Gitana 16, her name when launched, is an

IMOCA 60 The IMOCA ("Open 60") is a 60ft (18.3 m) development class monohull sailing yacht governed by the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA). The class pinnacle event are single or two person ocean races, such as the Route du Rhum an ...

monohull

sailing yacht A sailing yacht (US ship prefixes SY or S/Y), is a leisure craft that uses sails as its primary means of propulsion. A yacht may be a sail or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, so the term applie ...

, designed by

VPLP 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 ...

and Guillaume Verdier and constructed by Multiplast in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. She was later known as Malizia II. The yacht's hull has a tumblehome shape and is equipped with foils, which were upgraded in 2016 and again in 2020. The boat was commissioned for the Gitana Sailing Team founded by French banker

Benjamin de Rothschild Benjamin de Rothschild (30 July 1963 – 15 January 2021) was a French banker, the owner of the Edmond de Rothschild Group from 1997 until his death in 2021. He was the son of Edmond Adolphe and Nadine de Rothschild. He was married to Ariane ...

. Her first skipper was

Sébastien Josse Sébastien Josse is a French professional offshore sailor, born on 31 March 1975 in Montereau-Fault-Yonne (Seine-et-Marne). He is originally from Nice and lives in the Finistère in Clohars-Carnoet. He was nominated for the World Sailing World ...

who was later replaced by Boris Herrmann. The yacht does not use any fossil fuel for power. In 2019, solar panels with an output of 1.3kW were installed, and power is also generated by two hydro-electric generators at the stern that can be raised and lowered as needed.

Ownership

2015–2017 - Gitana 16, FRA 16

The yacht was commissioned for the Gitana Sailing Team, founded by

. She competed in the

2016–2017 Vendée Globe The 2016–2017 Vendée Globe was a non-stop solo round-the-world yacht race for IMOCA 60 class yachts and the eighth edition of the race. Summary The 2016 – 17 race started from Les Sables d'Olonne on 6 November 2016; was the eighth edition ...

with French Skipper

but did not finish the race, due to a foil shaft problem. File:W2589 VendeeGlobe 23 EdmondDeRotchild-Gitana16 Lorient 4609.jpg File:Gitana 16 étrave.jpg File:Gitana 16-4.jpg File:Gitana 16 Lorient 2015.jpg File:Gitana 16 cockpit.jpg File:Sebastien Josse (10).jpg

2017–2021 - Malizia II, MON 10

In 2016,

Pierre Casiraghi Pierre Rainier Stefano Casiraghi (born 5 September 1987) is the younger son and youngest of three children of Caroline, Princess of Hanover, and her second husband, Stefano Casiraghi. He is the maternal-line grandson of Rainier III, Prince o ...

, Vice-President of the Yacht Club de Monaco, worked with his friend Boris Herrmann of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and others to create Team Malizia. The yacht was renamed and competed for the team under the name Malizia II, with the sail number MON 10, flagged by Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco for the

2020-2021 Vendée Globe The symbol , known in Unicode as hyphen-minus, is the form of hyphen most commonly used in digital documents. On most keyboards, it is the only character that resembles a minus sign or a dash, so it is also used for these. The name ''hyphen-min ...

2021 to date: Fortinet-Best Western, FRA 10

In March 2020, Romain Attanasio of

bought the yacht, following a repair and refit, with the intention of competing in the

2024-2025 Vendée Globe A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four ...

Voyages

Racing history

2020–2021 Vendée Globe

With skipper Boris Herrmann the boat competed in the

2020–2021 Vendée Globe The 2020–2021 Vendée Globe was a non-stop round the world yacht race for IMOCA 60 class yachts crewed by only one person. It was the ninth edition of the race, which started and finished in Les Sables-d'Olonne, France. The race began on 8 Nov ...

finishing 5th after having to reduce its speed close to Les Sables due to a collision with a fishing vessel which caused extensive damage to the starboard foil and side. Herrmann helped with the rescue of

Kevin Escoffier Kevin Escoffier is a French professional sailor born on 4 April 1980 in Saint-Malo, France and a resident of Lorient. He is an offshore sailor who has won the 2018 Volvo Ocean Race as a bowman onboard DongFeng and competed in the 2020–2021 Vend ...

after his boat sank.

Greta Thunberg Transatlantic Voyage

In August 2019, the ''Malizia II'' took Swedish climate activist

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist, climate and political activist initially known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to climate change mitigation, mitigate the effec ...

across the

North Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

from

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

without producing any carbon dioxide during the voyage; however,

France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned publicly funded international news television network based in Paris. Its channels, broadcast in French, English, Arabic and Spanish, are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb ...

reported that several crew flew to New York to sail the yacht back to Europe. The trip was led by Boris Herrmann. Thunberg's crossing of the Atlantic started on 14 August 2019 and she arrived on 28 August.

References

External links

Team Malizia II
official website
Live-tracking During Greta Thunberg's crossing of the Atlantic
August 2019 {{IMOCA 60 sailing yachts 2010s sailing yachts 2015 ships Sailing yachts designed by VPLP Sailboat types built in France IMOCA 60 yachts Vendée Globe yachts