trimaran florence arthaud

Florence Arthaud Story, A Pioneer Woman In A Male-Dominated Sport

Florence Arthaud was born into the family behind the Arthaud publishing house, but she preferred adventure to scholarship. In 1974, at the age of 17, Arthaud was seriously injured in a car crash, which left her comatose for some time and required two years of rehabilitation. Undaunted, she participated in her first Route du Rhum in 1978.

In 1986 whilst competing in the Route du Rhum, Florence Arthaud was diverted to provide assistance to  Loïc Caradec . In storm conditions she was the first to locate Caradec’s catamaran Royale II, but with no signs of life onboard. Despite her grief, she resumed sailing and was able to complete the course.

On November 18, 1990,  Florence Arthaud  forever earned her nickname as the “Little Bride of the Atlantic” when, aged 33, she arrived in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, as winner of the fourth edition of the Route du Rhum. Arthaud completed the prestigious transatlantic solo race in 14 days, 10 hours and 10 minutes onboard the trimaran ‘Pierre 1’. 

The journey was far from smooth – the autopilot and radio failed, and she had suffered a hernia during the race. But the victory made her famous across France and earned her accolade of ‘Champion of Champions’ by the French newspaper L’Equipe. That victory, in 1990, was the apex of her career. Aboard the 60-foot trimaran Groupe Pierre, she outdueled the world’s top solo ocean racers in a 3,500-mile sprint that took her from Brittany, France, to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. No woman has won the event since.

Later that year she went on to set a new transatlantic record on the same trimaran.

Florence herself almost disappeared at sea on October 29, 2011. Sailing alone off Corsica, she fell into the water at night but managed to hold onto her mobile phone and call her mother, who raised the alarm. She was found and rescued around two hours later, conscious but suffering from hypothermia.

In 2015, Arthaud took part in  Dropped , a reality television show in which sportspeople were transported by helicopters into the wilderness. During filming on 9 March 2015, she died in a helicopter collision in Argentina .

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Florence Arthaud, Celebrated Solo Sailor, Dies at 57 in Helicopter Crash

By Chris Museler

• March 10, 2015

Florence Arthaud, the French sailor who died at 57 in a helicopter crash in Argentina on Monday along with nine others, including two French Olympians, was celebrated by the French yachting world as the only woman to have won the Route du Rhum, a grueling solo trans-Atlantic race.

That victory, in 1990, was the apex of her career. Aboard the 60-foot trimaran Groupe Pierre, she outdueled the world’s top solo ocean racers in a 3,500-mile sprint that took her from Brittany, France, to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. No woman has won the event since.

In France her photograph graced the cover of national magazines, and her striking looks — typically tanned, with piercing eyes framed by thick, wavy auburn hair — only enhanced the celebrity image.

Officials in La Rioja Province in northwestern Argentina said Ms. Arthaud had been aboard one of two helicopters carrying 10 people to a remote gorge to film a television reality show, “Dropped,” when the aircraft collided. The participants were to be left to find their way back to civilization.

Among the dead were Camille Muffat, 25, who won three swimming medals at the 2012 London Olympics, and Alexis Vastine, 28, who won a bronze medal in boxing at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Arthaud had been a familiar competitor in sailing circles throughout the 1980s and 1990s, famed for her solo exploits. But none was as storied as her victory in the Route du Rhum.

The race is considered second in prestige only to the Vendée Globe, a solo nonstop around-the-world race. And her win helped pave the way for some renowned female solo sailors of today, including the Britons Sam Davies and Dame Ellen MacArthur.

“When she won, she was an inspiration to most girls in France and in Europe,” Isabelle Autissier, the first woman to complete a circumnavigation in competition, said in a phone interview from France on Tuesday. “She demonstrated that it wasn’t just the muscle of man needed to win solo competitions. It was the brain, accuracy in meteorology and working with yacht design.”

She added, “She was the most popular sailor in France for sure.”

Davies, considered the world’s top female solo sailor, recalled Arthaud from an early age. “I remember as a little girl cutting out this amazing picture of Florence and putting it on my bedroom wall,” she said. “It was this amazing picture of her on this silver trimaran Groupe Pierre looking so feminine. It inspired me that you could be a girl and sail these amazing boats.”

Davies is currently leading an all-women’s team in the Volvo Ocean race.

Though Arthaud and Autissier shared the mantle as France’s top female sailors, it was Arthaud who had the fastest start in the sport.

