Astrée Software by 4CAD Group in the Vendée Globe adventure

Astrée Software, a 4CAD Group entity and French publisher of MES software (exhibiting at GI 2025), has become the innovation partner of Benjamin Dutreux, the skipper of the GUYOT environnement -Water Family team racing in the Vendée Globe.

4CAD Group is about to embark on a technological and human adventure with Benjamin Dutreux, skipper of the Team GUYOT environnement -Water Family competing in the Vendée Globe. Together, they will be sailing around the world and collaborating on a number of projects, including the analysis of data recorded on board the IMOCA 60' during the race.

‘Astrée Software stands out for its ability to innovate. It's not afraid to shake things up and try out new technologies, in much the same way as ocean racing skippers do’, explains Benjamin Dutreux, who is delighted that this new partner has joined his project.

‘Innovation is part of our business and we can see that boats are becoming increasingly powerful and high-performance. They carry more and more technology. Throughout their life cycle, everything is optimised in terms of design and simulation,’ adds Stéphane Letheule, Chairman of 4CAD Group.

Exploiting the data

The skipper and the Connectors (1) will be working on exploiting the data collected by the sensors installed on the IMOCA (from those used to measure wind strength to those used to evaluate electricity production, not forgetting those designed to assess the stresses in the rigging).

4CAD Group's core businesses are publishing (with the Astrée Software brand), distribution and integration of software for industry. The Group's aim is to provide a unique, high added-value offering, from design to manufacture, by promoting digital continuity. ‘In this context, it is important to consolidate Astrée Software in France. But also beyond the borders of France, since 4CAD Group has the ambition to take it international. Anchoring it via a sporting event like the Vendée Globe makes sense for us in terms of values. Through Benjamin, his team and sailing, we've found something that suits us perfectly.

Especially as our clients include some of the world's leading boat builders and shipyards. Ocean racing is a unifying sport because it represents the challenge of surpassing oneself, and the Vendée Globe brings together the latest adventurers in our society. Benjamin's involvement with the Water Family also appealed to us. We're convinced of the importance of raising awareness among the younger generation of the need to preserve the oceans, and it just so happens that our role is also to train our customers in more sustainable practices, particularly around eco-design,’ explains Stéphane Letheule.

Making the IMOCA's performance more reliable

By analysing this data, we will be able to improve the reliability of the IMOCA's performance and encourage more responsible energy consumption. This is a subject that is at the heart of the concerns of 4CAD Group and Benjamin Dutreux. ‘4CAD Group is a driving force in the field of eco-design,’ explains the skipper of GUYOT environnement - Water Family. ‘Within the Team, we're working hard on this and have developed in-house tools. 4CAD Group has solutions that will undoubtedly enable us to achieve even greater performance in our nautical field’, comments the skipper from Sablais, whose boat is equipped with sensors on virtually all its components.

‘Ocean racing, like most top-level sports today, generates a massive amount of data. Our job consists precisely in structuring, managing, adding value to and exploiting this data, thanks in particular to artificial intelligence. This is also a crucial issue for our industrial customers, as it will determine their future performance,’ concludes Stéphane Letheule.

The right calculation!

‘For us, the number 1 interest in analysing all this data is to aim for reliability. By comparing them with the theoretical calculations of the architects and engineers, we can determine alarms that are consistent with the reality on the ground, particularly for the rigging and foils. This also allows us to define the times of use of the solar panels, hydro-generators or engine, and therefore to fix the number of litres of diesel to be taken on board. We also gain in terms of pure performance, as they dissect our settings and refine our data on the boat's polars (speed predictions),’ concludes Benjamin Dutreux.

(1) Connexateurs, the fusion of ‘connection’ and ‘actor’, is the community formed by 4CAD Group employees to contribute to the company's growth.