Babouche took part in the Golden gathering in Mèze. It is the only polar exploration vessel ever seen sailing with its hull in the air!

In 2007, Sébastien Roubinet successfully completed the Northwest Passage in the Arctic without using an engine. A boat capable of sailing on both water and ice – that’s the Golden spirit!

A legendary yacht, VSD is the second of its name; the first met an untimely end during the 1978 Route du Rhum, running aground on the coral reefs off Guadeloupe. Eugène Riguidel and Gilles Gahinet narrowly pipped Tabarly/Pajot on Paul Ricard in the 1979 Transat double-handed race. Abandoned and then taken over by Stuart Rogerson, the boat was completely refitted and enjoyed many happy years in Ibiza, not to mention a few Atlantic crossings...

VSD was lost a few years ago on the Sète breakwater during a severe winter storm. RIP VSD!

Designed and built by Gino Morelli (who would go on to design the PlayStation), the boat was built for downwind sailing. The build must have been of high quality, as it is still sailing 43 years on, introducing tourists to the thrill of speed in the Mediterranean. Gino Morelli had come from California to a small village in the Oise region, which was quite a contrast for him. Alain and Eric Petit Etienne were part of the team. The boat competed in numerous races and has one capsize to its name in the Around Europe Race.

One of Walter Greene’s A Capella series, built for the 1980 OSTAR (5th place). Route du Rhum 1982 and 2022.

Loïck Peyron is competing in the Route du Rhum with this boat, in the traditional style. This boat is very similar to Mike Birch’s Olympus, which won the Route du Rhum in 1978.

The Twiggy was designed by Lock Crowther in Australia. Many boats of this type have been built around the world. The most famous is Rennie, owned by Ian Johnston. Having sailed from Australia, he competed in the 1981 Round Britain Race (where the boat capsized) and the 1982 Route du Rhum (where the boat capsized). Ian was in the habit of pushing the throttle. He was rescued by Olivier Moussy during the Route du Rhum. Jean Marc Blanche made a name for himself by losing his rudder 600 miles from the Azores during a double Atlantic crossing.

Biscotto had a long career! One of his notable achievements was probably the 1987 Silk Cut Challenge, alongside E. Queimar, B. Belmont, J. Michal, Y. Penfornis, B. Fehrenbach and F. Martin. The return journey ended with the mast breaking in the English Channel...

Godiva Chocolatier, the brainchild of Dick Newick and Rory Nugent, was built for the 1980 Ostar. Whilst being transported to England, she capsized in the North Atlantic. Purchased at auction, the boat was restored by Denis Gliksman and went on to compete in several races in the early 1980s, with Jean Le Cam and Michel Desjoyaux on board. It was then laid up for 25 years under the care of Hubert Desjoyaux. Purchased in 2011 by Anne and Paul Buttin, they restored it to a configuration close to its original state.

Original, fast and agile, this exceptional boat was conceived around 1926 by swimmers from a Barcelona club who wanted a vessel capable of taking them out to swim offshore, through the beach breakers, far from the already polluted waters near the shore. Some swimmers believed that, by giving the hull a particular shape, it was possible to do without rudders by altering the boat’s trim and thus the relationship between the centre of the sail and the centre of the centreboard.