She was born on October 28, 1957, in Boulogne-Billancourt, France . Her parents ran a publishing house in Paris, and she grew up sailing with notable French yachtsmen, including the father of French offshore sailing, Eric Tabarly. At 17 she was in a serious car accident that left her in a coma. It took her two years to recover.

Sailing solo is inherently treacherous, but Arthaud was masterly in avoiding disaster. Her most recent close call came in 2011, when she was washed overboard while sailing solo off the coast of Corsica. She was able to retrieve her cellphone — it was in a waterproof case — and phoned her mother in Paris. She was rescued after several hours alone in the sea.Despite setting several transoceanic records, including one in the 1997 Transpac race with the French yachtsman Bruno Peyron, Arthaud wanted more from her career, but she had trouble finding sponsors in later years.

“It was painful for her,” Autissier said.

Arthaud was divorced. Her survivors include her daughter, Marie.

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Florence Arthaud: the extraordinary career of one of sailing’s most courageous solo racing stars

• Elaine Bunting
• March 11, 2015

Florence Arthaud had an extraordinary career and seemed quite indestructible, says Elaine Bunting

It feels unreal that Florence Arthaud is gone. She always seemed the most indestructible of sailors, less vulnerable than many of the male solo sailors I’ve met: truly strong and with a calm aura of inner strength.

I always thought her wise, too, giving up professional sailing (as did other top French women sailors, such as Isabelle Autissier) at the zenith and leaving it just as confidently behind to do her own thing in her own boat for her own pleasure.

Killed this week in a terrible helicopter crash in Argentina, Florence Arthaud – ‘Flo’, as she was affectionately known – is a huge loss and is much mourned in France. She cut a dash in sailing. One of the most famous photos of Flo (below) by Thierry Martinez , is of her winning the solo Route du Rhum in 1990, aged 33, standing on the windward hull of the golden trimaran Pierre 1er with her wild hair flowing in the night breeze off Guadeloupe.

Florence Arthaud Route du Rhum 1990

Flo pioneered the way for women at the top of offshore sailing. Ellen MacArthur many will consider as the most successful female offshore sailor of all time, but while she was still at school, Arthaud won the Route du Rhum and, the same year, broke the solo transatlantic record by setting a new time of 9 days, 21 hours 42 minutes.

She was highly successful in the Figaro solo class and raced two-handed in the AG2R transatlantic race with Jean Le Cam.

Arthaud was cherished for her indomitability, and for good reason. Before her death this week, she had narrowly escaped losing her life at least twice before. The first was when she was only 17 and involved in a serious car accident. She emerged from a coma to find she was paralysed and disfigured, and spent six months in hospital followed by two years of painful convalescence.

Arthaud was always positive, saying that she was “lucky to live. It got me out of my environment, and showed me what was meant for me. I felt I had the right to do anything. At school I was not very bright intellectually or good at sports, but sailing, that’s what I could do.”

One morning, she left her family a note on the pillow. It said: “I need to take off.” She went to the sailing club at Antibes and launched herself into the small world of offshore racing. At 21 she was the youngest skipper in the 1978 Route du Rhum, and dubbed ‘la petite fiancée de l’Atlantique’. She finished 11th, and vowed to return.

In the Route du Rhum in 1986, she picked up during a storm a Mayday from fellow sailor Loïc Caradec sailing the catamaran Royal II. Arthaud immediately went to help and was the first to reach the position, but there was no sign of Caradec. She never forgot the experience of being unable to give up hope of finding him.

But Arthaud was to have her own closest brush with tragedy at sea in 2011. She was sailing her 10m yacht single-handed between Corsica and the island of Elba in late October when she lost her balance and was knocked into the sea while getting ready to have a pee.

Miraculously, her GPS enabled mobile phone saved her life. She had bought the water resistant phone only days before and was carrying it with her in a pocket. She was able to use it to make a call to her mother in Paris, who alerted the rescue authorities.

The position of the mobile phone was used by rescue services to pinpoint Arthaud in the water. She was rescued at approximately 0200 local time after two hours in the water and was transferred to hospital suffering from hypothermia.

After being discharged the following day, she commented: “I think of all those I’ve competed with, of Tabarly and other friends who were lost at sea. I knew I wasn’t certain to survive. All I can say is that it is a miracle. The devil does not want me,” she told French TV.

Her yacht was found several hours after the rescue and towed into port.

