Marcel Bardiaux

French sailor Marcel Bardiaux completed the first singlehanded circumnavigation west-about via Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope, taking 8 years to complete his course. He set out from Ouistreham, France on May 24,1950 in his home-built 30ft 9in (9.37m) yacht Les Quatre Vents and returned to Arcachon, France on July 25, 1958.

He began building his wooden yacht Les Quatre Vents in 1943 and set out his pioneering 68,000 mile voyage around the globe via Dakar, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Horn, Ushuaia, Valparaiso, Papeete, Durban, Saint-Hélène, Pointe-A-Pite and New York where he received the prestigious Blue Water Medal , awarded by the Cruising Club Of America.

He continued voyaging around globe well into his 80’s. During a winter Atlantic crossing between Halifax and France in November 1994, Bardiaux, then 84, experienced hurricane winds and was washed overboard. Saved by his tether, the Frenchman managed to pull himself back onboard and reached France after 33 days at sea.

After cruising some 400,000 miles – the equivalent of 18 circumnavigations – Bardiaux’s legacy is his book: Aux 4 Vents del L’Aventure. 1 le defi au Cape Horn, and his two yachts which have been restored.