Florence Arthaud: courageous solo racing star

Florence Arthaud had an extraordinary career and seemed quite indestructible, says Elaine Bunting

It feels unreal that Florence Arthaud is gone. She always seemed the most indestructible of sailors, less vulnerable than many of the male solo sailors I’ve met: truly strong and with a calm aura of inner strength.

I always thought her wise, too, giving up professional sailing (as did other top French women sailors, such as Isabelle Autissier) at the zenith and leaving it just as confidently behind to do her own thing in her own boat for her own pleasure.

Killed this week in a terrible helicopter crash in Argentina, Florence Arthaud ‘Flo’, as she was affectionately known  is a huge loss and is much mourned in France. She cut a dash in sailing. One of the most famous photos of Flo (below) by Thierry Martinez, is of her winning the solo Route du Rhum in 1990, aged 33, standing on the windward hull of the golden trimaran Pierre 1er with her wild hair flowing in the night breeze off Guadeloupe.

Flo pioneered the way for women at the top of offshore sailing. Ellen MacArthur many will consider as the most successful female offshore sailor of all time, but while she was still at school, Arthaud won the Route du Rhum and, the same year, broke the solo transatlantic record by setting a new time of 9 days, 21 hours 42 minutes.

She was highly successful in the Figaro solo class and raced two-handed in the AG2R transatlantic race with Jean Le Cam.

Arthaud was cherished for her indomitability, and for good reason. Before her death this week, she had narrowly escaped losing her life at least twice before. The first was when she was only 17 and involved in a …read more