Given her love of the sea, and her great skill at avoiding its perils, it seems especially shocking and tragic that Florence Arthaud died in this crash. She is a great loss.

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Florence Arthaud, first woman to win Route du Rhum, dies at 57

Florence Arthaud of France steers her 15 meter monohull 'Biotherm' off the Brittany coast May 26, 1979. (AP)

PARIS -- Florence Arthaud, the first woman to win the prestigious Route du Rhum trans-Atlantic sailing race, was killed when two helicopters filming a European reality show crashed in a remote part of Argentina. She was 57.

Arthaud, one of France's most beloved sportswomen, earned the nickname "the little fiancee of the Atlantic" when she triumphed in the Route du Rhum in 1990 at the helm of her trimaran Pierre 1er in record time.

Arthaud's victory in the famed race between Brittany and the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe paved the way for other women to follow in her footsteps, with the likes of Ellen McArthur, Isabelle Autissier and Karine Fauconnier finding inspiration in her feat.

Arthaud was one of 10 people killed when the helicopters apparently collided in the air Monday near Villa Castelli in La Rioja province, about 730 miles (1,170 kilometres) northwest of Buenos Aires. The dead also included French Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Camille Muffat and Olympic boxer Alexis Vastine.

During her Route du Rhum victory, Arthaud overcame difficult sea conditions, a faulty radio and a defective automatic pilot to beat a fleet of male sailors. A slipped disc forced her to wear a neck brace. She also set a record for a solo crossing of the Atlantic, with a time of 9 days, 21 hours and 42 minutes.

"You need character to go out to sea and to win the Route du Rhum as Florence did," said Philippe Poupon, a winner of the Route du Rhum and Solitaire du Figaro races. "She loved the sea. We've lost a big personality. There were many nights spent with Florence, discussions about life. She was very endearing person."

The daughter of a publishing house director born in the chic Parisian suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, Arthaud did not live up to the huge expectations her victory raised, but she became a symbol of women's rights after conquering a male-dominated sport.

"She was a fighter," said French sailor Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, who was second in the Route du Rhum in 1998. "At the time it was extraordinary because not many women were doing this. She opened the way for others."

With her voluminous hair, gravelly voice and cheerful banter, Arthaud also had a reputation for a colorful and tumultuous lifestyle. She was once sentenced for drunk driving.

After the birth of her daughter Marie in 1993, Arthaud took part in several crewed races and spent time on the Figaro circuit. In 2010, she failed in her bid to return on the Route du Rhum because of lack of sponsorship.

"We are obviously less supported than the men," Arthaud said. "Sponsors are more timorous when it comes to women. On equal budget, they will also pick the man."

Arthaud, who was divorced, was planning to launch a women-only event in Marseille, where she lived when not in Paris.

Arthaud, who survived a car crash as a teenager, experienced a near-death experience in 2011 when she fell from her boat at night in the middle of the Mediterranean sea. Her boat drifted away but Arthaud was located and saved thanks to her mobile phone.

"I led and adventurer's life and burnt the candle at both ends," Arthaud once said.

Florence Arthaud in Paris, on Dec. 14, 1990. (AP / Michel Lipchitz)

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French sailor Florence Arthaud killed in crash

Fifty-seven-year-old French ocean racer Florence Arthaud was one of ten people killed when two helicopters collided in Rioja Province, Argentina, on March 9, 2015. Arthaud and the others were part of the French TV survival show, “Dropped.”

Florence Arthaud, or Flo as she was known, was an accomplished sailor, winning the 1990 Route du Rhum, the prestigious solo Atlantic race. That year she established a new world record aboard the VLVP-design 60-foot trimaran Pierre 1er for the fastest solo crossing of the North Atlantic, beating the previous record by two days. Following that victory she became a French sports icon and an inspiration for women ocean racers worldwide. In 1997 she won the Transpac Race from LA to Hawaii aboard the 86-foot Maxi Cat Commodore Explorer with Bruno Peyron. 

In her 40s, she attempted to raise money to buy Olivier de Kersauson’s maxi trimaran Sport-Elec with the hope of a round-the-world record but was unable to secure the sponsorship needed. She competed in 2004 in the double-handed Lorient to St. Barth race with Lionel Pean; in 2006 the Odyssey Cannes-Istanbul with Luc Poupon; and in 2007 the Transat with Jacques Vabre and Poupon. 

A tough and gregarious, yet petite woman, she was a formidable competitor and well respected by the ocean racing community. She leaves a daughter who she had with French sailor Loïc Lingois, and many friends. 

