Pen Duick
Encyclopedia
The Pen Duick yachts are ocean racing
yacht
s from the 1960s and 1970s. They were built for French yachtsman Éric Tabarly
, and he had a hand in each design.
All Pen Duick yachts, apart from the lost Pen Duick IV, still race in classic events.
Ocean racing
Ocean Racing may refer to either yacht racing, in particular of the Maxi yachts; or multisport events with a significant Ocean related Swim or Kayak...
yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
s from the 1960s and 1970s. They were built for French yachtsman Éric Tabarly
Éric Tabarly
Éric Tabarly was a notable French yachtsman.A former officer in the French navy who is often considered the father of French yachting....
, and he had a hand in each design.
- The 36-rater Pen Duick (formerly Yum) was built in 1898 at the Gridiron and Workers shipyard, Ireland, to a Linear Rating Rule design by Scotsman William Fife IIIWilliam FifeWilliam Fife III OBE , also known as Wm. Fife, Jr., was the third generation of a family of Scottish yacht designers and builders....
. The gaff-rigged cutter was quickly noted as a successful racer in British and French waters. Tabarly's father acquired her when Éric was seven years old, and the boy learnt to sail on her. After World War II, she was put on sale, but finding no takers, Éric convinced his father in giving her to him. Years later, he was told her wooden hull was rotten, and being unable to hire a yard to salvage her, proceeded to save her himself, making a mold to build her a new polyesterPolyesterPolyester is a category of polymers which contain the ester functional group in their main chain. Although there are many polyesters, the term "polyester" as a specific material most commonly refers to polyethylene terephthalate...
hull: It was the largest of its kind at the time. He refitted her entirely, with a loftier rig for the southern climes. In the night of June 12th to 13th 1998, Éric Tabarly fell overboard and was lost in the Irish Sea, while sailing the hundred-year-old cutter en-route to the Fife Regatta in LargsLargsLargs is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" in Scottish Gaelic....
, Scotland.
- The wooden ketch Pen Duick II won the 1964 Singlehanded Transatlantic Race with Éric Tabarly.
- The 17.45m schooner Pen Duick III, with her distinctive clipper bow, was designed entirely by Tabarly, and was built in aluminium. The yacht won the Sydney to Hobart Yacht RaceSydney to Hobart Yacht RaceThe Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race is hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, Australia on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart. The race distance is approximately...
in 1967.
- Pen Duick IV was a 20.50m aluminium trimaranTrimaranA trimaran is a multihulled boat consisting of a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls , attached to the main hull with lateral struts...
with a ketch rig and rotating masts. She was designed by André Allègre. During the 1968 Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, Pen Duick IV collided with a ship and Tabarly was forced to withdraw from the race. Later, Pen Duick IV was sold to French yachtsman Alain Colas, who rechristened her Manureva and won the 1972 Singlehanded Transatlantic Race with her. In 1978, Manureva sunk at sea with her owner.
- The 10.60m sloop Pen Duick V, featuring novel ballast tanks, was designed by architects Michel Bigoin and Daniel Duvergie for the 1969 Singlehanded San-Francisco to Tokyo Race, which Tabarly also won.
- The 22.25m ketch Pen Duick VI was built in 1973 to an André Mauric design. She entered the 1973-74 Whitbread Round the World Race1973-74 Whitbread Round the World RaceThe first Whitbread Round the World Race started off from Portsmouth, England on September 8, 1973. Seventeen yachts of various sizes and rigs took part. During the race three sailors were swept over board and died: Paul Waterhouse, Dominique Guillet and Bernie Hosking...
, but endured mast breakage on two occasions. Tabarly also entered Pen Duick VI in the 1976 Plymouth to Newport Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, which he won, although the boat was designed for a crew of twelve and competitors endured five consecutive ocean storms. Pen Duick VI later competed against the carbonfiber-masted Heath's CondorCondor of BermudaCondor of Bermuda was a maxi yacht campaigning under the leadership and funding of London based international businessman Bob Bell. Originally called "Condor" but re-named "Heath's Condor" for the 1977-78 Whitbread Round the World Race after Bell's association with Heath's Insurance Co...
in the 1977-78 Whitbread Round the World Race1977-78 Whitbread Round the World RaceOn August 27th, 1977, 15 boats started out from Southampton for the Whitbread Round the World Race under gale force winds and driving rain.-Final Standings:...
(see Volvo Ocean RaceVolvo Ocean RaceThe Volvo Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three years. It is named after its current owner, Volvo...
as an unofficial entrant, due to its own exotic material - UraniumUraniumUranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
ballasted keel.
All Pen Duick yachts, apart from the lost Pen Duick IV, still race in classic events.
External sources
- An obituary of Tabarly.
- Pen Duick
- http://www.pathedistribution.com/accueil/filmavenir.php?IDFilm=1725 2008 tribute: Tabarly, a documentary film directed by Pierre Marcel, with musical soundtrack by Yann TiersenYann TiersenYann Tiersen is a musician from France. His musical career is split between studio albums, collaborations and film soundtracks with a distinctive sound that is always involved...
(in French).] Légendes - authored by Daniel Gilles