A refit to be more efficient
Bernard Tapie was a real jack-of-all-trades, mixing several careers and hobbies at once. One of which is of particular interest to us, sailing.
In 1982, Bernard Tapie bought the former Club Méditerranée to the widow of Alain Colas. Repatriated from Tahiti to Marseille, the 4-masted sailing boat was completely refitted. The businessman transformed it into a luxurious sailing yacht, but did not omit the sporting side of the boat, favoring the use of light materials. With a length of 74.37 m, the Phocéa is at the time, the largest yacht in the world, dethroned in 2004 by the Athena.
Breaking the Atlantic record under sail in a monohull
After 4 years of work and 10 million euros committed (68 million francs), Phocéa (its new name) is ready to break records. This is the objective set by its owner. After a first failed attempt, Bernard Tapie tried in June 1988, to beat the Atlantic record from west to east in a monohull. This record was held at the time by Atlantic Charlie Barr's schooner in 12 days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 19 seconds.
On departure from New York, he entrusted the helm of the Phocéa to Captain Jean-Luc Pinon, assisted by Pierre Gaillet. Also present were two helmsmen, Frank Dambrin and François Prévost. In total, 20 people were on board, including a TF1 journalist who was supposed to report on the epic every day during the television news, and of course, Bernard Tapie himself.
A dangerous record
According to witnesses, after two days, the boat sank into the sea, which made its owner lose patience. A storm was then announced and, against the captain's advice, Bernard Tapie decided to stay on course and continue his crossing, putting his crew in danger. He realized this at the end of the crossing.
In total, the four-masted ship went down and got up four times, battered by the huge waves. For the anecdote, the journalist on board even went into a tetanic coma, unable to move, paralyzed by fear.
Phocéa, equipped with 2 spinnakers, 4 genoas and 2 mainsails - 3,000 m2 of canvas in total - swallows up the miles - more than 400 miles some days - at speeds approaching 20 knots. Managing to overcome the storm, the crew reached Saint-Malo after 8 days, 3 hours and 29 minutes, with an average speed of 14.96 knots over a course of 2925 miles. This beat Charlie Barr's record by 4 days.
Record breaking
If he beats the Atlantic record of Charlie Barr, and several racing multihulls of the time, his record is only homologated by the WSSR - homologation of sailing records - in the 5c category (sailboats equipped with auxiliary power, in this case winches with hydraulic assistance).
Seized in 1996 by Bernard Tapie, the Phocéa was bought several times, before being sold to the catch fire in February 2021 in Malaysia .
