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It took the Hydroptère 15 years to become the first sailboat in the world to break the 50-knot barrier?the equivalent of the sound barrier on water. Conceived by Éric Tabarly, the pioneering vessel had been abandoned in Hawaii, destined to sink to the depths of the ocean after having skimmed its surface so many times. But the white bird became a phoenix, saved by an enthusiast, Gabriel Terrasse.
California, late 1960s: A sailboat glides across the water
This is the Williwaw, a sailboat built by David Keiper; sailing alongside this strange vessel is the exceptional sailor Éric Tabarly. To overcome water resistance and the constraints of ?Archimedean navigation,? Éric Tabarly dreamed of foils and of flying over the oceans with these lifting surfaces that act like wings.
Almost 20 years later, on August 1, 1980, off the coast of La Trinité-sur-Mer, a 75-year-old record was shattered: Éric Tabarly completed the Atlantic crossing with his three crewmates, Georges Calvet, Éric Bourhis, and cameraman Dominique Pipail aboard the hydrofoil trimaran ?Paul Ricard? in 10 days, 5 hours, 14 minutes, and 20 seconds. His intuition regarding hydrofoils proved correct, even though the boat did not fly?a result of its aluminum hulls, which made it too heavy to take off.
Let?s go back in time to 1669, when Louis XIV?s Royal Fleet at Versailles was as extravagant as his ?Grand Siècle?: ships, brigantines, frigates, rowboats, gondolas, and galleys?the most magnificent of which was the flagship La Réale (?La Royale?)?all of which would fade into obscurity after the lavish reign of the ?Sun King.? The Royal Fleet had become a ghost, and the Grand Canal its tomb. The King is no more, but the sun is shining on this Sunday in 1985 in Versailles as a model glides across the waters of the Grand Canal; a stopwatch starts ticking?the dawn of a new era, marking the first tests on models. Alain de Bergh is an engineer at Dassault (the flagship of French military aviation); his hand holds the stopwatch for Alain Thébault, who is launching the model. In 1984, this young sailor met Éric Tabarly and now shares his dream: to fly over the oceans.
Three years later, in 1987, the model was scaled up to 1/3 size using composite materials and was then successfully exhibited at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget in 1991. ?Benoît doesn?t know which one he prefers: the sea with its thousand reefs or his beloved river?the Odet, even gentler than its name... ? On that day in August 1992, Éric Tabarly gathered a committee of industrialists and decision-makers at his home to convince them?we don?t know if these words by Guillaume Apollinaire helped?but the construction of the Hydroptère is now a reality.
Ten years after the Grand Canal prototype, the Hydroptère took to the waves off the coast of Saint-Nazaire in 1994, marking the beginning of a journey fraught with obstacles, repeated breakdowns, industrial challenges, and records?a veritable list à la Prévert?leading up to its crowning achievement: the trimaran that had been unattainable since time immemorial?since, as of 2009, it no longer existed?off the coast of Hyères in the south of France.
The Hydroptère managed to break the legendary 50-knot barrier (93 km/h) and reached a top speed of 55.5 knots (about 103 km/h)?the equivalent of the sound barrier in aviation? and the world?s fastest flying trimaran is now a legend.
The word ?Hydroptère? is of Greek origin??hydros? meaning water and ?pterion? meaning wing??but what followed was a tragedy, also of Greek origin. Far from the land of Homer and his *Odyssey*, the *Hydroptère*?s journey was from Los Angeles to Honolulu. This record attempt would mark the end of this epic journey; due to a lack of sponsors and funding, the Hydroptère was abandoned in 2015 in Hawaii at Kechi Harbor, next to the Honolulu airport.
This exceptional flying trimaran
Overlooked by the big names in sailing?from Éric Tabarly to Michel Desjoyeaux, including Jean Le Cam and Yves Parlier?the trimaran fell into obscurity; after also having had the privilege of watching Loïck Hamilton?that legendary surfer?soar in its wake. This daredevil Hawaiian with a square jaw, abs of steel, and sun-bleached hair also revolutionized his sport by making his foiling board take off over the legendary waves in the 2000s. The Hydroptère seems a world away from those days.
Left abandoned for nearly 5 years
Stripped of its interior and fittings (deck hardware, hydraulic systems, electronics), the Hydroptère no longer takes to the air. Its future now comes with a price tag: $8,000; this isn?t an acting award, but rather the cost of preventing it from ending up looking like a César statue.