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On Wednesday 1 November 2023, the biopic “Flo” was unveiled in cinemas. Retracing the life of renowned yachtswoman Florence Arthaud, the film is an opportunity to look back at the career of a woman who left an indelible mark on the history of the sport.

The first woman to win the Route du Rhum , Florence Arthaud was immersed in the maritime world from an early age. It was with her family, her father and her brother, that she began sailing. In 1974, at the age of 17, she was involved in a terrible car accident, which left her in hospital for six months following a coma and paralysis. It took her two years to make a full recovery.

But this tragedy did not discourage the young woman . At the age of 18, she embarked on her first Atlantic crossing with navigator Jean-Claude Parisis. Just four years later, in 1978, she took part in the Route du Rhum, the legendary single-handed transatlantic sailing race held every four years. It was the first of many races for this adventurer of the seas. And although she finished 11th in the rankings, her motivation and sailing skills stood out from the outset.

Florence Arthaud, legend of the waves

Four years after embarking on her first Route du Rhum, she tried her luck again but finished 20th in 1982, then 11th in 1986. And it wasn’t until 1990 that her dream came true.

  Voir cette publication sur Instagram   Une publication partagée par Paris Match (@parismatch)

In 14 days, 10 hours and 10 minutes, Florence Arthaud won the Route du Rhum aboard the trimaran Pierre 1er. She was the first woman to achieve this feat. Her nickname of “the little girl of the Atlantic” was born, symbolising her success on the waves.

1990 was a prosperous year for the yachtswoman, who also beat the record for the single-handed North Atlantic crossing, in 9 days, 21 hours and 42 minutes.

In 1997, the skipper won the Transpacific as part of Bruno Peyron’s crew. Several races followed, including the double-handed Transat Lorient-Saint-Barth and the Odyssée Cannes-Istanbul.

  Voir cette publication sur Instagram   Une publication partagée par @living_structures

But this remarkable career has not been without its pitfalls. In 2011, Florence Arthaud almost died when she fell from her boat between Cape Corsica and the island of Elba. Rescued more than an hour later in a state of hypothermia, she knows she is a miracle worker.

An assertive feminist in a man’s world, the author of her autobiography, a mother… Florence Arthaud’s life had been rich in events. But the yachtswoman died in a helicopter crash while filming the TF1 programme Dropped on 9 March 2015.

“Flo”, a film about Florence Arthaud

Directed by Géraldine Danon, “Flo” traces the incredible destiny of Florence Arthaud , played by Stéphane Caillard. Highlighting her sporting achievements, the film “inspired” by the life of the yachtswoman was released in cinemas yesterday, Wednesday 1 November 2023. It remains to be seen whether it will be a success worthy of the woman to whom it pays tribute…

Read also > FASHION AWARDS 2023: VALENTINO GARAVANI’S LONG CAREER SOON TO BE CELEBRATED

Featured photo:  Jean-Yves Ruszniewski  | ©  Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

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Florence Arthaud: Images by Christian Fevrier

Published on March 27th, 2015 by Editor

French sports star Florence Arthaud, 57, best known for her victory in the 1990 Route du Rhum, was among 10 people killed on March 9, 2015 when their helicopters collided in northwestern Argentina.

Arthaud sailed the VPLP-designed 60-foot trimaran Groupe Pierre 1er to victory in the prestigious transatlantic singlehanded race, held every 4 years in November, between Saint Malo, Brittany, France and Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe.

In 1997, she joined skipper Bruno Peyron (FRA) onboard the 86-foot catamaran Explorer in the Transpac Race, setting the fully crewed multihull elapsed time record of 5 days, 9 hours, 18 minutes, 26 seconds.

The current Transpac record, set in 2005 by Olivier de Kersauson (FRA) on the 90-foot trimaran

The accident occurred while filming for the reality TV show “Dropped”, which involves sports stars being dropped into inhospitable environments for an adventure- and survival-themed show.

Tags: Christian Fevrier , Florence Arthaud

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Florence Arthaud, Celebrated Solo Sailor, Dies at 57 in Helicopter Crash

Florence Arthaud, the French sailor who died at 57 in a helicopter crash in Argentina on Monday along with nine others, including two French Olympians, was celebrated by the French yachting world as the only woman to have won the Route du Rhum, a grueling solo trans-Atlantic race.

