This is the sad story of Vendredi 13, the legendary three-masted ship, a true sailing heritage, designed by the French sailor Jean-Yves Terlain in 1972 and the first 39.13 m sailboat to be built for a solo transatlantic race. Qualified as " impossible to navigate by one man alone "The giant finished second in the 1972 Ostar, then participated in the 1976 race and in the first edition of the Route du Rhum, in 1978, with Yvon Fauconnier as skipper. Then, she started a second life in luxury cruising in the West Indies.
Unfortunately, in 1994, it ended its life, stranded, abandoned, squatted and vandalized on the parking lot of the submarine base of Bordeaux ( Read the article here ). It was only in 2013, following a call for tenders for the sale of the boats of the former Conservatoire International de la Plaisance (CIP) of the city of Bordeaux, that the wreck found its new owner for 1 symbolic euro. The black hull was to be cut up and placed in the future Musée de la Marine et de la Mer de Bordeaux by Norbert Fradin.
But in 2015, Bertrand Quentin, President of the association Rêves de Sens, convinced Norbert Fradin, the new owner, to finally save the boat and give her the possibility to sail again soon. The association then opened an important restoration yard in Bordeaux and everyone believed in the beautiful story, to see the mythical boat back on the water. Unfortunately, a conflict broke out between the owner and the association.
Bateaux.com spoke with Sébastien Quentin, in charge of press relations for the association Rêves de Sens, in charge of the restoration of Friday the 13th.
Bateaux.com: What is the history between your association and Friday the 13th?
Sébastien Quentin in 2013, Bertrand Quentin learns that the Friday 13 is lying on the submarine base of Bordeaux and that the city, owner, does not take care of it. He made a trip to appraise the boat, which allowed him to affirm that restoration was entirely possible. We heard a lot of rumors saying that it was not the real Friday 13, but we asked the former skippers who confirmed that it was the real boat. In reality, nobody wanted to take care of it and the city found pretexts to justify abandoning a jewel of the French maritime heritage.
Bertrand Quentin contacted the town hall, which explained that the transfer of the sailboat, even for a symbolic 1 euro, could only be done through a call for tenders. Bertrand therefore applied for the black wreck with a complete file for the recovery of a lot of boats. (Editor's note: Friday the 13th belonged to a complete batch of boats).
In 2015, he received a negative response from the deputy mayor of the city of Bordeaux and learned through the press that the beneficiary was Mr. Fradin, without further explanation. But it finally turned out that the owner had planned to cut up the hull of the sailboat to make an interactive piece in his museum. Bertrand contacted him to convince him to renovate the boat so that it could sail in July 2015. Request accepted by the owner who then put in place a contract between the association and the museum fund. Work began in September 2015.
Who paid for the renovation of Friday the 13th?
The collection of the Musée de la Mer et de la Marine de Bordeaux (Editor's note: Private museum project launched by real estate developer Norbert Fradin and owner of the sailboat) invested 89,600 euros for its renovation. This sum allowed, among other things, to move the hull to begin the work. But since then, all the work on the sailboat has been at the expense of the association, more than 430,000 euros, some of whom have worked full time since the beginning of the project.
Norbert Fradin would like to see the project completed for the Bordeaux River Festival in May 2017. However, for you, the deadlines are impossible to meet and the budget inadequate?
Yes, that's right. On February 16, the association sent Norbert Fradin an expertise file (history of the partnership, financial table, as well as a proposal for a new contractual framework) in order to set up a new partnership agreement. Unfortunately, this file has not been answered.
In 2015, Mr. Fradin assured us that he would submit the file to foundations... The association then embarked on the work without having completed the full financing of the project.
Due to the project's popularity, the association received funding proposals to help renovate the sailboat. A fundraiser was even supposed to come to fruition in May 2016, but Mr. Fradin never wanted it to happen.
Worse still, it turned out that he never wanted us to carry out our communications operations around the three-masted ship. We also had the possibility to make a partnership to release bottles of wine with the effigy of the sailboat or to sell baskets of Breton products, but once again, we were not allowed to use the image of Friday the 13th.
But why did you start the renovation work without a budget?
We are probably at fault. It's true. The restoration of Friday the 13th was a project we were passionate about. When we signed the contract, we received the first funding and an IOU. But in the end, it turned out that we had to pay back the money advanced by the museum, once we had found grants.
What did the contract consist of?
The association Rêves de Sens signed a first contract on November 13, 2015, with representatives of the museum fund. Today, the contract imposes many obligations with little in return, which do not allow us to work properly.
The relationship with the owner has always been conflictual, but it really worsened when the association asked for a rider to be able to complete the work. The owner even looked for a new shipyard to take over the work, but could not find anyone. The cost of renovation work by a professional shipyard is estimated at several million euros, well above the budget that a volunteer association like ours can offer.
From the beginning, we found it incomprehensible that the owner was so little involved, and that he took so much advantage of an association. We feel betrayed, the association was supposed to be responsible for future sailing.
What is the status of the project?
For us, the project is stopped. The hull has just been covered by its owner, as if the boat was getting ready to take a new route. At least, it is protected from bad weather at the end of winter.
Why are you speaking out today?
First of all, to raise the alarm about our situation, before the owner announces the end of the construction. Secondly, we need funds to resume the construction site which we do not want to abandon. The association proposed to the owner to review the contract in a more equitable way. Since then, we have had no contact with him. I think that's clear enough!
We keep our fingers crossed that the boat still has a future and that it can still sail.
