Several world tours
Adrien is a 26 m long monohull built in aluminum at the Gamelin shipyards in 2002 according to Gilles Vaton's plans. It was on board that Jean-Luc Van Den Heede set out to break the round-the-world record, which he achieved in 2004 in 122 days, 14 hours, 3 minutes and 49 seconds. Record that he still holds !
Bought by the sailor Maud Fontenoy and sponsored by L'Oréal Paris, the sailboat made a second round-the-world voyage in the southern hemisphere, from Reunion to Reunion, in five months. The boat was then renamed Tahia and became the "flag bearer" of the Maud Fontenoy Foundation, which works to protect the marine ecosystem.
The boat is then moored in La Rochelle and allows sick children to sail.
A new mission
For sale for 3 years, the boat was bought in April 2021 by the skipper Éric Defert ( skipper of the Multi50 Drekan Groupe and victim of a capsize in the 2017 Transat Jacques Vabre ) with the company Blue Observer and 11 associates for a program of oceanographic missions. But we will have to wait until June to know the official program of the boat, says Eric Defert.
The yacht was transported to Brest for a two-month refit in basin N° 1.
"We're going to do a lot of work on board. A complete overhaul of the rigging, some interior work to accommodate a crew of 6 to 8 people, a general refit... It's a boat with a certain interior volume, with no fittings, and quite fast speeds under sail. It's a very nice design by Gilles Vaton" explains Éric Defert.
If racing is not on the skipper's agenda for the moment, could we see Adrien racing on the world's waters one day? Only the future will tell..