That victory, in 1990, was the apex of her career. Aboard the 60-foot trimaran Groupe Pierre , she outdueled the world’s top solo ocean racers in a 3,500-mile sprint that took her from Brittany, France, to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. No woman has won the event since. Read More

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Florence Arthaud, acclaimed sailor, killed in helicopter crash

Florence Arthaud, the first woman to win the prestigious Route du Rhum trans-Atlantic sailing race, was killed March 9 when two helicopters filming a European reality show crashed in a remote part of Argentina. She was 57.

She was one of 10 people killed when the helicopters apparently collided in the air near Villa Castelli in La Rioja province, about 730 miles northwest of Buenos Aires. The dead also included French Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Camille Muffat and Olympic bronze medal-winning boxer Alexis Vastine.

Ms. Arthaud, one of France’s most beloved sportswomen, earned the nickname “the little fiancee of the Atlantic” when she triumphed in the Route du Rhum in 1990 at the helm of her trimaran Pierre 1er in record time.

Her victory in the famed race between Brittany and the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe paved the way for other women to follow in her footsteps, with the likes of Ellen McArthur, Isabelle Autissier and Karine Fauconnier finding inspiration in her feat.

During her Route du Rhum victory, Ms. Arthaud overcame difficult sea conditions, a faulty radio and a defective automatic pilot to beat a fleet of male sailors. A slipped disc forced her to wear a neck brace. She also set a record for a solo crossing of the Atlantic, with a time of 9 days, 21 hours and 42 minutes.

“You need character to go out to sea and to win the Route du Rhum as Florence did,” said Philippe Poupon, a winner of the Route du Rhum and Solitaire du Figaro races.

Ms. Arthaud, whose father was a publishing house director, was born on Oct. 28, 1957, in the chic Parisian suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt. She did not live up to the huge expectations her victory raised, but she became a symbol of women’s rights after conquering a male-dominated sport.

With her voluminous hair, gravelly voice and cheerful banter, Ms. Arthaud also had a reputation for a tumultuous lifestyle. She was once sentenced for drunken driving.

After the birth of her daughter Marie in 1993, she took part in several crewed races and spent time on the Figaro circuit. In 2010, she failed in her bid to return on the Route du Rhum because of a lack of sponsorship.

“We are obviously less supported than the men,” Ms. Arthaud said. “Sponsors are more timorous when it comes to women. On equal budget, they will also pick the man.”

Ms. Arthaud, who was divorced, was planning to launch a women-only event in Marseille, where she lived when not in Paris.

Ms. Arthaud, who survived a car crash as a teenager, experienced a near-death experience in 2011 when she fell from her boat at night in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Her boat drifted away but she was located and saved, thanks to her mobile phone.

“I led an adventurer’s life and burnt the candle at both ends,” she once said.

— Associated Press

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"Pierre 1er", le trimaran de Florence Arthaud, fait escale à Cannes après un long périple de 4 mois

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C’est un long voyage qui s’achève, au vieux port de Cannes, ce premier week-end de juillet. Au pied de la capitainerie, "Pierre 1er" est venu s’amarrer à quelques encablures du lieu où son ancienne propriétaire, Florence Arthaud, repose désormais.

Le trimaran autrefois couvert d'une peinture couleur or en aura parcouru des milles avant d'arriver à Cannes, ce dimanche 3 juillet. S’il fait escale dans la cité des festivals jusqu'à demain mardi, ce n’est pas pour entamer une retraite dorée, mais pour saluer la mémoire de Florence Arthaud, celle qui a remporté la "Route du Rhum" en 1990 à son bord.

Philippe Brillault est celui qui rendu ce retour possible . Il est le nouveau propriétaire du bateau et a traversé mers et océan pour ramener dans les eaux françaises cette pièce d’histoire de la navigation tricolore. Les skippers Bernard Stamm et Philippe Poupon contribuent aussi à cette aventure . Le premier a tenu la barre entre Djibouti et Cannes, le second le ramènera à Lorient.

Parti des Philippines il y a 4 mois, Philippe Brillault s’est livré à un véritable périple. Escales techniques et actes de piraterie ont émaillé le voyage du trimaran qui porte désormais le nom de "Lakota".

Un voyage que le septuagénaire, ancien maire d'une commune dans les Yvelines, a entamé il y a déjà longtemps : "L'histoire a commencé dans une brasserie parisienne. J'ai rencontré par hasard Philippe Poupon, en train de déjeuner seul, avec son café. Je cherchais un parrain pour la Medica Cup que l'on souhaite organiser à Cannes, voilà le parrain idéal. J'ai été le saluer. Il m'a raconté sa vie, son projet, Florence Arthaud, et le bateau. J'ai racheté par un coup de passion car j'avais envie de contribuer à ramener ce bateau mythique en France."

