Éric Tabarly

Éric Tabarly discovered sailing at the age of three aboard Annie, the family boat. In 1938, his father Guy Tabarly purchased the gaff-rigged cutter Pen Duick, built in 1898 and designed by William Fife. The previous owners had renamed it Pen Duick, which means coal tit in Breton. ,'' purchased by his parents and later given to him Tabarly enlisted in the Navy as a volunteer in 1953 and joined the French Aéronavale. He served at Saint-Mandrier airbase before transferring to French airbases in Morocco. After earning his pilot licence and the rank of Second Maître de deuxième classe in December 1954, he fought in the First Indochina War, appointed to Tan Son Nhut Air Base. In August 1956, Tabarly started refitting Pen Duick in his spare time. She was in a state of disrepair since the Second World War, during which she had been decommissioned for fear of being requisitioned, and her wooden hull had rotted. Tabarly endeavoured to rebuild her using polyester resin. The conversion was completed, and Pen Duick was launched in April 1958. In September 1957, he was appointed to Lann-Bihoué airbase, near Lorient. In 1958, Tabarly entered the École Navale; he was promoted to Aspirant the next year, and Enseigne de Vaisseau de deuxieme Classe in 1959. On 16 November 1960, Tabarly embarked on the school cruiser ''Jeanne d'Arc, for the ritual circumnavigation that is part of the practical teaching at the École Navale. Jeanne d'Arc returned to Brest on 8 June 1961 and the same month, Tabarly was appointed to the Minesweeper Castor'' with the rank of Enseigne de Vaisseau de Premiere Classe. He was later given command of the landing craft EDIC 9092. == Careers in racing and in the navy ==

In 1964, Tabarly won the Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race on Pen Duick II. This achievement earned Tabarly instant fame and the rank of Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. In 1968, Tabarly raced the Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race again, on Pen Duick IV, a brand-new trimaran that was competitive in all wind conditions. The new Pen Duick IV was damaged by Hurricane Brenda on 11 June, and never finished the race. In 1969, Tabarly shadowed the Transpacific Yacht Race (from Los Angeles to Hawaii) on Pen Duick IV. He had originally intended to enter the race but was unaware that multihulls were not invited. Having started with all other participants, Tabarly and his crew set an unofficial record of 8 days and 13 hours, almost a day ahead of the official winner and record-setter Blackfin. Tabarly returned to naval service in February 1971 and was appointed to the Technical Inspection for Physical Education and Sports. This 16.50-meter aluminium trimaran displacing 7 tonnes is characterized by its unique, streamlined connecting arm which rests on two small floats, themselves fitted with foils (submerged streamlined carrier surfaces). Tabarly then sailed the Paul Ricard and beat the record for crossing the North Atlantic, held since 1905 by Charlie Barr's fully manned schooner Atlantic, thereby launching a race for crossing records by multihulls. In June 1980, Tabarly joined the Académie de Marine. He was promoted to Capitaine de Corvette in 1982. == Retirement and fatal accident ==

Tabarly retired from active service in July 1985. He was promoted to Capitaine de Fregate of the naval reserves in August 1988. While in transit in the Irish Sea, during the night of 12 to 13 June, a spar threw Tabarly overboard and he drowned. ==Career wins==

• OSTAR (Plymouth-Newport) : 1964 on Pen Duick II and 1976 on Pen Duick VI • Morgan Cup : 1967 on Pen Duick III • Round Gotland Race : 1967 on Pen Duick III • Channel Race : 1967 on Pen Duick III • Fastnet Race : 1967 on Pen Duick III and 1997 on Aquitaine Innovations • Plymouth-La Rochelle : 1967 on Pen Duick III • Sydney-Hobart : 1967 on Pen Duick III (and second in handicap time) • Transpac San Francisco-Tokyo (Transpacific) : 1969 on Pen Duick V (with an 11-day lead over the runner-up) • Falmouth-Gibraltar : 1971 on Pen Duick III • Los-Angeles-Tahiti : 1972 on Pen Duick III • 2nd leg of the Whitbread Round the World Race Volvo Ocean Race Cape Town-Sydney : 1973 on Pen Duick VI • Bermuda-England : 1974 on Pen Duick VI • Triangle Atlantique : 1975 on Pen Duick VI • 2nd of the Transat en double Lorient-Bermuda-Lorient : 1979 (with Marc Pajot) on Paul Ricard • Transatlantic sailing record from West to East (New York-Cape Lizard), on the multihull Paul Ricard in 1980 in 10 days 5 hours 14 minutes and 20 seconds (previous record was in 1905 held by Charlie Barr on a 50-crewman schooner) • 4th of the Transat en solitaire : 1984 on Paul Ricard • 2nd of the Transat Le Point-Europe 1 Lorient-Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon-Lorient: 1987 on ''Côte d'Or'' • Transat en double Le Havre-Carthagène (with Yves Parlier) : 1997 on Aquitaine Innovations ==Memoirs or writings of Éric Tabarly==

• Victoire en solitaire, Atlantique 1964, Arthaud, Paris, 1992. Pocket format en 1995. New edition in 2007, 288 pages, ISBN 978-2-08-125992-8 • Mémoire du large, édition de Fallois, juin 1997, 352 pages. EAN 9782877062992. Reedition Le Livre de Poche, L.G.F., Paris, mai 1998, 304 pages, ISBN 2253144487 ou ISBN 9782253144489. ==Citations and references==

;Citations ;References • ;External links • Pen Duick • 2008 tribute: Tabarly, a documentary film directed by Pierre Marcel, with musical soundtrack by Yann Tiersen (in French). ==Bibliography==