At the age of 67, indefatigable sailor Philippe Poupon will be on the starting line in St Malo on November 6 to participate in his fifth Route du Rhum and to pay a double tribute to his friend Florence Arthaud.
If the Route du Rhum is always a race full of surprises, one couple—Philippe Poupon and Géraldine Danon—have already set the bar pretty high for 2022. Both of them were very close to sailor Florence Arthaud (who died tragically in 2015). Poupon, a fellow sailor, will compete in this legendary transatlantic race aboard the trimaran Pierre 1er, while his wife, an actress and director, is making a feature-length biopic tracing the life of Arthaud, a celebrated champion.
Looking back three decades, Pierre 1er was the gold-hued trimaran with which Florence Arthaud sailed to victory in the Route du Rhum in 1990, just ahead of the very same Philippe Poupon, who had won the race in 1986. For the needs of the film, as if by magic, Poupon and Danon were able to get ahold of this legendary sailboat, exiled in the Philippines. After a stop in Sri Lanka, the boat was scheduled to arrive in France and anchor on the coast near Cannes sometime in May.
Agé de 32 ans, le navire qui a manifestement été bien entretenu est toujours en bon état ; et le sera d’autant plus après son passage dans les ateliers de Michel Desjoyeaux pour uilt 32 years ago, the boat has clearly been well maintained and kept in good shape, and will be even more so after a visit to the ateliers of Michel Desjoyeaux for a retrofit in the month of June. It will be repainted in the same colors it proudly wore for its transatlantic victory. To finance this extraordinary project, a major sponsor remains to be found and have its name attached to the boat, which has been baptized Flo for the race. All potential partners are invited to participate in this exceptional adventure, which is sure to have a big impact.
For the biopic, also titled Flo, the director, who is the goddaughter of Alain Delon, explains: “The idea was born around 2013 when I was talking with Florence. Several years later, reading the book, La Mer et au-delà (The Sea and Beyond), by Yann Queffélec, was a real catalyst. I got inspired and wrote the scenario, with the desire to beautifully tell the story of her extraordinary life through images. The shooting will begin in late June and take place in Brittany, the Mediterranean, Cape Town, Newport, and of course Guadeloupe, when Philippe arrives at the end of the year. Hoping of course that he will be on the podium,” she says with a laugh. “The film will be released in September 2023 and has a great cast with Stéphane Caillard (in the role of Florence Arthaud), Alexis Michalik, Charles Berling, and Maryline Canteau…”
This is certainly not the first time that Géraldine Danon and Philippe Poupon have set out on a big adventure. Since 2009, the couple has been sailing
Sponsoring contact:
philippepouponsbh@gmail.com
geraldinedanon1@gmail.com