At the Waikiki Yacht Club, two men met and joined forces before the auction: Chris Welsh and Gabriel Terrasse became the new owners of L'Hydroptère for $8,500 on June 28, 2019, at 9:30 a.m.
Heading to San Francisco, before heading to the East Coast
It is at a shipyard overlooking the bay owned by Chris Welsh?The Sugar Dock in Richmond?that the next chapter in the Hydroptère?s story will unfold after a 15-day crossing from Hawaii. In 2020, the boat was completely dismantled; Gabriel spent the lockdown and the COVID-19 pandemic at the shipyard in San Francisco. Even the 7-meter-wide sheet track will be removed to avoid the $125,000 cost of transporting the vessel as an oversized load across the U.S.
The hull and mast will be the final stage of the repatriation, departing from San Francisco by road to the East Coast, heading for the city of Mobile, Alabama. From the Gulf of California to the Gulf of Mexico, there?s already a hint of France in the air, since Mobile was founded in 1702 by the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne; after more than one crossing, a new chapter is beginning to unfold.
In 2023, after a 3½-year odyssey covering 16,000 km, the Hydroptère returned to its homeland in several legs, traveling aboard, among other vessels, an Airbus ship named the ?Ville de Bordeaux.? A legend of the seas is back, pieced together like a puzzle.
A mix of materials
Carbon fiber, Kevlar, titanium, and aluminum?this mix, worthy of the ?Fantastiques,? can be found in this hangar located in Bas-Chantenay, a port industrial zone in Nantes, where grain silos rise to 40 meters, and in the distance, the Cheviré Bridge spans the Loire, that untamed river.
In 2024, the team will relaunch L'Hydroptère.CH, the ?little brother? of L'Hydroptère, capable of sailing at 2.7 times the speed of the wind and holder of all the speed records on Lake Geneva in Switzerland (blue ribbon, kilometers, and hours). This test milestone provides an opportunity to conduct sea trials at Le Croisic on the Atlantic coast aboard the .CH, skippered by Niels Boucard, to test fiber-optic structural monitoring systems for Naval Group, the European leader in naval defense.
A brief interlude before embarking on the renovation of L'Hydroptère?the beginning of a truly wonderful human adventure. Gabriel Terrasse is a man of passion. Thomas Dobrée?s motto, inscribed in Breton on his palace?a neo-medieval building located in the heart of Nantes, just a few kilometers as the crow flies from L?Hydroptère?could just as well be his own: ?An hini a varaok?hantañ zoit. ? ?The unknown devours me.? But one might also say that the words of *The Little Prince* certainly resonated with this dreamer, a native of Lyon just like Saint-Exupéry.
The Hydroptère is a masterpiece of craftsmanship?the equivalent of haute couture in the world of sailing?where improvisation is impossible and expertise is essential.
Éric Rambaud?s hand strokes the carbon fiber over the old, open scar on the Hydroptère?s mast?the culmination of a complex repair project for this unexpected development. Standing 28 meters tall?though currently that length?this mast, now lying horizontally, sustained damage during the voyage from the U.S. The diagnosis is clear: two cracks? one 2 meters long at the front (the leading edge) and one at the rear of the mast (the trailing edge) that is about 80 cm long.
To assess the extent of the cracks in the mast, a non-destructive ultrasonic inspection is performed. This process then allows the damaged carbon layers (delaminations) to be sanded down before repairing the damaged area by adding layers of carbon fiber, similar to a patch.
A light shines from inside this mast lying on the ground; Loïc Mazas crawls nearly 28 meters in conditions where claustrophobia is the last thing on one?s mind. The process is repeated several times, particularly to apply resin and fill the gap in the crack. Around this damaged mast, we see these two figures communicating through words and gestures; the work requires expertise that is as much intellectual as it is manual.
Éric Rambaud is the technical director of L'Hydroptère; his expertise and passion are central to the restoration of this legendary flying trimaran. After working at Airbus for 30 years, eventually rising to become technical director of its Technocentre, this enthusiastic man with a keen eye is always eager to share his knowledge with simplicity and kindness.
Standing beside him is Loïc Mazas, that intrepid engineer and head of Research and Development at L'Hydroptère, who?as if straight out of a Jules Verne novel?explores the interior of the mast as if it were a whole new world.
Among the team working on the structure, we must not forget Eamonn Orpen, an aerospace assembly specialist with Irish-Welsh roots who spares no effort or expertise to advance the renovation of L'Hydroptère, all with a cheerful and supportive attitude.