On a fait à peu près huit mille nautiques, ce qui représente plus de 15.000 kilomètres, en traversant la mer de Chine, l'Océan indien, la mer Rouge et la Méditerranée. Philippe Brillault, propriétaire de "Pierre 1er"

"Pierre 1er" a jeté l'ancre dans la nuit de samedi à dimanche à proximité du lieu où les cendres de la navigatrice ont été déposées après sa mort dans un accident d'hélicoptère en 2015 .

"Je voulais faire un hommage à Florence Arthaud qui est une femme d'exception" commente Philippe Brillault. "J'ai porté le bateau, je l'ai surtout transporté, je n'avais jamais imaginé une telle aventure dans ma vie" ajoute-t-il.

Pirates en vue

Philippe Brillault est passionné par la navigation, il a déboursé quelque 250.000 euros pour racheter le navire, mais ce voyage aurait pu lui coûter la vie.

Au large des côtes africaines, le trimaran subit à plusieurs reprises des tentatives d'abordage de pirates, et des attaques. Le mât garde même la trace d'un impact de balle tiré par une Kalachnikov.

Menacés à trois reprises, Philippe Brillault et l'équipage ont dû ruser. Le pistolet à air comprimé à servi à dissuader les pirates, ils ont feint à l'intervention de moyens militaires en leur faveur ou encore su mettre la poudre d'escampette pour éviter des intrusions sur le navire.

Au large du Yémen notamment, un matin, au départ de Djibouti. "Trois bateaux de pêche, avec entre 4 et 7 personnes à bord de chaque embarcation, armés jusqu'aux dents, avec Kalachnikov et lance tubes. J'ai tout de suite sorti mon flingue, je me suis levé en slip de bain avec ma Go Pro, et un téléphoné, je leur ai dit 'je vous tire dessus si vous m'emmerdez'"  se remémore Philippe dont le bateau finira par bénéficier d'une escorte militaire après cet incident. "Ils ont flingué le mât" témoigne t-il, montrant un vaste impact de balles sur ce tube longiligne qui a du être réparé après cet accrochage.

Une première pour la Route

En 1990, Florence Arthaud signe la première victoire féminine de l’histoire de la "Route du Rhum" à la barre de "Pierre 1er". Le trimaran, livré un an avant la course, mesure un peu plus de 18 mètres en longueur, contre 15 en largeur.

Cette année-là, elle devance un certain Philippe Poupon, qui a remporté l’édition précédente en 1986. Il se souvient de la victoire de cette "amie" mais aussi "concurrente" :  "Je connais bien le bateau, même si je n'ai jamais navigué dessus. Florence est arrivé devant moi, proprement, pas de quelques minutes, mais de quelques heures. Bien sûr que je suivais Florence et ce bateau".

Philippe Poupon se souvient avec émotion de celle qui faisait partie de "sa famille" :  "C'était un très bon marin, elle avait déjà fait du multicoque avec Biotherm, avec un autre catamaran sur la "Route du Rhum", elle a eu un autre 'Pierre 1er' avant celui-là."

Cap sur Lorient

Arrivé par voie terrestre samedi 2 juillet, Philippe Poupon prend le relais dès ce mardi pour ramener le bateau à Lorient. Là, il doit rejoindre les ateliers de Michel Desjoyaux, le fameux "professeur", victorieux sur la Route du Rhum, la Transat Jacques Vabre, le Vendée Globe, notamment.

C'est un check-up complet qui attend le trimaran, et pour cause, Philippe Poupon l'assure, il sera bien inscrit à la prochaine Route du Rhum, en novembre prochain, avec "Pierre 1er" . Une nouvelle odyssée pour ce bateau livré en 1989, et qui a subi les assauts du temps, nécessitant réparations et nouveaux équipements.

Ce navire qui a eu plusieurs vie, a navigué par exemple avec le milliardaire Steve Fossett qui l'a racheté ou pour les besoins d'une super production hollywoodienne : "Waterworld" . Dans cette oeuvre de fiction, Kevin Costner parcourt un monde submergé par les océans. Au pied du Palais des festivals, le départ de mardi vers la façade atlantique ne sera peut-être qu'un au revoir, et pas un adieu.

