Éric Tabarly
Éric Tabarly | |
---|---|
Birth name | Éric Marcel Guy Tabarly |
Born | 24 July 1931 Nantes, France |
Died | 13 June 1998 Pen Duick, Irish Sea, off Wales | (aged 66)
Allegiance | France |
Years of service | 1953 — 1985 |
Rank | Commander |
Known for | Sailing career, innovations in naval architecture |
Battles/wars | |
Spouse(s) | Jacqueline Tabarly |
Children | Marie Tabarly |
Éric Marcel Guy Tabarly (24 July 1931 – 13 June 1998) was a French Navy officer and yachtsman. He developed a passion for offshore racing very early on and won several ocean races such as the Ostar in 1964 and 1976, ending English domination in this specialty. Several of his wins broke long standing records. He owed his successes to his exceptional mastery of sailing and of each one of his boats, to both physical and mental stamina and, in some cases, to technological improvements built into his boats. Through his victories, Tabarly inspired an entire generation of ocean racers and contributed to the development of nautical activities in France.
Although very attached to the boat given to him early on by his parents — the Pen Duick — he played a pioneering role in successive innovations in naval architecture, including the development of the multihull via the design of his trimaran, Pen Duick IV (1968). His was one of the first offshore racing multihulls and confirmed the supremacy of this type of boat relative to monohulls. Many of the boats that embodied his innovations carried the name of Pen Duick.
Early life and career
Éric Tabarly discovered sailing at the age of three aboard Annie, the family boat. In 1938, his father Guy Tabarly purchased the
Tabarly enlisted in the Navy as a volunteer in 1953 and joined the French Aéronavale.[2] He served at Saint-Mandrier airbase before transferring to French airbases in Morocco.[2] After earning his pilot licence and the rank of Second Maître de deuxième classe in December 1954,[1] he fought in the First Indochina War, appointed to Tan Son Nhut Air Base.[1]
In August 1956, Tabarly started refitting Pen Duick in his spare time.
In September 1957, he was appointed to
In 1958, Tabarly entered the
He was later given command of the landing craft EDIC 9092.[2]In 1962, Tabarly raced in the
In 1965, he earned his
The
In 1968, Tabarly raced
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,[5] almost a day ahead of official winner and record-setter Blackfin.
Tabarly returned to naval service in February 1971 and appointed to the Technical Inspection for Physical Education and Sports.[2] The same year, he won the Falmouth-Gibraltar on Pen Duick III and the Middle Sea Race, and the following year, the Transpac.[4]
In 1973, he sailed in the first edition of the
In 1980, Tabarly sailed the
In June 1980, Tabarly joined the Académie de Marine.[2] He was promoted to Capitaine de Corvette in 1982.[2]
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.[2] In 1994, he raced the Whitbread again. In 1997, Tabarly won the Fastnet Race on Aquitaine Innovations.[4]
In June 1998, the Pen Duick was en route from Cornwall to Scotland in order to participate in a rallye of boats designed by William Fife, which included the Pen Duick. The crew consisted of Tabarly and 4 other people.[7] While in transit in the Irish Sea, during the night of 12 to 13 June, a spar threw Tabarly overboard and he drowned.[1][2] A detailed account of the accident was made by people who were on the boat with Tabarly when it occurred.[7]
His body was recovered by the trawler An Yvidig on 20 July. An autopsy confirmed the identity of the body and the cause of death as drowning.[8]
Career Wins
- 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 RaceCape 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 Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon-Lorient: 1987 on Côte d'Or
- Transat en double Le Havre-Carthagène (with Yves Parlier) : 1997 on Aquitaine Innovations
See also
- Florence Artaud
- Isabelle Autissier
- Alain Colas
- Clarisse Crémer
- Michel Desjoyeaux
- Jean Le Cam
- Armel Le Cléac’h
- Bernard Moitessier
- Jean-Luc Van Den Heede
- Olivier de Kersauson
Citations and references
- Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Biographie Éric Tabarly, Cité de la Voile.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Taillemite, p.496
- ^ Tabarly, Eric (1964). Victoire en solitaire: Atlantique 1964 (in French). Paris: Arthaud. p. 248.
- ^ a b c d e Eric Tabarly, an inspiration to distance sailors, Sailing World
- ^ "Eric Tabarly". Archived from the original on 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
- ^ Rubinstein, Bernard (2019-02-25). "Tabarly : la foil histoire du trimaran Paul Ricard". www.voileetmoteur.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-10-21.
- ^ a b "Eric Tabarly, figure de la voile, disparait dans la nuit du 12 au 13 juin 1998". Bateaux.com (in French). Retrieved 2022-10-19.
- ^ "Eric Tabarly, figure of sailing, disappeared in the night of June 12 to 13, 1998". BoatsNews.com. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
- References
- Taillemite, Étienne (2002). Dictionnaire des Marins français. Tallandier. ISBN 2-84734-008-4.
- External links
Media related to The Pen Duick at Wikimedia Commons
- Pen Duick Archived 2009-06-27 at the Wayback Machine
- 2008 tribute: Tabarly, a documentary film directed by Pierre Marcel, with musical soundtrack by Yann Tiersen (in French).