architecture and naval engineering
Creation and design of yachts and ships.
Coordination of the craftsmen and trade
association, follow-up of construction, testing and
development.
Refit, restoration and modifications of
yachts and ships.
The VATON DESIGN Office is the BGV’s creator
(international patents), fast multihulls “trimaran
type” crafts.
Gilles Vaton, born 12 april 1952 in
Quimper, France, started his career as a naval architect in
André Mauric's prestigious Marseille office. He was
involved in many innovative projects such as the keel-less
Méridien and Kriter as well as the design of eventually
mass-produced boats like the Jeanneau Mélody and the
early Bénéteau Firsts.
This 5-year term followed his working in
England and France with Illingworth, Nicholson and Rouillard, a
period in which he also crewed and then sailed solo in the
Whitbread and Ostar 76 round-the-world races respectively.
Around this time, he designed a one-tonner
in collaboration with A. Maupas.
He set up his own office in Marseilles in
1979, a commission to design a 40' yacht for the 'Beg Rohu'
National Sailing School providing a solid start to his
activities.
In 1980, C. Heidsieck III brought success
to Alain Gabbay, his good results giving the Vaton office
further impetus. IOR maxis such as Coriolan and maxi cruise
yachts like Arrayan, Blooper and Vogue followed on rapidly.
New, innovative solutions applied to many
maxi cruise yachts built in the 80s and 90s were consolidated
the Vaton reputation.
Many examples :
Big 100% - centreboard yachts:
Blooper
Arrayan
Whither (twin-rudder, twin motor)
Vogue (twin-rudder, twin motor, battenned
sails, garaged tender, etc. )
Adélie
Big maxis and retracting keels :
Arrayan II (Award super-yacht 1993).
Garcia 90'
Launet 70'
Garcia 100'
Mass-produced 100% - centreboard boats :
Kelt 8m50 integral centerboard - 'Boat of
the Year' 85/86 (1100 built)
Kirie 586 integral centerboard
345 integral centerboard
30' integral centerboard
385 integral centerboard
39' integral centerboard
Racing yachts and 'cruiser-racers'
Milène 70 IOR
Chimère 40' IOR
Bella Dona 45'
Javelin 75'
de Scheppper 85'
Mr. Fip's 60'
Zurbagan 90’ (Award super yacht 2007)
Racing multihulls and fast-cruiser
catamarans
Charles Heidsieck (26 x 26 m tri
foiler)
Provence alpes Côte d'Azur (23 x 23 m
tri foiler)
Kaimiloa (20 m catamaran)
Liz (24 m catamaran)
Catana (25 m mass prod. catamaran)
Nahema 90 to 150’
In 2001, a 100-foot all-carbon
Cruiser-Racer, repeating the Arrayan II retracting-keel
concept, was designed and constructed with Bureau
Véritas supervision and approval.
A 90- to 120-foot range of such
cruiser-racers, using composite construction, is currently on
the Vaton drawing boards.
In the period 2001/2002, the 88' boat
designed for Jean-Luc Van den Heede beat the round-the-world
(beating-the-wind) record, attaining 11.3 knots close-hauled at
22/33° to the apparent wind. The average speed achieved by
Jean-Luc sailing solo, was 9.2 knots at around 50 %
close-hauled!
Simultaneously, the Vaton team was also
working on America's-class boats, validating their design
concepts by computer calculation using the ICARE programme,
followed up with tank testing at the DGA facility in Val de
Reuil.
The 600m-long Val de Reuil tank was also
used for testing high-speed passenger ferry designs including
the famous BGV-type pseudo-trimaran with its highly-individual
hull design (semi-displacement fin, planing effect).
Currently, the Vaton office is involved in
several Catamaran Motor Yacht projects: 16, 19, 24 and 30-metre
models are at the construction stage and a bigger 35m version
is being studied.
A 52m Schooner is also under construction
with its 62m version on the drawing board.
A conventional 90' Cruiser-Racer (with
America's-type hull and appendages) will be built soon.
Also being studied are various Motor Yacht
concepts incorporating semi-planing hulls, forms already tested
on passenger vessels with their stringent design requirements
for wave comportment.
Gilles Vaton currently works with the
following shipyards:
Abeking & Rasmussen
ATM
Catana
Gamelin
Garcia
H2X yachts / La Ciotat
JMV / CMN
Kelt
Kirié
Nahema
Pouvreau
Tréhard (Antibes Marine Chantier)
2006: Zurbagan, 90 feet built at
Garcia-Yachts sail his first boards and holds its promises by
showing exceptional performances. It will take down the
suprème reward in 2007 with the ISS award awarded to the
best yacht of the year in the category sailboats from 23 to 36
m.
Project of 301 feet schooner neo-classic
Project of 41 mtr extreme Fast cruiser
all carbon
Adrien from the Vaton Design office. In
2004 Jean-Luc Van den Heede became only the third single-handed
sailor of the history of yachting to go round the world without
stopover against the dominant winds and currents - setting up a
new record!
Creation of the line of motor boats
Expression
Arrayan II, an exceptional 35m yacht built
in 1992 by Abeking & Rasmussen (Bremen), one of the most
prestigious shipyards in the world.
1980: Charles Heidseick III misses victory
by so little in the Whitbread general classification.
The Azores anticyclone playing a dirty
trick on him!
Vaton Design - 19, quai de Rive Neuve -
13007 Marseille - phone: 33 (0)4 91 54 13 17 - fax: 33 (0)4 96
11 20 17 - e-mail: gilles.vaton.bgv@wanadoo.fr
