Pen Duick IV - Oceanic Racing Trimaran

Pen Duick IV is without doubt Eric Tabarly’s most remarkable invention. In order to conceive an oceanic trimaran that would be the fastest in the world, he broke with the tradition of monohulls designed according to the specifications of a given rule. The giant trimaran was the result of a search for pure speed, and marked the birth of ‘Open’ races. Tabarly continued to sail on board Pen Duick III, but he knew that multihulls would rewrite the rule book in the future. His instinct pushed him to design a 20m long multihull for the third OSTAR. Unfortunately, his «aluminium octopus» would not be fully ready in time for the 1968 edition and he had to withdraw just a few days into the race. One finished, Pen Duick IV smashed records, made a single-handed circumnavigation around Cape Horn with Alain Colas, then won the 72 OSTAR. But the rest of the tale is tragic: in 1978, in the first Route du Rhum, the world’s first giant trimaran disappeared along with her skipper.

Birth of a giant.
Several multihulls took part in the first transatlantic races, but none of them had really seduced the public. It should be remembered that the race was run against dominant westerly winds and these wide, light boats are most powerful downwind. The construction of multihulls at the time was fairly risky and required a strong man at the helm. It was during a convoy voyage on board the trimaran Toria, designed by Dereck Kelsall, that Eric Tabarly first dreamed of a high-sea multihull. This small trimaran won the round Great Britain race and had a much greater potential top speed than monohulls. Being lighter with less sail than traditional monohulls, it was also easier to handle in single-handed races.

Once again, Eric transformed his dreams into reality. The OSTAR is the queen of the world’s ‘Open’ races. In order to give himself every chance of defending his title, the reigning champion dared to build an aluminium trimaran that was 20 metres de long and 10 metres wide with turning masts! The construction of Pen Duick IV at the arsenal in Lorient was a real adventure. To confirm his architectural choices, as he had already done with his schooner, Eric carried out dry-dock tests and had the structure of the yacht studied by a research company in Nantes. No boat of its kind had ever been designed and the imagination of André Allègre in particular was required, as well as considerable high technology to invent such a vessel. The May 68 strikes certainly didn’t help things either.

Compared to today’s trimarans made of composite materials with some thirty years of experience to fall back on, Pen Duick IV looks like a dinosaur. But the yacht’s launch in Lorient in 1968 shook the yachting world and many people had doubts about the French yachtsman’s audacity. During her first tests at sea she easily reached speeds of 18 knots - double the speed of Pen Duick III. But during the convoy voyage from Lorient to Plymouth a few faults highlighted the lack of preparation of such an innovative yacht. The auto-pilot would have problems above ten knots and the boom braces broke. Despite being violently hit in the chest during an untimely gybe, Eric was pleased to get past the Raz de Sein at the speed of a torpedo boat. When he entered the Millbay Dock in Plymouth, the yacht had already been given the nicknames "giant octopus" or "floating tennis court" because of its size. In fact, Pen Duick IV could do 10 knots upwind. But the giant trimaran needed more preparation and Tabarly knew it. A collision with a cargo vessel in the first few days at sea forced him to head back to Plymouth for repairs. Three days and six hours later, he again crossed the start line. But a few hours later he again returned to Newlyn following autopilot failure and sadly announce that he was withdrawing from the race.

Four months later, in November 1968, Pen Duick IV cast off from La Trinité heading for Martinique. The yacht had been overhauled, with the turning masts replaced by more traditional rigging. Eric’s intention was to prove the qualities of a large yacht and to sell it in the USA. During the Atlantic crossing the trimaran was first forced to make a stopover in the Canaries to get away from the bad weather conditions with winds of up to 70 knots. Then once in the trades Pen Duick IV crossed the Atlantic in 10 days and 11 hours at an average speed of 11 knots (over 2,640 nautical miles). She thus smashed all the existing records!
After going through the Panama Canal, Pen Duick IV climbed up the coast of California and attacked the Los Angeles-Honolulu race. Multihulls are not allowed in this American classic so the trimaran raced in parallel. Pen Duick caused a sensation in finishing 20 hours ahead of the great monohull Windward Passag, without doubt one of the fastest boats of the day. Her owner intended to buy Pen Duick, then changed his mind when he saw her rustic interior. Pen Duick IV continued on her way across the Pacific.

Alain Colas and Manuréva
The first life of the great trimaran finished with memories of cruising. I twas during the return journey to France, when the trimaran had called into the port of Nouméa in Autumn 1969, that Tabarly said goodbye to Pen Duick IV. In order to pay an unexpected income tax bill, Éric was forced to sacrifice one of his yachts. He preferred to keep Pen Duick III which could take part in classic races. Alain Colas, one of Tabarly’s crew, purchased the trimaran which he already knew well.
After buying the boat, Alain Colas brought her back to France via the Cape of Good Hope. In June 1972 he triumphantly won the single-handed transatlantic race in 20 days and 13 hours, smashing the record for the event and justifying the confidence of her designer.
In 1973 Alain Colas decided to sail around the world via the three Capes. He modified Pen Duick IV, reinforcing the buoyancy of the front of the three hulls and renamed the yacht Manuréva. He set off at the same time as the yachts competing in the Whitbread, made a stopover in Sydney and completed his mammoth voyage. Once back in France, he was given a hero’s welcome. For the next edition of the OSTAR in 1976 he opted for the giant monohull Club Méditerranée (72 m) and was beaten by ... Eric Tabarly on the monohull Pen Duick VI. Two years later, after the English had limited the length of competing yachts to 60’ (18.28m) for the transatlantic, the Frenchman invented Michel Etevenon invented the Route du Rhum. Alain Colas set off on board Manuréva. He tragically disappeared off the Azores and was never found. The probable causes of the sinking may have been a sudden leak in one of the hulls, disintegration of the linking braces, or perhaps a collision with a cargo vessel. After so many years of success, questions are still asked today about the disappearance of the great aluminium trimaran.

On board Pen Duick IV
I wanted to go to see Pen Duick III in La Trinité to compare the two boats. Sailing single-handed on Pen Duick IV I could easily beat Pen Duick III with a full crew on board in all conditions. This reinforces my belief that trimarans are the best yachts for transatlantic racing. Nevertheless, If I had the choice right now I would take Pen Duick III because it is clear that Pen Duick IV wasn’t ready yet. There were too many problems and that worried me... The factory that was making the autopilots for both boats told me at the last moment that they couldn’t finish both devices in time. I therefore had to make a choice. Pen Duick IV hadn’t raced before, but I was so sure she would be faster then Pen Duick III that I got them to finish her device.”

Eric Tabarly / Extract from the book “From Pen Duick to Pen Duick”