louis Vuitton and the America's Cup races. The class was subsequently replaced ...

with the team of

Grant Dalton Grant Stanley Dalton is a New Zealand sailor who has competed in five Whitbread Round the World Races and was appointed manager of Team New Zealand in 2003, and is CEO of the team. He is also passionate about motor racing and is an avid F1 ...

for the

in 2013. He contributed to the development of foils that permitted the sailboat to leave the surface of the water and to attain speeds in excess of 40

knots A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines. Knot or knots may also refer to: Other common meanings * Knot (unit), of speed * Knot (wood), a timber imperfection Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Knots'' (film), a 2004 film * ''Kn ...

. In 2014, he designed the

monohull right A monohull is a type of boat having only one hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another. Fundamental concept Among the earliest hulls were simple logs, but these were generally unstab ...

''Comanche'' with the intention of creating the fastest monohull in the world. Following his experience with ETNZ, Verdier worked on ''Banque populaire VIII'' of Armel Le Cléac'h, a 60-foot monohull launched in 2015. In 2017 the

trimaran A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recrea ...

Maxi, designed for

Edmond de Rothschild Baron Abraham Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild (; 19 August 1845 – 2 November 1934) was a French member of the Rothschild banking family. A strong supporter of Jewish settlement in Palestine, his large donations lent significant support to ...

, was launched.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verdier, Guillaume 1970 births Living people French naval architects Alumni of Southampton Solent University Alumni of the University of Southampton University of Copenhagen alumni 21st-century French architects French yacht designers