“It makes me really sad and I'm far from the only one in this situation.
We watch the one who made us dream so much die.
It's as if we had left the crack Ourasi, abandoned without care in a field… ”Claude, 64, walks past Oxygen every day.
This is the name that the former legendary racing sailboat Geodis now bears, with which the navigator Christophe Auguin notably won the daunting edition of the Vendée Globe in 1997 but also broke a multitude of speed records.
This boat, which all sailing enthusiasts know as much for its performance as for the technological innovations it has brought, lies, covered with mosses and shells, in the outer port of Cherbourg (Manche).
On February 17, 1997, the third #Vendeeglobe was won by Christophe Auguin.
It is unfortunately also that of the disappearance at sea of Gerry Roufs and incredible rescues ...
To find out more about the legend of the Vendée Globe: https://t.co/tEHlKm3M21 #VG #Sailing #Skipper pic.twitter. com / Dlrh1qNeJQ
- Vendée Globe (@VendeeGlobe) February 17, 2018
The trace of the owner is lost
After her glorious period, the sailboat was sold in 2010 to a Hungarian.
In 2014, she was towed to Cherbourg after engine damage… and never left again.
“The first year, the owner normally paid his space rights.
Then suddenly, nothing.
We tried to contact him, sent various registered letters, formal notices, in vain.
The trace of the owner is lost when his bill amounts to 15,000 euros!
»Explains Muriel Jozeau-Marigné, deputy mayor in charge of ports.
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The town hall has therefore just launched a procedure for forfeiture of property rights.
"This should allow an expropriation of the boat in less than a year," continues the elected.
From then on, we will be able to recover the money owed to us.
But above all, the boat can be sold and begin its new life.
Several serious people have already come forward to tell us that they were ready to buy the boat, estimated at 30,000 euros.
I can assure you that all lovers of the sea are waiting for this.
Not to see him get damaged here in the port.
He deserves something else.
And above all to find the sea again… ”