Hugues de Turckheim
ENSAM engineer
Three months from finishing his degree course, Hugues de Turckheim left the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers (Higher Education Institute for Industrial Art and Design) to take part in the construction of “Vendredi 13”, a 40-metre yacht designed by Jean-Yves Terlain in 1972. Such a decision demonstrates how unlikely Hugues is to be the kind of chap to make concessions.
Always guided by his passions, Hugues took a rather atypical course to start specialising in hydrodynamics. Called up as a consultant for a number of projects in the marine domain and other speed sports, he has always remained heavily involved in anything which relates to foils. It should be pointed out that this windsurfing fanatic was among the top French windsurfers for a long while, often making headline news in the sport in the eighties.
Having amassed a wealth of experience over the long-term, today he has a part to play in a number of different projects which are straining to push back the speed barrier. From the 60-feet multihull, foilers for round the world record attempts, to Lake Geneva’s prototypes, his role is that of consultant engineer or project designer and coordinator.
Mathias Bavaud
Boat builder
After learning his trade at Jean-François Burkhalter until 1994, Mathias Bavaud joined the famous Décision SA yard, where he remained until 2000 ensuring his debut at the sharp end of the composite material world. Particularly talented in the creation of components made from Kevlar, carbon, epoxy and polyester, and convinced of the prospects of developing his expertise, Mathias Bavaud created MB-Composite in 2001. Always in search of development, innovation and optimisation, he’s completed several creations of his own, notably in terms of competition materials for windsurfing and car tuning.
Drawn by the quality of his work, several distributors entrust the creation of their specific product ranges to him. Especially versatile, he has projects ranging from the “pulka pour expédition polaire” (dog sled for polar expedition) to “fusil de biathlon” (biathlon rifle) for the French team. Creations for yachting have always been part of MB-Composite’s repertoire, but these have increased exponentially with the arrival of foilers, which they’ve specialised in for many years.
