FRANCE: FRENCH YACHTSMAN ALAIN COLAS, WHO PLANS TO SAIL GIANT SCHOONER IN SINGLEHANDED TRANSATLANTIC RACE, ARRIVES IN MARSEILLES.

Record ID: 588556

  • Title: FRANCE: FRENCH YACHTSMAN ALAIN COLAS, WHO PLANS TO SAIL GIANT SCHOONER IN SINGLEHANDED TRANSATLANTIC RACE, ARRIVES IN MARSEILLES.
  • Date: 21st April 1976
  • Summary: 1. GTV Yacht Club Mediterranee entering port and people on deck as yacht escorted into port (3 shots) 0.21 2. GV Crowds on hotel balcony look on as yacht ties up (2 shots) 0.29 3. SV Colas steps down from yacht surrounded by crowds 0.37 4. GV PAN DOWN Ship's mast 0.50 5. SV Radar above the bridge (2 shots) 1.01 6. SV Electric motors attached to mainsail (2 shots) 1.07 7. CU Wind meter 1.10 8. SV INT SHOWING Telex machine and TV set (3 shots) 1.26 9. CU Electrical equipment 1.31 10. LV & CU Navigating compass 1.38 11. SV TV monitor set on deck 1.42 12. GV ALONG DECK OF Yacht (2 shots) 1.52 Initials BB/1730 AMN/AW/BB/1840 SPORT: YACHTING Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 6th May 1976 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MARSEILLES, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Reuters ID: LVA8AGJNY3ZV5KXOGUL0SA28PHNU
  • Story Text: French yachtsman Alain Colas -- who plans to sail a giant schooner in the Singlehanded Transatlantic Race -- arrived in Marseilles on Saturday (17 April).

    The giant 236-foot (75 metres) vessel, named the Club Mediterranee, cost 750,000 pounds sterling (1.5 million U.S. dollars)
    Colas is in the southern French port of Marseilles for some five days before setting off for Lisbon. From there he must complete a 1,500 mile (2,500 km) course singlehanded proving voyage before he can compete in the Transatlantic Race which starts on 5 June.

    The race organiser -- the Royal Western Yacht Club of England -- is insisting he make the special solo cruise in the North Atlantic by 15 May, three weeks before the race starts.

    Colas is no stranger to the race. He won it in 1972. But he faces obvious drawbacks this year. Apart form the difficulty of handling such a massive vessel singlehanded -- it is twice as big as the next largest craft competing -- Colas is still suffering from an injury to his right foot in May last year.

    The race will be the fifth for the 3,000 mile (5,000 km) crossing from Plymouth to Newport, Rhode Island, U.S.A. It was first won in 1960 by Sir Francis Chichester in Gipsy Moth 3.

    This year's event has attracted 197 entries.

    SYNOPSIS: This giant four masted schooner is called the Club Mediterranee. It is the vessel chosen by French yachtsman Alain Colas as his entry for the Singlehanded Transatlantic Race on the 5th of June. On Saturday the yacht was escorted into the southern French port of Marseilles after a trial outing.

    Hundreds of fans were waiting to greet Colas, winner of the race in 1972. He is resting in Marseilles for some five days before setting off for Lisbon. From there he will sail the huge yacht -- with 10,000 square feet of sail area -- on a 1,500-mile solo cruise in the North Atlantic. He must finish this proving race three weeks before the race starts.

    The Club Mediterranee contains sophisticated equipment which will be essential if Colas is to finish the 3,000-mile Transatlantic course singlehandedly. The yacht cost three quarters of a million pounds. It's length is 236 feet, twice as big as the next largest craft competing in the race.

    The yacht contains an extensive range of communication equipment and such boating luxuries as a television set. Colas won the 1972 race from Plymouth to Newport in Rhode Island at the helm of a 70-foot trimaran. His new four-master is more than three times as big.

    The race organiser--the Royal Western Yacht Club of England--has insisted he do the trial cruise just to prove that one man can handle such a huge vessel. The race will be the fifth so far. The first was won in 1960 by Sir Francis Chichester in Gypsy Moth Three.
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