La Roche-Posay Racing Team will have a striking new addition to its shore team at the America's Cup Preliminary Regatta in Naples this month: a 100% electric, 70-foot catamaran serving as its official hospitality yacht.
The French team has teamed up with fellow Lorient-based outfit MODX Catamarans, which will supply its MODX 70 to give partners and guests a close-up view of the racing from 24 to 27 September.
Both companies are based in the same French sailing hub, and the tie-up brings together two neighbouring operations that share a similar outlook on maritime innovation.
For MODX Catamarans, the deal delivers a high-profile international stage for the MODX 70, a 70-foot catamaran built to represent a new generation of large multihulls, combining contemporary design, advanced technology, performance and generous living spaces.
The yacht runs on 100% electric propulsion, powered entirely by renewable energy. It also carries Aeroforce®, a fully automated sail propulsion system designed to give the boat a high degree of energy autonomy. The idea is to combine eco-designed equipment and French-developed technology with genuine ease of use, cutting the vessel's impact on the marine environment without giving up comfort on board.
For K-Challenge, the fit with the America's Cup makes sense on its own terms. Sporting performance and technological innovation have gone hand in hand throughout the event's history, and for 175 years the world's oldest international sporting trophy has doubled as a proving ground for maritime technology still years away from mainstream use.
Stephan Kandler, CEO of K-Challenge, said: "We are delighted to welcome MODX Catamarans alongside La Roche-Posay Racing Team. Bringing our two companies together around the America's Cup makes a great deal of sense, particularly as we are neighbours in Lorient. We share the same culture of innovation and the same conviction: today, performance must go hand in hand with a rigorous approach to efficiency, environmental impact and ocean preservation. The MODX 70 fully embodies that approach. We are also very pleased to be able to offer our partners and guests in Naples both the opportunity to experience these Preliminary Regattas at the heart of the action and to discover a yacht that embodies a particularly innovative and responsible vision of sailing and life at sea."
For MODX, standing alongside La Roche-Posay Racing Team in Naples is also a chance to put its vision of yachting in front of an international audience of clients and partners gathered around one of sailing's most iconic events.
Franck David, CEO of MODX Catamarans, said: "This strategic partnership offers a unique opportunity to introduce the new MODX 70 to La Roche-Posay Racing Team's international partners and guests. It represents a new generation of yachting, combining 100% electric propulsion, 100% renewable energy and fully automated sailing to deliver an experience at sea defined by silence, comfort and serenity."
MODX Catamarans is a French yacht builder developing a new generation of luxury yachts that combine contemporary design, advanced technology, performance and exceptional living spaces, offering owners a distinctive and highly individual experience at sea.
The MODX 70, flagship of the brand, is built around 100% electric propulsion drawing solely on renewable energy, integrating cutting-edge "Made in France" technology throughout. With its fully automated Aeroforce® wind propulsion system, eco-designed equipment and full energy autonomy, the 70-foot catamaran brings together design, performance and durability.
Every detail, the builder says, is aimed at minimising impact on the ocean while still delivering exceptional comfort and functionality, a fitting complement to a Cup campaign built on the same premise: that performance and responsibility need not be at odds.