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Extraordinary boats: Flo an iconic trimaran

Flo, formerly Pierre 1er, is the iconic 60ft trimaran which Florence Arthaud sailed to win the 1990 Route du Rhum, now returned to its golden glory and racing again

There are many iconic raceboats, but few capture the feeling of an era as much as the 60ft trimaran in which Florence Arthaud won the 1990 Route du Rhum . She beat Philippe Poupon, winner of the previous edition, by eight hours to become the first woman to win a major offshore race, inspiring a new generation of young women to follow in her footsteps.

Arthaud had already broken the west to east transatlantic record earlier that year, taking a whopping 20% off Bruno Peyron’s existing time. She also became the first sailor to be awarded the title ‘Champion des Champions français de L’Équipe’. It was a remarkable turnaround for someone who, only four years before her first Route du Rhum, had been gravely injured in a car accident that left her in coma and hospitalised for six months.

The pace of change in yacht design in the 1980s was as breathtakingly fast as it is today. Although they’re separated by only 12 years, this boat could hardly be more different to Mike Birch ’s 39ft plywood Walter Green trimaran Olympus Photo in which he won the inaugural Route du Rhum in 1978. Birch’s boat, for example, had little more than half the beam of Arthaud’s.

The ORMA 60 trimarans that quickly came to dominate the scene from the mid-1980s were huge vessels by comparison, built of the most hi-tech materials available, while their creators pressed hard against the boundaries of design and engineering knowledge. Pierre 1er , as the boat was originally named, was built to a VPLP design of fibreglass and Kevlar by Jeanneau’s former JTA (Jeanneau Techniques Avancées) division.

iconic image of Arthaud at the finish of the 1990 Route du Rhum in Martinique. Photo: Thierry Martinez/ Sea&Co

These boats had an unprecedented power to weight ratio that, despite their enormous inherent stability, led to a number of capsizes. This came to a head in the stormy 2002 Route du Rhum in which five boats capsized and only three of the 18-strong fleet finished. As a result sponsors rapidly quit the class, which collapsed within three seasons.

Nevertheless, Pierre 1er went on to have an illustrious 20-year history of racing and record breaking. American billionaire and adventurer Steve Fossett, who renamed the boat Lakota , became her second owner in 1993.

He picked up 5th place in the 1994 Route du Rhum, despite a lack of experience at the time, before taking line honours in the Transpac the following year. In a seven-year period he broke 12 world records with the boat, including Round Britain and Ireland and around the Isle of Wight.

Poupon reduced the size of the staysail for heavy weather work and added a furler. Huge asymmetrics are flown from the bowsprit. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot

Her next owner was Atlant Ocean Racing in Sweden, with the boat again breaking records under several different names. Andrew Pindar chartered her in 2001, when she was renamed Pindar Systems for Emma Richards to race in the Transat Jacques Vabre . She finished 9th, with Miki von Koskull, who had sailed with Richards on Tracy Edwards’ 1998 Royal Sun Alliance Jules Verne attempt, as co-skipper.

The boat picked up line honours in the 2003 Cape to Rio race, before heading east under the ownership of an experienced French multihull sailor from 2011-2021 who was based in Hong Kong and kept the boat in Subic Bay in the Philippines, using her primarily for fast cruising and ocean voyages.

Flo – Golden girl

Despite all the different owners and skippers, when I visited Flo in Saint Malo, just before the start of the 2022 Route du Rhum , it was striking just how original the boat remains. There’s a huge curved mainsheet traveller on the aft beam, while the giant winches in the small cockpit are physically much larger than today’s equivalents. And, despite the boat’s awesome power, there are no pedestal grinders.

Both amas have helm seats in a similar way to MOD70s, but without the foot pedal to dump the mainsheet in a hurry. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot

Equally, Flo still has both a central tiller in the cockpit and helm seats perched precariously at the aft end of each ama.

Below decks the boat is surprisingly small, with a vestigial galley, just one berth, plus a navstation tucked in the corner between the daggerboard case and the main bulkhead.

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The original striking gold colour scheme on the hulls and spars was reinstated earlier this year, when she was renamed Flo by Poupon, who skippered her in the 2022 race, 36 years after his 1986 victory.

Surprisingly, he told me very few changes were needed to prepare Flo for her latest transatlantic : “Almost nothing has changed, the electrical system and electronics are new, but the deck gear and layout are almost all original.”

