The skipper Eric Tabarly was born in Nantes (France) on 24 July 1931 to a family of yachting tradition. His parents took him for sailing excursions on their cutter Annie when he was still a baby. In 1938, Tabarly's father purchased the gaff-rigged cutter Pen Duick. In August 1956, Tabarly started refitting Pen Duick in his spare time. She was in a state of disrepair since the Second World War, during which she had been decommissioned for fear of being requisitioned, and her wooden hull had rotted. Tabarly endeavoured to rebuild her using polyester resin. The conversion was completed, and Pen Duick was launched in April 1958. In 1962, Tabarly raced in the first Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race on Pen Duick. He was a competition beast, he had several boats (his last last was the Pen Duick VI) and he participated in numerous races. In June 1998, she sailed to Scotland, but while in transit in the Irish Sea, the night of 12 to 13 June, a spar threw Tabarly overboard and he drowned. His body was recovered by the trawler An Yvidig on 20 July. Image size: 260 x 360 mm