Alain Colas (1943-1978) was a French sailor and a leading figure in the early days of solo offshore racing. Winner of the English Transat in 1972, he disappeared at sea in 1978 during the first Route du Rhum aboard his trimaran Manureva.
Alain Colas(1943 — 1978)
Alain Colas
France
6 min read
Frequently asked questions
Key Facts
- Born in 1943 in Clamecy (Nièvre).
- Won the solo English Transat (OSTAR) in 1972 aboard Pen Duick IV.
- Completed a solo round-the-world voyage in 1973-1974 on his trimaran, which he renamed Manureva.
- Designed and skippered the Club Méditerranée in 1976, a colossal 72-metre monohull, during the Transat.
- Disappeared at sea in the Atlantic in November 1978 during the first Route du Rhum.
Works & Achievements
Colas's first major victory: he crossed the Atlantic single-handed from Plymouth to Newport in about twenty days and became a figure of French sailing.
A circumnavigation with a single stopover in Sydney, covering some 30,000 miles, beating the time set by Francis Chichester.
A 72-metre, four-masted sailboat designed for the OSTAR; Colas took 2nd place aboard her behind Tabarly, pushing the limits of giant-scale offshore racing.
An account in which Colas recounts his solo voyage and the rounding of the great capes, a landmark testimony to the ocean adventures of the 1970s.
Racing aboard Manureva in this inaugural Saint-Malo–Guadeloupe event, Colas vanished, forever marking the history of the race.
Anecdotes
Alain Colas did not have his most famous trimaran built: he bought it from Éric Tabarly. It was *Pen Duick IV*, which he renamed *Manureva*, a Tahitian word meaning "bird of passage." Colas, married to a young Tahitian woman named Teura, was deeply attached to Polynesia.
In 1972, Colas won the **OSTAR**, the famous solo English transatlantic race from **Plymouth** (England) to **Newport** (United States), aboard *Manureva*. The first Frenchman to win this legendary race after Tabarly, he suddenly became a national hero — he who had set off to teach French in Australia just a few years earlier.
In **1975**, while his boat was moored, Colas's right foot was caught and crushed by a mooring line. He underwent around twenty operations, and the doctors considered amputation. He refused, and trained to haul himself up his mast using arm strength alone so he could return to the sea.
For the **1976** transatlantic race, Colas had a giant sailing vessel built, *Club Méditerranée*: a 72-metre-long monohull rigged with four masts, so large that a single man could barely handle it. Despite a penalty for an unscheduled stopover, he finished second, behind his old rival **Éric Tabarly**.
Colas vanished at sea in **November 1978** aboard *Manureva*, during the very first **Route du Rhum**. The following year, the song *Manureva*, sung by **Alain Chamfort** to lyrics by **Serge Gainsbourg**, paid tribute to him: all of France took to humming the name of his lost boat, often without knowing it referred to a sailor who had disappeared.
Primary Sources
Autobiographical account in which Colas recounts his solo voyage around the world aboard Manureva, the rounding of the great capes and the ordeal of solitude, where the sea becomes the only horizon for months on end.
Alain Colas is recorded as the winner of the 1972 edition, after a solo crossing from Plymouth to Newport completed in about twenty days aboard the trimaran Pen Duick IV (Manureva).
Off the Azores, Colas radioed that a violent storm was bearing down on Manureva; contact was then lost, around 16 November 1978, and the boat would never reappear.
Key Places
Small town in Burgundy where Alain Colas was born in 1943, far from the sea.
Starting port of the OSTAR, the English single-handed transatlantic race that Colas won in 1972.
Finishing port of the English transatlantic race, where Colas crossed the line as the winner in 1972.
Home port and starting point of his round-the-world voyage and then of the first Route du Rhum in 1978.
Polynesia, to which Colas was deeply attached; there he married Teura and drew the name “Manureva”.
Ocean area where Manureva was caught in a storm and where Colas disappeared in November 1978.
Typical Objects
Racing trimaran bought from Éric Tabarly (formerly Pen Duick IV) and renamed with a Tahitian word; it was aboard this boat that Colas won the 1972 Transat and sailed around the world, and aboard which he disappeared in 1978.
Giant four-masted sailboat, 72 metres long, designed for Colas in 1976: the largest single-handed racing monohull of its time, at the very limit of what one man could handle.
Astronomical navigation instrument used to fix one's position by measuring the altitude of the sun or stars; essential for Colas to locate himself in the middle of the ocean, before GPS.
Waterproof garment worn constantly on deck in heavy weather; Colas lived in it, soaked and frozen, during the long Atlantic crossings.
Short-wave transceiver (Single Side Band) used to communicate with land; his last messages before he disappeared were sent by this means.
Lever connected to the rudder to steer the boat; on a fast multihull, holding it for hours took an enormous toll on the solo sailor.
Marine compass showing the heading the boat is following; a basic tool for staying on course by day and by night.
School Curriculum
Vocabulary & Tags
Key Vocabulary
Daily Life
Morning
At dawn, Colas inspects the boat after the night, trims the sails, and takes advantage of a clear spell to fix his position with the sextant. Breakfast is quick, gulped down between two maneuvers, since sleep has been nothing more than a string of short naps.
Afternoon
The afternoon is split between repairs, rigging maintenance, and navigation calculations entered into the logbook. He keeps an eye on the weather and, at a set hour, attempts a radio link with the shore.
Evening
In the evening, he prepares for the night: shortening sail if the wind picks up, checking the course, scanning the horizon to avoid cargo ships. A hot meal, when the sea allows it, is a real comfort before the long hours of watch.
Food
On board, the everyday fare consists of canned goods, freeze-dried meals rehydrated with hot water, biscuits, and dried fruit. Fresh water is rationed, and one often eats standing, hanging on, between two turns at the helm.
Clothing
The sailor lives in waterproof oilskins, sea boots, and layers of wool, harnessed by a safety line whenever he goes out on deck. Cold and damp are constant companions.
Housing
His “home” is the cramped, damp cabin of his multihull, where the bunk pitches endlessly. For weeks on end, the boat is at once lodging, workplace, and the only refuge against the ocean.
Historical Timeline
Period Vocabulary
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
Victoire à l'OSTAR (Transat anglaise) sur Manureva
1972
Tour du monde en solitaire sur Manureva
1973-1974
Club Méditerranée, plus grand monocoque de course de son temps
1976
« Cap Horn pour un homme seul »
1974
Participation à la première Route du Rhum
1978
