Manureva

The Manureva (originally named Pen Duick IV) was a trimaran famous for having disappeared at sea, skippered by Alain Colas, during the first “Route du Rhum” transatlantic solo race. This race runs 3,510 miles (5,650 km) on a great circle route from Saint-Malo (France) to Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe, France) and takes place every four years, in the month of November.

Construction

The Manureva was constructed for Eric Tabarly at the shipyard of La Perrière in Lorient (France) in 1968.^[1] She was the first oceangoing multihull racing sailboat, leading to the supremacy in speed of this kind of boat over monohulls. Unlike the present multihulls, which have flotation compartments or materials in the hulls to make them unsinkable, the Manureva's hulls were constructed from AG4 (aluminium), which is probably the reason why no part of the boat was found afloat after it was lost at sea. Manureva was a cultural and technical revolution: this trimaran rigged as a Marconi ketch (Bermuda rig) 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 aesthetics, but this was largely compensated for by her performance. Pen Duick IV was bought by Alain Colas^[2] who sailed her to victory in the OSTAR 1972, taking 23 days 20 hours 12 min. After this, he renamed Pen Duick IV to Manureva, meaning “Travel bird” in Tahitian, referring to the albatross, a sea bird which travels very long distances. Alain Colas made some modifications to it, with the aim of circumnavigating the world with stops in several ports along the way. He had concerns that the boat might capsize in the large seas of the southern ocean, so he increased its buoyancy by widening the forward sections of the main hull and floats. In completing his circumnavigation, Alain Colas is well known for being the first sailor to sail solo around the world in a multihull.

Disappearance

The Manureva disappeared with her skipper Alain Colas, aged 35, in 1978. They started the first “Route du Rhum” from the Port of Saint-Malo on 5 November, and after having passed the Azores on the 16th, the skipper sent his last radio message in which he reported that he was having a good trip. He was sailing at the head of the race, among the leaders, but the storm and gales that appeared the following days seem to have taken both a great sailor and a great sailboat.

Song

A song was written by Serge Gainsbourg in French and interpreted by Alain Chamfort, in tribute to the trimaran and its skipper. The song was released as a single on 15 September 1979, and on the album “Poses” later the same year. It is one of Alain Chamfort’s greatest successes. The song also boosted the fame of the trimaran.

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