Built in 1973 by a British shipyard and designed by the Australian architect Lock Crowther, Nova began her career in 1975 with Eugène Riguidel in the Falmouth-Azores race, where she finished second, just behind the Three Legs of Mann. In 1976, she set sail for the Transat Anglaise. The fleet included everything from small 10-metre trimarans such as Nova and Mike Birch’s The Third Turtle (which finished in an incredible second place) to giant monohulls such as Alain Colas’s 72-metre Club Méditerranée! Eugène Riguidel on Nova was battling for victory when his forestay snapped near the Banks of Newfoundland, 800 miles from the finish. He eventually finished sixteenth overall and sixth in his class out of 125 competitors at the start. 1978: the start of the first Route du Rhum. Eugène Riguidel lines up with his new VSD trimaran. He kindly lends Nova to a 19-year-old, Yves Le Cornec. Nova finishes in 22nd place after a difficult race.