Éric Tabarly
Encyclopedia
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
yachtsman.
A former officer in the French navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
who is often considered the father of French yachting
Yachting
Yachting refers to recreational sailing or boating, the specific act of sailing or using other water vessels for sporting purposes.-Competitive sailing:...
.
Tabarly was a record-setting distance sailor who won several notable races aboard his boats, all named Pen Duick
Pen Duick
The Pen Duick yachts are ocean racing yachts from the 1960s and 1970s. They were built for French yachtsman Éric Tabarly, and he had a hand in each design....
. His achievements inspired many French sailors, including Alain Colas, Olivier de Kersauson
Olivier de Kersauson
Olivier de Kersauson is a French sailor and sailing champion.Kersauson was the seventh child in a family of eight. While he was the only Kersauson not to have been born in Brittany, he was born on 20 July 1944 and brought up near Morlaix in a “provincial Catholic aristocracy with compulsory mass”...
, Gérard Petitpas, Éric Loizeau, Marc Pajot
Marc Pajot
Yves Pajot is a French sailor. He won a silver medal in the Flying Dutchman Class with his brother Yves at the 1972 Summer Olympics. From 1987 to 2000 he competed four times at the Louis Vuitton Cup .-References:...
, Daniel Gilard, Titouan Lamazou, Philippe Poupon, Michel Desjoyeaux
Michel Desjoyeaux
Michel Desjoyeaux Michel Desjoyeaux Michel Desjoyeaux (born 16 July 1965, in Concarneau, is a French sailor, known for competing successfully in several long-distance single-handed races...
, Jean Le Cam
Jean Le Cam
Jean Le Cam is a French sailor.Le Cam was crewman with Éric Tabarly and Michel Desjoyeaux, and won the Solitaire du Figaro in 1994, 1996 and 1999. He later took interest in multihull ships....
to compete in long distance solo sailing.
He was lost at sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
when struck by a gaff
Gaff rig
Gaff rig is a sailing rig in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar called the gaff...
during heavy swell and knocked overboard from his yacht near Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
while on his way to the Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
Regatta
Regatta
A regatta is a series of boat races. The term typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. His body was recovered five weeks later off the coast of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
by a French fishing trawler.
Tabarly was a two-time champion of the OSTAR
Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race
The Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race, or STAR, is an east-to-west yacht race across the North Atlantic. When inaugurated in 1960, it was the first single-handed ocean yacht race; it is run from Plymouth to the USA, and is held every four years....
, winning in 1964 — for which he was awarded the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
— and 1976. He also competed twice in the Whitbread Round the World Race, finishing second in 1973 and seventh in 1993.
Career Wins
(PD): Pen Duick; (PR): Paul Ricard; (CO): Côte d'Or; (AI): Aquitaine Innovation- Record crossing of the Atlantic from West to East(New York-Cap Lizard), on a multihullMultihullA multihull is a ship, vessel, craft or boat with more than one hull.-Description:Multihulls include: Proas, which have two differently shaped or sized hulls with lateral symmetry; catamarans, which have two hulls with longitudinal symmetry; and trimarans, which have a main hull in the center and...
(previous record 1905, Charlie BarrCharlie BarrCharlie Barr , was an accomplished sailing skipper who captained the winning yacht in the America's Cup three times.-Early life:...
on a 50 crewmen schoonerSchoonerA schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
) in 1980 (10 days 5 hours 14 minutes 20 secondes) (PR) - OSTAR (Portsmouth-Newport) : 1964 (PD II) and 1976 (PD VI)
- Morgan Cup : 1967 (PD III)
- Round Gotland RaceRound Gotland RaceThe Round Gotland Race is an offshore sailing race in the Baltic Sea, arranged by the Royal Swedish Yacht Club at the turn of the month June/July each year with the starting and finishing lines in Sandhamn in the outskirts of Stockholm archipelago...
: 1967 (PD III) - Channel Race : 1967 (PD III)
- Fastnet RaceFastnet raceThe Fastnet Race is a famous offshore yachting race. It is considered one of the classic offshore races. It takes place every two years over a course of . The race starts off Cowes on the Isle of Wight in England, rounds the Fastnet Rock off the southwest coast of Ireland and then finishes at...
: 1967 (PD III) et 1997 (AI) - Plymouth-La Rochelle : 1967 (PD III)
- Sydney-Hobart : 1967 (PD III) (et 2e au temps compensé)
- Transpac San Francisco-Tokyo (Transpacific) : 1969 (PD V) (with an 11 day lead over the runner up)
- Falmouth-Gibraltar : 1971 (PD III)
- Los-Angeles-Tahiti : 1972 (PD III)
- 1st leg of the 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...
"Le Cap-Sydney" : 1973 (PD III) - Bermuda-England : 1974 (PD VI)
- Triangle Atlantique : 1975 (PD VI)
- Transat en double Le Havre-Carthagène (with Yves Parlier) : 1997 (AI)
- 2nd of the Transat en double Lorient-Bermuda-Lorient : 1973 (PD III) and 1979 (with Marc PajotMarc PajotYves Pajot is a French sailor. He won a silver medal in the Flying Dutchman Class with his brother Yves at the 1972 Summer Olympics. From 1987 to 2000 he competed four times at the Louis Vuitton Cup .-References:...
) (PR) - 2nd of the Transat Le Point-Europe 1 : 1987 (CO)
- 3rd of the Transat en solitaire : 1984 (PR)
External links
- 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).]