Tribute to Florence Arthaud
Florence Arthaud has always shown a strong attachment to the city of Brest as well as the Iroise Sea. Thus, the mayor of Brest, François Cuillandre had declared that he wanted "a strong place with the sea for the one who shines with an exceptional sense of navigation." On December 17, 2015, the city council voted unanimously to name the Digue Florence Arthaud located at the Moulin-Blanc marina.
This highly symbolic place will be a city's tribute to the navigator who described the Brest roadstead as "one of the most beautiful in the world" or as "his garden." It is also the place where many young people discover the pleasures of sailing for the first time: optimist, catamaran, kayak, windsurfingâeuros¦
The municipality took advantage of the International Maritime Festivals of Brest to formalize the naming of the pier. The ceremony took place on July 17, 2016 at 3:45 p.m. at the site, near the Capitainerie du Port du Moulin-Blanc. This highlight will not fail to touch the community of seafarers who participate in the maritime festivals and who will associate themselves in one way or another with this tribute.
To pay tribute to her, a ceremony was held at the Moulin Blanc in the presence of Olivier de Kersauson, Didier Ragot and Eugène Riguidel, friends and brothers of the sailor's ocean adventures, and Jean-François Fountaine, Mayor of La Rochelle. The Golden Oldies (multihulls from the time of Florence Arthaud's victories) came to pay tribute to her.
The only woman to win the Route du Rhum in a trimaran
Florence Arthaud signed up for the first edition of the legendary solo transatlantic race in 1978. She competed in a total of 4 of them. In 1990, she made history by becoming the only woman to win the Route du Rhum at the helm of the trimaran Pierre 1 er . This is how she became the " Bride of the Atlantic "She is still the only one to have achieved such a feat. She has also paved the way for many other women sailors.
After her triumphant return to Brest in 1990, she wrote these words in the city's guestbook "In a hurry to return to Brest, I finally broke the Atlantic record in solo. And what a welcome, what a joy to find the most beautiful country in the world flooded with flowers. Long live BREST and the BRESTOIS!"
