''Pen Duick'' is the name best known for a series of
ocean racing yacht
A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
s sailed by French yachtsman
Eric Tabarly. Meaning
coal tit
The coal tit or cole tit, (''Periparus ater''), is a small passerine bird in the tit family, Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder in forests throughout the temperate to subtropical Palearctic, including North Africa. The bl ...
in
Breton it was the name Tabarly's father gave to the 1898
Fife gaff cutter he purchased, and that his son learned to sail. He thereafter used the name for a series of successful racing yachts through the '60s and '70s.
*The YRA 36 ft linear rater ''Pen Duick'' (formerly ''Yum'') was designed by
William Fife III and built in 1898 by Gridiron & Marine Motor Works at Carrigaloe in
Cork Harbour
Cork Harbour () is a natural harbour and river estuary at the mouth of the River Lee in County Cork, Ireland. It is one of several which lay claim to the title of "second largest natural harbour in the world by navigational area" (after Port Ja ...
, Ireland for Cork yachtsman W. J. C. Cummins. The
gaff-rigged
Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails, mast and stays) in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the ''gaff''. Because of the size and s ...
cutter was quickly noted as a successful racer in Irish, British and French waters. Tabarly's father acquired her when Éric was seven years old, and the boy learnt to sail on her. After World War II, she was put on sale, but finding no takers, Éric convinced his father in giving her to him. Years later, he was told her wooden hull was rotten, and being unable to hire a yard to salvage her, proceeded to save her himself, making a mould to build her a new fiberglass hull: It was the largest of its kind at the time. He refitted her entirely, with a loftier rig for the southern climes. In the night of June 12 to 13 1998, Éric Tabarly fell overboard and was lost in the Irish Sea, while sailing the hundred-year-old cutter en route to the Fife Regatta in
Largs
Largs ( gd, An Leargaidh Ghallda) is a town on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland, about from Glasgow. The original name means "the slopes" (''An Leargaidh'') in Scottish Gaelic.
A popular seaside resort with a pier, the town mark ...
, Scotland.
*The wooden ketch ''Pen Duick II'' won the
1964 Singlehanded Transatlantic Race with
Éric Tabarly
Éric Marcel Guy Tabarly was a French Navy officer and yachtsman, born 24 July 1931 in Nantes and died 13 June 1998 of drowning in the Irish Sea. He developed a passion for offshore racing very early on and won several ocean races such as the Ost ...
.
*The 17.45 m schooner ''Pen Duick III'', with her distinctive clipper bow, was designed entirely by Tabarly, and was built in aluminium. The yacht won the
Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately . The race is run i ...
in 1967.
*''
Pen Duick IV'' was a 20.50m aluminium
trimaran
A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recreat ...
with a
ketch rig
A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fr ...
and rotating masts. She was designed by André Allègre. During the
1968 Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, ''Pen Duick IV'' collided with a ship and Tabarly was forced to withdraw from the race. Later, ''Pen Duick IV'' was sold to French yachtsman
Alain Colas, who rechristened her ''
Manureva'' and won the
1972 Singlehanded Transatlantic Race with her. In 1978, ''Manureva'' sank at sea with her owner.
*The 10.60 m sloop ''Pen Duick V'', featuring novel ballast tanks, was designed by architects Michel Bigoin and Daniel Duvergie for the
1969 Singlehanded San-Francisco to Tokyo Race, which Tabarly also won.
*The 22.25 m ketch ''Pen Duick VI'' was built in 1973 to an design. She entered the
1973–74 Whitbread Round the World Race, but endured mast breakage on two occasions. Tabarly also entered ''Pen Duick VI'' in the 1976 Plymouth to Newport Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, which he won, although the boat was designed for a crew of twelve and competitors endured five consecutive ocean storms. ''Pen Duick VI'' later competed against the
carbonfiber-masted
Heath's Condor in the
1977–78 Whitbread Round the World Race (see
Volvo Ocean Race
The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...
) as an unofficial entrant, due to its own exotic material -
depleted uranium
Depleted uranium (DU; also referred to in the past as Q-metal, depletalloy or D-38) is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope than natural uranium.: "Depleted uranium possesses only 60% of the radioactivity of natural uranium, hav ...
ballasted keel. Pen Duick VI is now sailed by Eric Tabarly's Daughter,
Marie Tabarly, who is racing it in the 2023
Ocean Globe Race
The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wor ...
(OGR), a 50th anniversary celebration of the
1973–74 Whitbread Round the World Race.
All ''Pen Duick'' yachts, apart from the lost ''Pen Duick IV'', still race in classic events.
File:Pen-Duick-I.jpg, ''Pen Duick'' (formerly ''Yum'', 1898)
File:Pen_Duick_II_(2).JPG, ''Pen Duick II'' (1964)
File:Aberwrac'h_Pen_Duick_III_P1050041-1.JPG, ''Pen Duick III'' (1967)
File:Manureva_StMalo_1978-11_1.jpeg, ''Manureva'' (formerly ''Pen Duick IV'', 1968)
File:Pen_Duick_V_(3).jpg, ''Pen Duick V'' 1969)
File:Penduick6Ushuaia.JPG, ''Pen Duick VI'' (1973)
References
External sources
An obituary of Tabarly.Pen Duick 2008 tribute: ''Tabarly'', a documentary film directed by Pierre Marcel, with musical soundtrackby
Yann Tiersen
Yann Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a French Breton musician and composer. His musical career is split between studio recordings, music collaborations and film soundtracks songwriting. His music incorporates a large variety of classical and c ...
(in French).
''Légendes''- authored by Daniel Gilles
*{{in lang, fr
- authored by François Chevalier
Individual sailing vessels