Bernard Moitessier's Joshua, the number 1 of the series, now belongs to the Maritime Museum of La Rochelle. This mythical yacht built by the Meta shipyard in 1962 sails within the association. It was with this steel ketch that Bernard Moitessier distinguished himself in the 1968 Golden Globe by refusing to cross the finish line and continuing his "long road" with a second circumnavigation of the world.
The idea of concentration
2018 will be the 50th anniversary of the Golden Globe. Among other events, Jean-Marc Cens, the skipper on Joshua, has imagined bringing together the owners of Joshua around their elder brother, the famous ketch with the red hull: bringing together as many Joshua's as possible on the occasion of the Grand Pavois in La Rochelle in September 2018. It would also be at this time that the yard will present the Joshua by Meta a reconstruction in aluminium produced for the occasion.
70 Joshua left the Meta yard
The Meta yard, passed on by his father to Joseph Fricaud, built 70 Joshua between 1962 and 1980. Although no archives of the yard have been found, Joseph Fricaud has managed to recover the memory of 65 Joshua built at that time (by cross-checking some remaining documents).
On all the seas of the globe
With this information, Jean-Marc Cens went on the trail to try to find the current owners. But like the first one, Joshua's are above all sailboats that sail, often far away. Joshua's are spread all over the world. If a small concentration has been spotted in the Mediterranean (6 boats), others are in the West Indies, Brazil, Australia, Sweden and even on Lake Geneva in Switzerland!
Some Joshua's built as an amateur
In addition to the 70 boats built by the shipyard, there are also a few (how many?) amateur-built models. Indeed, neither the architect Jean Knocker nor the Meta shipyard have filed the plans. Bernard Moitessier will resell some of them to fill up the ship's box. Thus there are today Joshua in ferrocement and even in wood!
Under construction at Alioth
At the same time, the Alioth shipyard also produced steel Joshua's. Approximately ten of them have been produced by this shipyard.
Joshua available in 3 sizes
When Bernard Moitessier built his Joshua at Meta, he enlarged Jean Knocker's plans by 15%, bringing the hull length to 12.07 m. On the original plan, the Joshua was 10.75 m long. There are a few models built in this size (the Little Joshua). Just as there are larger ones with hulls of 16 m. This is an extrapolation of the original plans by increasing all the ribs.
Rally postponed
Hoping to gather the Joshua's in La Rochelle, Jean-Marc Cens was unable to find enough available owners for September 2018. Although all the sailors contacted were enthusiastic about getting together, the boats are not available for these dates in the Atlantic. Some are dry in the shipyard, some are for sale, others are sailing across the Atlantic or in the Mediterranean. But the host of the Maritime Museum in La Rochelle has not said his last word, and if the meeting of the Joshua's in 2018 seems to be compromised in La Rochelle, why not imagine it at a later date in another place?
Notice to the owners of Joshua
In the meantime, the census continues. Of all the Joshua products, about 15 owners have been counted and are in contact with Jean-Marc Cens. If you meet others in a port or on a building site, do not hesitate to let us know, send us a picture, we will forward it to the Maritime Museum of La Rochelle
