Gitana 16, her name when launched, is an IMOCA 60 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 Guillaume Verdier is a French naval architect noted for his designs of high performance sailboats. Life Verdier was born 28 September 1970. From 1990–1993 he studied at MSc in Yacht and Powercraft Design at what is now Southampton Solent Univer ...

and constructed by Multiplast in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. 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 Benjamin de Rothschild. 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 nominate for the World Sailing – World ...

who was later replaced by

Boris Herrmann Boris Herrmann (born 28 May 1981) is a German yachtsman and author competing mostly in offshore races in the IMOCA 60 class. He placed fifth in the 2020/21 Vendée Globe and third in the 2023 The Ocean Race. With the experiences of these race ...

. 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 Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

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 Benjamin de Rothschild. She competed in the

2016–2017 Vendée Globe The 2016–2017 Vendée Globe is a non-stop solo Round the World Yacht Race for IMOCA 60 class yachts this is the eighth edition of the race. Summary The 2016 – 17 race started from Les Sables d'Olonne on 6 November 2016; was the eighth editio ...

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 of ...

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

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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 hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as such. ...

2021 to date: Fortinet-Best Western, FRA 10

In March 2020,

Romain Attanasio Romain Attanasio is a French sailor born on 26 June 1977 in Hautes-Alpes and now resides in Trégunc. He is the winner of the RORC Caribbean 600 race in 2015, he competed in the 2016–2017 Vendée Globe and 2020–2021 Vendée Globe where he fin ...

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

2024-2025 Vendée Globe A coxless four is a rowing boat 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 rowers, each having one oar. There are two rowers on ...

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 Novem ...

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 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 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation. Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded ...

across the North Atlantic Ocean from

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

without producing any carbon dioxide during the voyage, however,

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

reported that several crew flew to New York to sail the yacht back to Europe. The trip was led by

. 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