Births don't wait for daddy seafarers to return ashore, but some couples mark the occasion by adding a souvenir of their sailing experience to their children's names. Here are a few sailor stories.
Vendée Globe 89: Loïck Peyron becomes a father for the first time
In November 1989, Loïck Peyron took the start of the first Vendée Globe on his monohull Lada Poch 2. With a heavy heart, he knew he wouldn't be there for his wife's birth, which was due to take place in the middle of the race. On January 9, 1990, his daughter was born while he was in the Indian Ocean, in the 50s e Roaring. Off the Kerguelen Islands, he decided to mark the occasion by naming his daughter Marie-Kerguelen.
It was through SSB that he heard it for the first time. At the time, satellite communications didn't yet exist, and it was impossible to send or receive photos. It wasn't until he crossed the finish line that Loïck discovered a photo of her brought by an accompanying boat.
Ocean Race 2017-18: Nicolas Lunven learns of the birth of his 2 e child
French sailor Nicolas Lunven learned of the birth of his second daughter, Katell, while competing in the 2 e leg of the Ocean Globe Race, the crewed round-the-world race with stopovers.
He was aboard the VOR 65 Turn the Tide on Plastic, on a leg from Lisbon to Cape Town. Occupying the navigator's position, it was amidst his routing software on the chart table that he discovered the first photo of this newborn baby.
The crew was then positioned in the Cape Verde archipelago, and it was only natural that Nicolas decided to add the name of one of the islands in the archipelago as a middle name for his daughter.
More births on the way
The same thing happened to Tanguy le Turquais in November 2022. His daughter was born while Tanguy was in the middle of the Route du Rhum. By the magic of communications, he experienced the event live via Whatsapp, with his mother-in-law describing it to him. The story doesn't specify which archipelago name Tanguy would eventually have added to his daughter's civil status!