?When I saw the craft, I thought to myself: ?It?s an airplane! We have to treat it like an airplane. Otherwise, it?ll break??? Maurice Pat, aerospace engineer at the Aérospatiale design office in Toulouse.
?When I found out that the Hydroptère was going to be destroyed if no one stepped in, I dropped everything,? Gabriel Terrasse, CEO of Hydroptère 2.0.
Re-fitting the sheet bar was the first major success of the renovation; this 3D-scanned key component was reattached to the central hull by Corentin Romé during his final-year engineering internship, under the supervision of Éric Rambaud. ?The Hydroptère isn?t a racing boat; it?s an experimental boat designed for speed,? says Gabriel Terrasse. This trimaran was designed by a consortium of companies including Dassault Aviation, DCN (now Naval Group), the VPLP design firm, and Airbus.
This connection to aeronautics is evident in the struts, which are directly inspired by the nose gear of the Rafale Marine and were designed specifically for the Hydroptère by André Soumat and Philippe Perrier, engineers at Dassault Aviation. They ensure optimal stabilization of the connecting arm and the lateral foils at a 45-degree angle.
Located at the junction between the connecting arms and the foils, they absorb extreme loads of 60 metric tons. They function as shock absorbers powered by four nitrogen cylinders pressurized to 180 bar.
Throughout this extraordinary renovation project, we encounter specialists who all share a passion and fascination for this Hydroptère?the one that rises 5 meters above the sea and accelerates more powerfully than a outboard boat with two 250 CV engines.
The LISI Aerospace team, present on November 5, 2025, is no exception to the rule. This French company?the world?s second-largest manufacturer of aerospace fasteners?has brought Optibind, the fastener of the future, the result of 15 years of research and development. These blind rivets, which will be featured on upcoming Airbus models, are making their debut on the Hydroptère.
A blue inflatable tent went up in the middle of this hangar in early summer 2026. After sanding, it was time to paint with Lackmann, the master painter from Asus who employs former military personnel in the town, where there are very large yards.
Maël Guégan wouldn?t disagree?the man who cut his teeth on a construction site near La Baule is giving it his all under the sun, and the dust covering his face bears witness to this grueling work, effectively erasing the scars of the past. It?s sometimes hard to see just how much work has been done once it?s finished.
How can I describe the 13 months spent working on the two connecting arms, where corrosion of the original steel nuts required a complete replacement of the fasteners? How can we talk about all the challenges overcome by these enthusiasts?the time spent on ultrasonic and shearography inspections, the complexity of carbon fiber, that machined titanium fitting, the sandblasting of the rear foil rudder?s skeg, and the multi-layered carbon fiber structure used to repair the mast? How can we describe the project involving several specialists from Airbus, complete with suitcases connected to heated mats straight out of a James Bond movie?
Only a philistine would have the audacity to deny the work that went into getting this Hydroptère airborne again?work that required at least the Twelve Labors, even if Diodorus of Sicily is no longer here to write about it.
This legendary boat, which crossed the English Channel in 34 minutes and 24 seconds?faster than Louis Blériot at the controls of his light monoplane, the Blériot XI?is a successful fusion of sailing and aeronautics.
Everything points to it: connecting arms derived from the Airbus A340?s ventral beams, lateral foils inspired by the Mirage 2000?s vertical stabilizers, and skimmers derived from the Rafale Marine?s landing gear. This trimaran, which is wider than it is long, measuring 24 meters (78 feet) between the two floats and 18.3 meters (60 feet) in length; its uncompromising and radical design makes it a pioneer, a legend that continues to inspire dreams on this Blue Planet.
The search for deck hardware is progressing; every winch and every block found is like a trophy. Plans for installing sensors are being finalized, and the search for the 189 m² mainsail remains a challenge as early summer 2026 begins.
In this design office at the heart of the construction site, the list of remaining tasks is written in marker on this whiteboard. Across from it hangs a framed photo of Gabriel Terrasse and Chris Welsh posing on the central hull of the Hydroptère. This marks the beginning of a story that would tragically be overshadowed by the death, early in the adventure, of this American companion?a sailor, adventurer, and underwater explorer who had worked alongside Richard Branson.
White is the color of possibility. We wish L'Hydroptère all the best in its "Life 2.0," which, now immaculately white, is a magnificent blank page where everything remains to be written.
?To take a photograph is to align the mind, the eye, and the heart,? and the vision that L'Hydroptère is pursuing seems very close to that of the legendary Henri Cartier-Bresson.
