Portrait of Alain Thébault
Photo: Jean RevillardSource · CC BY-SA 4.0
Mobility & Transport

Alain Thébault

Hydroptère foiling sailing craft

FranceEvidence: editorial review advisedChecked July 2026

Openly licensed or public-domain media; see the linked file page for full terms.

Who is Alain Thébault?

Alain Thébault is an inventor associated with France. Their documented work in mobility & transport includes Hydroptère foiling sailing craft, the contribution at the center of this evidence-backed profile.

Alain Thébault directed the design of Hydroptère, a foiling multihull that treated sailboat performance as an aircraft-like lift problem. The manufactured craft crossed the fifty-knot barrier under sail, making hydrofoil technology a visible, consequential path for high-speed marine transportation and later electric-watercraft concepts.

Known forHydroptère foiling sailing craft
FieldMobility & Transport
Associated withFrance
Evidence reviewed2 sources
01

What did Alain Thébault invent?

Directed the design of Hydroptère, a multihull sailing craft using foils to lift its hulls clear of the water at speed.

02

What did Alain Thébault accomplish?

Hydroptère set a 51.36-knot sailing speed record and is described as the world's first multihulled hydrofoil in coverage of Thébault's later work.

03

What is known about Alain Thébault today?

Le Point reported on Thébault's legal action and SeaBubbles projects in August 2025, positive evidence he was alive and publicly active in 2025.

Comments

Write a comment

privacy policy

Loading comments...