Manureva

The Manureva (ex Pen Duick IV[[1]]) is a trimaran very famous for having disappeared at sea during the first expedition of the notorious “Route du Rhum”[[2]], a transatlantic solo race. This race runs 3510 miles (on orthodromy), from Saint-Malo (France) to Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe, France) and takes place every four years, in the month of November.

The Manureva was constructed for Eric Tabarly, who baptized his trimaran sailboat “Pen Duick IV”[[3]] (being the 4th Pen Duick he owned) at the shipyard of La Perrière in Lorient (France)[[4]] in 1968. She was the first oceanic multihull racing sailboat, leading to the supremacy of this kind of ships over the monohulls. Unlike the present multihull, which have non submersible constructions and float between two waters in case of serious accident, the Manureva was a submersible multihull designed in AG4 (aluminum), that being the reason why any part of the ship was found which could have been drifting. It was a real cultural and technical revolution: this trimaran rigged in Marconi ketch was the fastest of her era. Some people even nicknamed her “La pieuvre d’aluminium” (the aluminum octopus). Because she was not painted, she was often described as lacking of aesthetics, which is largely compensated by her performances. The Pen Duick IV is then bought by Alain Colas who will win on board of her the OSTAR 1972[[5]], taking 23 days 20 hours 12 min[[6]]. After this, he renamed the Pen Duick IV to Manureva, meaning “Travel bird” in Tahitian, referring to the albatross, a sea bird able to travel very long distances[[7]] and made some changes on it, with the aim to go round the world with stops in different ports of call. He was afraid the ship would capsize in the strong seas of the southern hemisphere, so he increased the buoyancy, providing lateral volumes on the front of the hulls. Thanks to this, Alain Colas is also well-known for being the first sailor to go around the world in solo with a multihull.

The Manureva disappears with her skipper Alain Colas, aged 35, in 1978. They leave the Port of Saint-Malo on the 5th of November, and after having passed the Azores on the 16th, the skipper sends his last radio message in which he reported that he was having a good trip. He was sailing among the firsts, but the Storm and gales that appeared the following days seem to have ended both a great sailor and a great sailing ship.

A song was written by Serge Gainsbourg in fench and interpreted by Alain Chamfort, in tribute to the trimaran and its skipper. The song first appeared on the single on the 15th September 1979, and then on the album “Poses[[8]]”, during the same year. It is one of Alain Chamfort’s greatest successes. The song also helped a lot to the fame of the trimaran.