Pen Duick, a family boat
This first boat was designed by the Scottish architect William Fife III in 1898 and bears the name Yum. The 41-year-old architect is one of the greatest naval architects of his time. He created the boat for Adolphus Fowler, member of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, which was built in 1898 by Gridiron and Workers in Carrigaloe, Ireland to be part of the 36' linear rater series.
Guy Tabarly acquired it in 1938 in Nantes and taught his son to sail aboard. It is the very beginning of yachting in France and few yachts exist. Unfortunately, during the Second World War, the sailboat suffered damage due to its inactivity and its hull which made navigation dangerous. For lack of means to repair it, Eric Tabarly's father decided to sell it, but, faced with the lack of buyers, he ended up giving it to his son, in 1952, who wished above all to obtain it. At 21, he became the fifteenth owner of the boat.
When the sailor becomes an architect..
When Eric Tabarly can finally take care of his boat, he notices the repairs to be made to the hull. However, unable to finance the renovations, he decided to restore the ship himself, creating a new hull thanks to successive layers of glass fabric and polyester resin applied on the old hull, serving as a mould. Here he is testing an innovative technique that has never been used before for a sailboat of this size. It remains the largest hull made in this way at that time.
While Eric Tabarly runs many races, he forgets Pen Duick a bit. The bridge is totally destroyed as well as the superstructures. In 1983, the yacht was towed to Saint-Malo by Pen Duick VI and underwent major repairs at Raymon Labbé for six years. He returned to the water in 1989 during the Voiles de la Liberté, which brought together tall ships, in Rouen.
A ship that exhibits itself at nautical events
Based in Bénodet, he continued sailing and in 1990, he took part in Mediterranean regattas in Monaco, Saint-Tropez and Cannes. In 1998, he celebrated his 100 years in Bénodet surrounded by friends, enthusiasts and in the presence of 8 old yachts designed by William Fife. The anniversary will last 3 days. It was during a convoy from Pen Duick to Ireland that Eric Tabarly disappeared at sea on the night of 12 to 13 June 1998.
Today, Pen Duick belongs to Jacqueline and Marie Tabarly, respectively, wife and daughter of the sailor and is maintained by the Eric Tabarly association. All winter it rests in a hangar in Bénodet and finds every spring the sea. He takes part in numerous nautical gatherings, such as the"Belle plaisance" in Brittany, the Pen Duick gatherings, the Saint-Tropez or Cannes regattas.
| Length overall | 15, 10 m |
| Length at waterline | 10, 05 m |
| Displacement | 11 tons |
| Width | 2,93 m |
| Draught | 2,20 m |
| Rigging | Auric franc cutter |
| Year of construction | 1898 |
| Reconstruction | 1958 |
| Refurbished | 1989 |
| Upwind sail area | 160 m2 |
| Materials | Polyester hull, deck, interior and wood finish |