Relatively minor alterations included lowering the head of the staysail and adding roller furling for it. “I prefer a smaller sail that’s easier to handle and has better shape for this purpose,” says Poupon. He also added a fourth reef to the mainsail, “which has a lot of surface area.”

Philippe Poupon, runner up to Florence Arthaud in the 1990 Route du Rhum, now skippers Flo. Photo: Jean-Louis Carli

Dramatic new role for Flo

What led to Poupon’s current involvement with Flo ? “Me and my wife [film maker Géraldine Danon] were very close to Florence Arthaud,” he told me. Indeed, in French media interviews he has even described her as “part of the family.” Poupon and Arthaud competed together as co-skippers on a later Fleury Michon in the 2000 Transat, and Arthaud also took part in a Figaro ll and Transat Jacques Vabre campaign with Poupon’s brother Luc in the mid-2000s.

“Géraldine started working on a script for a film about Florence two years ago,” continued Poupon. “We started to talk about what boat to use for the film and of course it had to be this one.”

The trimaran turned out to be easy to find, as Vendée Globe veteran-turned yacht broker Bernard Gallay was listing the boat for sale at the time. However, Poupon and Danon lacked both the €250,000 purchase price and the time to sail her back to France. Poupon says those problems were “… solved in a bar,” and the deal was completed in December 2021.

Controls for the wing mast. Daggerboard needs to be fully lowered to clear the boom in tacks and gybes. Photo: Rupert Holmes

The new owner, Philippe Brillault, took a crew that included Bernard Stamm as skipper out to deliver the boat back to France, via the Red Sea. The four-month trip was not without incident. New batteries were needed in Thailand, engine problems forced a stop in Sri Lanka, and having strayed too close to the coast of Yemen after departing Djibouti, the delivery crew was attacked by pirates.

“There were bullet tracks on the mast!” Fortunately they were able to escape and return to Djibouti, before proceeding with a military escort.

Poupon took over the boat in Cannes in July last year, where shooting for the film started. Flo took pride of place in the Vieux Port and anchored overnight off Île Sainte Marguerite, where Arthaud’s ashes were scattered after her 2015 death in a helicopter accident while filming a reality TV programme in Argentina.

Return to Rhum

The final leg took the boat to Michel Desjoyeaux’s Mer Agitée yard at Port La Forêt, where Flo had a short refit ahead of an opportunity for Poupon to complete the 1,200-mile solo qualifier needed for the 2022 Route du Rhum.

I visited him on board just before it was announced the race would be postponed by three days to avoid a dangerous sea state in 7.5m waves with a brutal 12 second period. How concerned was he at the prospect of sailing an old boat in such conditions?

“I have sailed a lot before on this type of boat and I am sailing more than six months a year on my own boat [a 66ft high latitude expedition yacht] so I will know what to do – maybe it will be to wait in Finisterre. I don’t have sponsors and I am not out to win overall, so I can decide for myself. I am here just to pay homage to Florence and for the movie.”

Poupon was also quick to point out that when he did the first race back in 1978 medium range weather forecasting didn’t exist and all that could be expected was a rough idea of what to expect the day after the start.

Flo’s small cockpit has most of the original winches and no grinder, despite the boat’s enormous power. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot

Poupon finished the race in 7th place in the 17-strong Rhum Multi class, crossing the line in 18 days and 19 hours, more than three and a half days slower than Arthaud’s 1990 time. Her Route du Rhum victory was just months after Tracy Edwards ’ all-woman team on Maiden finished the Whitbread Round the World race 2nd in class, having won two legs, including the gruelling 7,260 mile Southern Ocean section. Back then there was real hope that professional sailing was changing from its entrenched position of male dominance. Yet three decades later only seven of the 138 Route du Rhum skippers were women.

It’s a concern Volvo Ocean Race winner and ex-race organiser Knut Frostad (now CEO of marine electronics and equipment conglomerate Navico Group) highlighted in his keynote speech at the most recent Yacht Racing Forum – not just for the sake of fairness, but also for the threat it represents to the sport in the longer term. Frostad warned: “Our industry will die in a generation if carry on as we are…”

Flo specifications

Design: VPLP Launch: 1989 LOA: 18.28m / 60ft 0in Beam: 15.10m / 49ft 6in Draught: 1.54m-2.88m / 5ft 1in-9ft 5in Displacement: 6,000kg / 13,230lb Upwind sail area: 230m2 / 2,475ft2

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