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Saving the Hydroptère from destruction was, in the end, only the first step. Purchased in Hawaii in 2019 and then shipped back to France in pieces, the trimaran was rebuilt in Nantes by a team led by Gabriel Terrasse. Following its public unveiling on August 27, 2026, the project is entering a new phase: a return to the water and, if the test runs go well...
Seven years of work to rebuild an abandoned trimaran in Hawaii
When Gabriel Terrasse bought L'Hydroptère at auction in 2019, the boat was in Hawaii and was slated for demolition. The engineer, who had been following the project since the 1990s, decided to change the course of his life in an effort to save the trimaran.
The boat was then returned to Nantes in separate sections. Its restoration involved volunteers, partners, and private funding over the course of several years.
Nearly 3 million euros were raised through investors, donations, and personal funds. The project took 7 years to complete.
18 meters long, 24 meters wide
The Hydroptère is 18 meters long and 24 meters wide. Its mast rises to a height of 28 meters. These dimensions alone tell part of the story behind the project. The trimaran features a very wide platform designed to support the hydrofoils that allow it to rise above the water?s surface.
The Hydroptère was conceived by Éric Tabarly and Alain Thébault based on a principle that seems familiar today but was much more experimental at the time: using foils to gradually reduce the surface area of the hull in contact with the water and decrease drag.
With this in mind, the boat was designed as a vessel similar to an aircraft. This approach also explains why its restoration could not be limited to its exterior appearance.
Why the 50-knot record remains a part of his story
The Hydroptère holds a special place in the history of high-speed sailboats. It is described in historical accounts as the first sailboat to break the 50-knot barrier. This speed, close to 100 km/h, remains spectacular for a boat developed long before foils became commonplace on modern racing sailboats.
Its significance, however, goes beyond the record itself. The Hydroptère represents a time when flying over water was still in the experimental stage, with technical choices that preceded the introduction of foils in the America's Cup, the Ultim class, and certain offshore racing series.
This also explains the enthusiasm generated by her restoration. The project isn't just about preserving an old hull, but about restoring a prototype that is part of the history of the development of foiling sailboats.
Being released back into the water does not yet mean a return to flight
The next step is scheduled for late September 2026 in Nantes. The Hydroptère is set to be launched again, with a possible presentation from the banks of the Loire. However, launching the boat does not guarantee that it will be able to operate immediately as it once did.
After several years of neglect, transport in parts, and seven years of reconstruction, the tests should make it possible to check the entire platform before considering high-speed navigation on the foils.
That's probably where the most interesting part of the project will begin. Restoring a boat brings it back to its original condition. To restore its dynamic behavior, we must then test all the systems while underway.
Lorient as a future home port and showcase for technical heritage
After Nantes, the team hopes to sail the trimaran to Lorient. This destination was not chosen at random, as the boat is closely tied to the history of French offshore racing and the development of fast sailboats.
However, the project does not appear to be intended to limit the Hydroptère to a static role, but rather to include a possible presence at maritime gatherings, exhibitions, and sailing-related events.
Michel Desjoyeaux, Marie Tabarly, Jean Le Cam, and naval architect Vincent Lauriot Prévost are among the project's supporters cited in the sources.
The Hydroptère could thus follow a two-pronged approach. The first involves preserving and displaying a boat that bears witness to several decades of research into flight over water. The second is more ambitious: to get the trimaran back on the water and enable it to take off on its foils again.
At this stage, the boat has been rebuilt and its launch is approaching. The real answer will come later, when the mooring lines are cast off and the Hydroptère attempts, once again, to rise above the surface.
Meanwhile, another Hydroptère is being rebuilt in Lorient
The story could have ended with a single Hydroptère back on its foils. Instead, it took a more unusual turn. Alain Thébault has been working on his own to assemble several components of the trimaran using parts he has been storing for several years in Lorient. He says he has, among other things, the original floats, the connecting arms, the two foils built by Dassault Aviation, containers holding other parts, and a one-third-scale model.
There is one part of a trimaran that?s pretty hard to forget: the center hull. Only one has ever been built, and it?s on Gabrielle Terrasse?s foiler. Alain Thébault announced that it was likely built at a shipyard in La Rochelle. So, at this stage, his project remains one of an assembly in progress rather than a completed boat. He told our colleagues at Ouest France in June 2026 that the construction would take a few months, and that the boat would be based in Lorient and ready to sail.
There?s something rather amusing about the situation: while the authentic Hydroptère, restored in Nantes, is getting ready to return to the water, the parts of another one are waiting in Lorient to be reassembled into a sailboat. The saga of the flying boat seems to have found a way to split in two.
