Pen Duick V : Monohull with ballasts

In September 1968, Tabarly learned in a nautical magazine of the creation, by the Slocum Society, of a single-handed Transpacific race. The start would be on 15 March 1969 in San Francisco, with the finish in the bay of Tokyo. As a passionate fan of single-handed sailing, he studied the rules. The event was open to monohulls of between 22 and 35 feet in length (10.67 metres). When he came to study the route, he discovered it would be best to head south downwind. Pen Duick III and IV were operational but did not meet this criteria. A new boat would have to be built with ballasts filled water; the new Pen Duick would become the forerunner of the 60’ monohulls that sail around the world today. Pen Duick V easily won the race (ten days ahead of the field after 6,000 nautical miles). After spending a long period of time in the Mediterranean under several owners, Pen Duick V is now the property of the French Naval Museum and can be seen sailing most often in South Brittany.

The forerunner of Open 60s.
With a length close to ten metres, Tabarly satisfied the rules laid down by Aïkido for a series yacht designed by Michel Bigoin and Daniel Duvergie. It was quite a wide boat with a longitudinal waterline bilge to reduce the submerged area downwind while also increasing the buoyancy whenever there was any heeling. Tabarly contacted these architects for the design of Pen Duick V with a view to taking part in the Transpacific. Given that the maximum overall length of the hull was blocked by the rule, the yacht was designed with hardly any rake of the stem in order to maximise the waterline length. Her stability tests were mainly performed downwind, the main race conditions: wide beam and waterline bilge. Her weight stability comes from a 2.3m foil carrying a 400 kg lead torpedo equipped with a trimmer to stop drifting. In order to further increase the yacht’s stability without making her heavier and to compensate for list in all wind conditions, Tabarly came up with a system of ballasts filled with sea water using manual pumps (20 minutes to fill each 500 litre ballast). This idea was inspired by Sand Baggers, the American yachts with large amounts of sail that compensate for list with windward sand bags. This new discovery would later be used on board yachts competing in round-the-world races like the BOC and Vendée Globe Challenge!
The rigging used was that of a simple sloop, but once again Eric Tabarly innovated by equipping the yacht with a system that could switch from 55 m2 of sail upwind to 150 m2 downwind. Twin 65 m2 jibs were placed on roller stays and held at the tip of the sheet by 7.5m telescopic booms. Pen Duick V was made of aluminium at the La Perrière shipyard, and transported to California on board a cargo vessel. As in 1964, Tabarly’s yacht was the only competing boat built especially for a 6,000 nautical mile race. By heading south downwind, Pen Duick V won the race in 39 days and 15 hours at an average speed of 6 knots.

Today the silence surrounding Pen Duick V’s victorious arrival in Tokyo seems quite surprising. The jury had not expected such a short crossing and nobody was there to greet Eric as he crossed the finish line. He checked into port himself under mainsail, then spent the night berthed at quay. The following day he disembarked to find the race village empty and set off in search of the race jury in the city. Having not shaved for 40 days and wearing torn jeans he tried as well as he could to communicate with the local Japanese in broken English. He finally found his way to the small lighthouse museum mentioned in the sailing instructions. It was there that he telephoned the Nippon Ocean Racing Club who congratulated him and arranged to meet him on board Pen Duick V.
Once she had been transported back to France by cargo, the fifth “Pen Duick”, belonging to the company that runs the St-Raphaël yacht harbour, was sold to a shipowner in Toulon who modified her to make her more comfortable. The aft was lengthened and the ballasts removed to create more living room below deck. The keel also had to be changed to increase the ballast. She was then used for cruising for some twenty years. In 1990 she became the property of Serge Legars, who was planning a family voyage around South America but had to abandon his plans. Finally in 1992 the winner of the TransPacific became the property of the French Marine Museum.

Today
Pen Duick V has been fully restored and is now based at the French National Sailing School in Quiberon where she sometimes cruises in South Brittany, occasionally accompanied by her elder sister Pen Duick II. Young yachtsmen and women can train for their state diploma on board the two yachts. Sailing courses for the admission-paying public are also organised on board. Both Pen Duicks will be sailing in Ireland during a course in July 2003. Besides this high-sea sailing, Pen Duick V sails most often inshore and takes part in theme events (seaawnship, astronomy, nav...) from March to October. (Information: www.env.jeunesse-sports.fr)

On Board Pen Duick V
“I was one of the few to sail on this boat as Eric didn’t keep her long. After she had been brought back from the Pacific by cargo we had a lot of fun with her off the coast of Lorient. The yacht had tremendous potential in breezes, permanently surfing the waves. She was worryingly easy to handle with very limited comfort below deck. Her aluminium structure didn’t even have a floor. Her only weakness was in mild winds where she clearly didn’t have enough sail.”
Victor Tonnerre / Extract from Bateaux Magazine