Guillaume Verdier is a French naval architect noted for his designs of high performance sailboats.
Life
Verdier was born 28 September 1970.[1] From 1990 to 1993 he studied at MSc in Yacht and Powercraft Design at what is now Southampton Solent University before moving to do a post graduate master at the University of Southampton in Naval Architecture from 1994 to 1995.[2] On completing his degree and then became a member f Naval Architecture Research Department of the University of Copenhagen developing design tools.
Awards
In 2016, the Solent University, his alma mater, awarded him with an honorary doctorate of engineering degree.[3]
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's Geodis, Yves Parlier's Aquitaine Innovations and on the conception of Sodebo, Somewhere and on PRB 3 as well, the winner of the Vendée Globe in 2000–2001 with Michel Desjoyeaux.
In 2001, he founded his own company, whose first design was the Yves Parlier's Hydraplaneur.[4]
In 2004, he was part of the design team for the Areva Challenge, which participated in 2007 America's Cup.
From 2006, he began working with naval architects Marc Van Peteghem et Vincent Lauriot-Prévost of VPLP design. Together, they created numerous 60-foot boats:
- Safran[5]
- Groupe Bel for the Vendée Globe 2006–2007,
- PRB 5,[6]
- Virbac Paprec 3,
- Banque populaire and
- Macif[7]
In 2010, he joined the Emirates Team New Zealand to design the AC72 with the team of Grant Dalton for the America's Cup in 2013.[8] 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.[9]
In 2014, he designed the monohull Comanche with the intention of creating the fastest monohull in the world.[10][11]
Following his experience with ETNZ, Verdier worked on Banque populaire VIII of Armel Le Cléac'h, a 60-foot monohull launched in 2015.[12]
In 2017 the trimaran Maxi, designed for Edmond de Rothschild, was launched.[13][14][15]