''Phocea'' was a sailing yacht that was built at

Toulon, France Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is the ...

, by DCAN in 1976. She is 246 feet long (75 meters) and can cruise at 12 knots. Like many yachts, she has undergone a number of refits, a major one having been in 2000 in Germany. She can handle 12 guests supported by a crew of 16 sailors. ''Phocea'' is a

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

with four masts. ''Phocea'' was originally built for speed, and she crossed the Atlantic in 8 days and achieved speeds of 30 knots under sail. The yacht has also been converted more for luxury and used on the charter market. The ''Phocea'' was the World's largest sailing yacht before the 2004 launching of ''

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

'', by

Royal Huisman Royal Huisman is a Dutch shipbuilding company that specializes in the newbuild construction and refit, rebuild and renewal of sailing and motor yachts. The shipyard was established in 1884 in Ronduite as a builder of wooden workboats and fishin ...

. She was built at the

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

Naval Dockyard in 1976 for renowned single-handed yachtsman

Alain Colas Alain Colas (16 September 1943 – 16 November 1978) was a French sailor, the first to complete a solitary round-the-world race in a multihull. He met Éric Tabarly in Sydney in 1967, and bought Pen Duick IV from him in 1970, and won the "Trans ...

, who named her ''Club Méditerranée''. Shortly after competing in the Observer

Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race The Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (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 in England to Newport, Rhode Island in th ...

, she was converted into the charter yacht ''Club Méditerranée''.''Club Méditerranée: un géant parmi les monocoques''
(French), with a picture of the boat Later in 1997, she was reffited and renamed ''La Vie Claire'' with a new Jorg Biederbeck interior design and a new Tim Heywood exterior design. The ''Phocea'' was partially destroyed by fire on 18 February 2021 and sank the next day. She was anchored in Langkawi archipelago in Malaysia.

Refit

In July 1997, ''Phocea'' was purchased by

Mouna Ayoub Mouna Ayoub ( ar, منى أيوب) (born 27 February 1957 in Kuwait) is a French socialite and businesswoman of Lebanese origin. Frequently in the media, she is often a guest of the Cannes film festival and makes headlines in French gossip magazi ...

and modernized at

Lürssen Lürssen (or Lürssen Werft) is a German shipyard with headquarters in Bremen-Vegesack and shipbuilding facilities in Lemwerder, Berne and Bremen-Fähr-Lobbendorf. Lürssen designs and constructs yachts, naval ships and special vessels. Tradin ...

. Whilst retaining her unmistakable identity, she has received major interior and exterior enhancements by British naval architect Butch Dalrymple-Smith. The interiors feature wood panelling and furniture designed by David Linley. The Owner's Suite is situated on the main deck, whilst the VIP guest cabin and four other double cabins, all with full ensuite facilities, are located on the lower deck. She won the 1999 ShowBoats award for best refit. Ayoub's ex-husband Nasser Al-Rashid partly paid for the $17 million refit of the ''Phocea'' with the sale of " The Mouna", a 112 carat (22.4 g) record-breaking diamond.

Timeline

*1976 - Built at Toulon, France DCAN yards *Rebuilt between 1983-1986 at Marseille, France *Major Refit in 1997, 2000 at Lürssen, Germany *Refit in 2006 at Barcelona, Spain *Sold in 2010 by Fraser Yacht brokerburned 2021 in Langkawi Malaisya

About

Phocea was designed originally by boat designer Michel Bigoin, who also designed the yachts S/Y ''Xargo'' (1976) and M/Y ''Attila V'' (1989). Additional Designers *Exterior Tim Heywood (Tim Heywood Design) and Butch Dalrymple Smith *Interior Jorg Biederbeck (Biederbeck Designs) **Interior Decorations David Linley furniture Names: *''Phocea'' *''La Vie Claire'' *''Club Méditerranée'' *''Phocea''

Events

''Phocea'' crashed into rocks off

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

in August 2005 while the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

and Princess Michael of Kent were aboard. Three people were seriously injured. The yacht was damaged below the waterline. Caught fire on 18 Feb 2021 off the coast of Langkawi, Malaysia.

Specification

*Length overall: 246 ft (75.0 m) *Beam: 31.43 ft (9.58 m) *Draft: 20.47 ft (6.24 m) *Number of guests: 12 *Number of crew: 15 *Built: 1976 by Toulon Naval Dockyard (major refit at Lurssen in 1999) *Designer: Michel Bigion *Engines: 1 x MTU *Cruising speed: about under power, 12-18 knots under sail *Approximate range: *Fuel consumption: 195 litres (51

US gallon The gallon is a unit of volume in imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use: *the imperial gallon (imp gal), defined as , which is or was used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Austral ...

s) per hour at cruising

References

External links

{{commonscat, Phocea (ship, 1976) Four-masted ships Sailing yachts built in France 1970s sailing yachts