From September 23 to 28, 2025, the Grand Pavois La Rochelle invites you to dive into maritime history with a unique selection of event boats. Between tales of legendary races and extraordinary maritime stories, these exceptional vessels will be on display afloat. An unmissable event for boating enthusiasts and curious visitors in search of maritime thrills.

From Magie Noire to Magie Bleue

Magie Noire was built in 1985 based on plans by Jean-Yves Tanton. An extraordinary 21-meter-long boat with a displacement of 14 tons and a schooner rig with two streamlined, self-supporting, rotating fiberglass masts.

This long monohull made nine Atlantic crossings and was chartered to the Caribbean. However, due to customer payment defaults and costly damage, Magie Noire’s adventure came to an end in 2001. It returned in 2002 by cargo ship, the boat having become unseaworthy, and ended its “voyage” in a field in Augé in the Deux-Sèvres region, dismasted, abandoned, its keel stuck in the ground and squatted in. Destruction was considered.

A final SOS was launched in March 2021, and the unlikely happened: the Icape Planète Bleue foundation decided to take over the boat, in line with its mission to preserve heritage and protect the oceans.
A long process of refit and renovation was undertaken at the Grassi Bateaux shipyard in La Rochelle as soon as the boat arrived in July 2021. Many partners and professionals from La Rochelle rallied around the project. It was a true rebirth!

Erik Lerouge, the architect, is working on a new adaptation where only the hull will be retained. It will take six months to strip the hull down to its bare bones. Everything will be reviewed and refurbished.
The interior will be completely redesigned and refurbished, the roof will be redone, as will the cockpit and rear skirt.
The principle of two 21-meter self-supporting, rotating masts is retained. They will be made of carbon fiber.
The principle of two “thick” mainsails is also retained and will be produced by Incidence.
Six to seven people are working full-time on the boat…

The boat is changing its name to Magie Bleue.
Although it returned to the sea this summer, it is an incredible first to have it here at the Grand Pavois La Rochelle.

Its purpose today? To serve as a support for educational, solidarity, scientific, and environmental actions; to preserve the boat’s DNA and its revolutionary propulsion concept by optimizing it; be made available to associations involved in marine conservation projects; provide the Icape Planète Bleue foundation with a maritime resource and tool to support its social, environmental, and humanitarian activities, both in France and internationally.

Magie Bleue is here today, right in front of us!
On display all week
Boats Event Area – Pontoon 2

T-ONE-ONE (formerly Écureuil d’Aquitaine II)

Beneath its beautiful gleaming white livery, this monohull is none other than the former Ecureuil d’Aquitaine II, winner of the first edition of the Vendée Globe (1989/90) in 109 days, 8 hours, 47 minutes, and 55 seconds with Titouan Lamazou at the helm.

This monohull then had many owners and many other names, including Groupe LG skippered by Bertrand de Broc, then Gerry Roufs, and finally Hervé Laurent. It changed names to become Hawaiian Express, then Margaret Anna, Carrecamino, and Capitaine Flint before ending its wild race in Venezuela, beached and up for sale.

On November 27, 2019, Alexandre Treillard announced that he had found the winning boat from the first edition (after two years of searching): « I inspected the boat, which, it must be said, is not in very good condition but is definitely salvageable. The hull is still sound, but the balsa deck is delaminating, all the standing rigging is rotten, but the carbon mast is still in good condition. As for the sails, they are unusable… »

The boat then managed to reach Guadeloupe by sea and crossed the Atlantic to Brest by cargo ship.
It was completely restored, renamed T-One-One, and even saw Titouan Lamazou sailing aboard it again.

An incredible story for this boat, which will forever mark the history of ocean racing and, of course, the Vendée Globe!

The film “Ecureuil d’Aquitaine II: the story of a legend,” dedicated to him, will be screened in the “Le Spot” tent on Sunday at 2 p.m., followed by a discussion.

Present Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Boats Events Area – Pontoon 2

33 Export, thousands of miles around the world

« This racing yacht, designed by French naval architect André Mauric, was launched in 1968 under the name Raph for Alain Gliksman, sailor and editor of Neptune Nautisme magazine. However, the events of May 1968, a turbulent period in France, caused delays in delivery. With the help of his colleagues, Alain Gliksman managed to get the boat ready for the start of the OSTAR, a solo transatlantic race.

Of the 34 competitors, only 18 made it to Newport. Raph, despite being in the lead, abandoned the race in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. Its name refers to its first sponsor from Saint-Raphaël (83). Like Pen Duick III and Pen Duick IV (which would become Manureva), Raph was one of the first prototypes designed by architect André Mauric and built in France from a lightweight aluminum alloy.

In 1973, it was bought by Jean-Pierre and Daniel Millet to take part in the Whitbread Round the World Race, the first crewed, multi-stage race around the world. It was renamed after its new sponsor, 33 Export. Eight men set sail, including a young cameraman, Georges Pernoud. Between Cape Town and Sydney, co-skipper Dominique Guillet disappeared at sea. 33 Export was rigged as a ketch until 1977 to facilitate solo sailing. Skipper Alain Gabbay changed its rigging to a sloop for the 1977 Whitbread, where it won a leg (Cape Town-Auckland). Bought in 1986 by American Tony Lush to compete in the BOC Challenge, it ultimately did not take part in the race.

Abandoned in a Newport shipyard, it was saved from demolition in 2018 by its current French owner. His goal is to enter the boat in The Ocean Race in 2028. But there is still a lot of restoration work to be done. In 2024, 33 Export left Martinique to join the Maritime Museum of La Rochelle as part of an exhibition dedicated to Thalassa, the television program created by Georges Pernoud. »
Source: Maritime Museum of La Rochelle

The film “Le grand océan” (The Great Ocean), dedicated to him, will be screened in the “Le Spot” tent on Sunday at 1 p.m.

On display all week – Visible at the Maritime Museum of La Rochelle
Heritage & Know-How Area – Pontoon 7

JOSHUA

Bernard Moitessier’s legendary Joshua will be there, and what can be said about this boat that has left an indelible mark on people’s minds and shaped the entire philosophy of long-distance sailing and great voyages!

« The legendary red ketch, behind which looms the silhouette of Bernard Moitessier, the great writer of the sea and the first man to have sailed solo and non-stop around the world one and a half times.

This 12-meter steel sailboat was named Joshua in honor of the famous navigator Joshua Slocum.
On board, Bernard Moitessier took part in the first edition of the Golden Globe in 1968, the first non-stop race around the world. Both man and boat became legends: after rounding the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Lewin, and Cape Horn, Moitessier, well ahead of all his competitors, decided to abandon the race and change course.

Adventures and voyages followed one after another until that day in 1982 when Joshua was caught in a cyclone and washed ashore. Bernard Moitessier, drawn to other horizons, donated his companion to two young Americans who restored it to working order… In 1989, the editor-in-chief of Voiles et Voiliers, Emmanuel de Toma, contacted Patrick Schnepp, then director of the La Rochelle Maritime Museum, and told him that Joshua had been found in the US. He suggested that he bring this legendary ketch back to La Rochelle. On September 14, 1990, Joshua boarded a cargo ship in Seattle and made a triumphant entrance at the Grand Pavois La Rochelle with Bernard Moitessier at the helm. »
Source: La Rochelle Maritime Museum

The two authors of the comic book “La longue route” (Gallimard Publishing) will be present to sign copies of their work, which recounts the fabulous book by Bernard Moitessier (to be confirmed).

Present throughout the week of the show – On display at the Maritime Museum in La Rochelle
Heritage & Know-How Area – Pontoon 7