There is something in the water in France. Where it came from no one knows, but it seems to have infiltrated the culture like a piece of ripe brie or perhaps a barrel freshly harvested beaujolais.
I think that it started with Bernard Moitessier when he abandoned his non-stop solo circumnavigation near the finish by turning around and heading off for a second lap of the planet saying, “I am continuing, because I am happy at sea… and perhaps to save my soul.”
That simple ‘screw you finger’ to the sailing establishment (all of them Britsh) struck a nerve and captured the imagination of a nation that still continues today.
Then came Eric Tabarly who won the single-handed transatlantic race in 1976 and was heralded with a ticker tap parade down the Champs Elysees. Tabarly was quintessentially French. He was rarely seen without a gauloises hanging out the corner of his mouth looking like he had just sailed through a hurricane in a wooden barrel.
He rubbed shoulders with Presidents, Prime Ministers and royalty and took the iconic Bridgette Bardot sailing, shirtless of course (Tabarly not Bardot, sadly).
The French, who enjoy a bit of satire with their morning coffee, embraced the drawing of Tabarly published in Charlie Hebdo sailing with a spinnaker set from his massive erection and the caption that read (translated) “I will continue – for France.”
There have since been a slew of incredibly talented French sailors that have won the Volvo Ocean Race, won multiple Vendee Globes, the Mini-Transat, Route du Thum and the Figaro, and even in the case of Franc Cammas rounded Cape Horn in a Nacra F20 foiling catamaran.
They have, if you will, kept the pot at a steady simmer. Sailing is the national sport and national passion of all the French people, not just sailors, but no one has captured their imagination as much as Tabarly and Moitesster than Charlie Dalin.
Last Tuesday was designated Charlie Dalin Day and there was a celebration in Concarneau, France that rivaled the one held when Macron won the Presidency. Dalin convincingly won the most recent Vendee Globe, setting a new course record along the way (knocking nine days off the old one).
That alone is an accomplishment but he did so while holding a personal secret close to his chest. He was battling gastrointestinal cancer and taking immunotherapy pills during the race. He died this past June in Quimper, France.
Charlie was just 42.
The celebration included thousands who lined every vantage point to see the activities on the water with hundreds of boats flying Charlie Dalin Flags. I small fleet of optimists sailed by spelling out his name on their sails one letter at a time.
There was also a fly-over with a red, white and blue smoke trail. The event was televised and many across France stopped to hail one of their heroes; a sailor nonetheless.
“Bon Vent Charlie.” You stirred something in this South African’s blood and made me realize once again why I love this sport so much. – Brian Hancock.
