The Friday 13 is a giant sailboat of 39 meters, recognizable by its three masts. This Dick Carter plan is a schooner designed in 1972 by Jean-Yves Terlain to sail the English Transat, alone from Plymouth (GB) and Newport (EU). Built in glass fibre/polyurethane foam sandwich by Tecimar shipyards in Saint-Nazaire, it is financed by the director, Claude Lelouch.
This giant sailboat for its time - 39 m overall and 35 tons - was considered impossible to maneuver by a single man. However, despite the problems encountered during the Transat, Terlain is ranked second, behind Alain Colas, on the Pen Duick IV. In this era of transatlantic races, the world thinks that anything bigger is faster. However, this enormous monohull will be overtaken by Alain Colas' multihull.
Thereafter, Friday 13 is completely refitted for Charter in the West Indies. Yvon Fauconnier takes over and organizes cruises where rich clients come aboard the boat. His daughter, Karine Fauconnier, now a recognized professional sailor, participated in cruises throughout her childhood. Friday 13 continued to sail between the West Indies and the United States and many sailors took part in cruises such as Kiki Hiessler, Alain Revel, Hugo Desmazières, Pancho Mallego, Alain Chapoutot or Titouan Lamazou.
Subsequently, the three-masted ship, in poor condition, was donated to the Bordeaux Pleasure Museum, in the former submarine base. He was exposed to the ground, masted, but without his keel.
At the closing of the museum, the hull of Friday 13 is moved on the carpark of the submarine base, without any indication or sign. In poor condition, the sailboat, or rather the wreck, is tagged and squatted. It was put up for sale last November by the city of Bordeaux, along with other boats that were part of the local Conservatoire international de plaisance.
A sistership of the boat was designed, the Friday Star .
Photo credit 1 : "?Le racing yacht "Friday 13" (1)?" by Jean-Pierre Bazard Jpbazard - Personal work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons -
Photo Credit 2, 3 & 4 : Pierre Mondain-Monval
