History
8 Metre I’ve designed was Gaulois in 1983 for Gaston Schmalz: the hull was aluminium, that was a first for the class. I took part to the America’s Cup on France III between 1981 and 1983 in Newport, and that inspired me as far as materials were concerned because at the time there were no restrictions and the weight was to be similar to that of wooden boats. Later, in 1986 I designed Gitana Sixty to celebrate baron de Rothschild’s sixtieth birthday, with a wooden deck and an aluminium hull, and four other identical 8 Metres called the Pandoras: La Fayette, Dora, Aluette and another one that has never been completed. The youngest one is Fleur de Lys, that was built in 2001 and I designed together with my son Nicolas. Gitana SixtyMONOHULL 8MJI, ALUMINIUM - 13.60 MCannes has a long association with racing and the metric classes. In 1986, the Rade de Cannes welcomed the 6mJI World Cup; and Jean-Pierre Odéro, who had relaunched the Royal Regatta, announced at that time that the boats of the 8mJI class would also go on to dispute their world title on the waters of the Côte d’Azur the following year. Edmond de Rothschild was immediately persuaded to take part.By happy coincidence, 1986 was also the year of the baron’s sixtieth birthday! The idea of a new boat for the race was irresistible. This would be Gitana Sixty, an 8mJI by Cannes designer Jacques Fauroux, built in the yard of Universal Yachting at Carros under the supervision of Jean-Hervé Mer – a monohull with all the breeding of its owner, a jewel of elegance! With a crew led by Philippe Durr, and Benjamin de Rothschild there among them, she reigned unchallenged on the waters of Cannes, winning race after race and securing the title ahead of her six rivals.Victory was celebrated at the restaurant Au Mal Assis, where on a roll of tablecloth the crew had secretly created a 60 metre long banner on which was written a huge “Happy birthday and thank you, Edmond!” Benjamin de Rothschild then addressed his father. “You see, Papa, for your sixtieth birthday, I don’t know what present to get for you. You have everything, and you can have nearly anything. So here’s a present that money cannot buy, that we have won for you. The World Cup. I give it to you.”
