When Marie Tabarly went looking for a partner so that she could put together a crew to compete in the Ocean Globe Race - a round-the-world race with crews spending more than eight months at sea - she immediately thought of Breitling.
“I never saw my father wear anything other than his Breitling 80770, a 1980s model,” she says. “I inherited it three years ago when I became the skipper of Pen Duick VI. It means a lot to me. Sometimes I wear it at sea.”
Edouard d’Arbaumont, Managing Director Southern Europe, had no hesitation about welcoming Marie into the Breitling France Squad: “We are delighted to welcome Marie Tabarly into the Breitling family. With Marie as an ambassador we can look forward to travelling the world and will accompany her in her dreams of victory. Marie is someone who dares and who never gives up. Her values are a perfect match for Breitling’s own values. She’s an experienced sailor and very much in tune with nature and the environment.”
For competitions, and especially the round-the-world-race currently in preparation, Marie Tabarly has chosen a 44mm SuperOcean Heritage II in steel on a rubber strap. She considers this authentic dive watch as a vital piece of equipment. “I need a watch I can rely on 100 percent. When you’re using celestial navigation, an error of one second means your position will be out by four nautical miles. If I miscalculate by three seconds, that’s an error of 12 nautical miles. At that rate, you’re quickly off course.”
In five months’ time, Marie Tabarly will be at the start line of the Ocean Globe Race with a Breitling on her wrist. Maybe a SuperOcean, or possibly a watch designed especially for her and this extraordinary adventure onboard Pen Duick VI. Built exactly 50 years ago, this giant has a displacement of 32 tons, a length overall of 73 feet (22.25 m) and the mainmast is 82 feet (25 m) high. It is one of the most powerful boats of its generation.
This association with Breitling has special resonance for Marie Tabarly whose father, Eric Tabarly, was a partner to the brand for a number of years. In the early 1980s he even gave his name to a collection which he launched in collaboration with Ernest Schneider, then owner of Breitling. Now collectors’ items, the inscription on their caseback reads “Designed and tested with Eric Tabarly”. A family affair.
