Alain Gerbault

Alain Jacques Georges Marie Gerbault (November 17, 1893 – December 16, 1941) was a French sailor, writer and tennis champion, fighter pilot during the First World War, who made a circumnavigation of the world as a single-handed sailor. He eventually settled in the islands of south Pacific Ocean, where he wrote several books about the islanders' way of life. As a tennis player he was ranked the fifth on the French rankings in 1923.

Early life Alain Gerbault was born on November 17, 1893, in Laval, Mayenne, to an upper-middle-class family. He spent much of his youth in Dinard, near the ancient port of St. Malo; he spent his summers playing tennis and football, as well as hunting and fishing. At college he studied civil engineering. He had a brother with whom they owned a lime factory in Laval. Gallery Firecrest

L'Alain Gerbault

After returned home, Gerbault soon discovered that he missed the Pacific islands and decided to return there. Firecrest was by now well worn, so he decided to build a new boat. This boat was of the Colin Archer type. He had for long time admired the Norwegian rescue and pilot boats designed by Colin Archer and the rescue boat plans was published in Keble Chatterton's book. He also knew William Atkin's boats of the Colin Archer type and based on these, Gerbault designed his own version. The boat became 10.40 m long over deck (34 feet) with a beam of 3.20 m (10.5 feet) with a ballast keel of 3.5 tons and displacement 10 tons. The keel was later reduced to 2.75 tons due to a lot of heavy gear carried on board.

The boat was built by Paul Jouët boatyard and launched 4 June 1931 at Sartrouville and christened L'Alain Gerbault.

Later life L'Alain Gerbault had international call sign O.Z.Y.U. hence the title of his last book, published posthumously. He sailed again for the South Pacific, and vanished from the public eye, spending years wandering from island to island. He wrote several books about life on the islands, and criticising the modern western way of life.

Gerbault died on December 16, 1941, in Dili, East Timor of a tropical fever. His death was not widely reported until August 22, 1944, over three years later. A later report suggests that he had been imprisoned by the Japanese. In 1947, his body was recovered and buried on Bora Bora, where a monument to him was erected.

Alain Gerbault's tomb in Vaitape, Bora Bora, was originally on the waterfront, but later development and building of port facilities now mean that his tomb is on the side of a market building. Local people are planning to move his tomb to new place.

Works The fight of the Firecrest: The record of a lone-hand cruise from East to West across the Atlantic, Alain Gerbault, New York, D. Appleton and Co., 1926. In quest of the sun: The journal of the "Firecrest", Alain Gerbault, London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1930. The gospel of the sun, Alain Gerbault, London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1933. Un paradis se meurt (Le Grand dehors), Paris, Éditions Self (impr. de Le Moil et Pascaly), 1949. O.Z.Y.U. : "dernier journal" , Alain Gerbault, Paris, Bernard Grasset, 1952.