M34 (keelboat)

The M34 is a French sailboat that was designed by Joubert/Nivelt/Mercier as a one-design racer and first built in 2010. The boat was used as the class for the Tour de France à la voile.

Production
The design was built by Archambault Boats in France from 2010 until 2013, but it is now out of production.

Design
The M34 is a racing keelboat, built predominantly of fibreglass with a sandwiched core. It has a 7/8 fractional sloop rig with a carbon fibre keel-stepped mast and fixed bowsprit, and an aluminum boom. The mast has two sets of 20° swept spreaders. The hull has a plumb stem, a raised plumb transom, an internally mounted spade-type rudder controlled by a tiller and a fin keel. It displaces 5952 lb and carries 2315 lb of lead ballast.

The boat has a draft of 8.16 ft with the standard keel. The keel can be partially raised for ground transportation and gives a draft of 5.92 ft with it raised.

The boat is fitted with a Swedish Volvo diesel engine of 20 hp with a saildrive for docking and manoeuvring, supplied by a fuel tank with a capacity of 13.2 u.s.gal.

The design has sleeping accommodation for four people, in two cabins. The below decks headroom is 67 in

For sailing downwind the design may be equipped with an asymmetrical spinnaker of 1399 sqft. It has a hull speed of 7.71 kn.

Operational history
The boat served as the one-design class for the Tour de France à la voile from 2011 to 2014.