Top left: Christian Février gets to know Mike Birch for the first time during their cross-channel delivery to Deauville on Walter Greene’s borrowed A Capella for the start of the first Route du Rhum. A few years later (above) and Mike is the skipper of what today is the most-travelled Maxi multihull racer of all time – the new 84ft Nigel Irens-designed Formule TAG cat which had been superbly built at Canadair using the most advanced materials of the time. So well built, in fact, that she will survive 40 or so years of stretching and modification as she continues setting records under new names including Enza and Royal&SunAlliance… Today stretched again and with her rig removed she is still out there, now as the 31m clean-energy powered research cat Energy Observer. Left: three Rhum victories between them, Birch in St Malo with 1994 and ’98 winner and fellow free spirit Laurent Bourgnon. Bourgnon will be lost in a diving accident cruising the Pacific with his family in 2015
York to attempt the Atlantic record. Which has stood since 1905. The story begins in the West Indies where sailing together on Phil Weld’s splendid trimaran Rogue Wave we have just won Peter Spronk’s new Tradewinds Race. But now it’s freezing cold in New York.
A police launch gave us the start for our Transatlantic attempt. The following night a brutal snow squall fell on us passing over the shallows of Nantucket Island. Our Spirit of America trimaran is leaning over far too much. The floats are sinking beneath the sea. We are sure to end up on the roof. The water is 5°. No chance of survival in these conditions. But our ‘nets’, made up of wide rubber
straps, slow the capsize of the trimaran. It miraculously lands back right side up. Two following storms then force us to run under bare poles for 24 hours. Goodbye to the record. But hello Life! In 1980 I joined Mike at his yard in
Pocasset, Cape Cod. He had just finished a second Olympus based on Newick plans. A 14m trimaran with a large central wing. I accompany him during the first trials. On 7 June 90 competitors set off from
Plymouth for a new Ostar. The waves smashed the underside of Mike’s wing. He
repaired it en route. Phil Weld is first. Nick Keig is second. Phil Stegall is right on his heels ahead of Mike in fourth. At the finish the Canadian held up a piece of his shattered hull. It reads: ‘Phil Weld for President’. Walter Greene finishes fifth. With various sponsors Mike continued
his career: Vital, Télé 7 Jours, Fujicolor, the MacLaren team with Formule Tag, to name but a few. In all Mike Birch partici- pated in seven Routes du Rhum, six times in the English Transat, five times in the Quebec-St Malo. In 1985 he won Monaco-New York on Formule TAG, then Lorient-St Barth-Lorient in 1989 on Fujicolor. In 1991 and 1992 he was named world champion by the Fédération Inter- nationale des Courses Open (FICO). When the time comes to move on, the Canadian sailor recommends Loïck Peyron to Fuji to take over their Orma 60 tri- maran programme. In 1980 Mike had married his second
wife France and moved to live in… France. In La Trinité sur Mer they live on the river in La Maison du Glaouch. A nod to their sailing friends. In March 2017, at the age of 86, Mike
was the guest of honour at the Sail In Festival in Bilbao. Where I am joining him.
For three days several films about Mike’s life will be shown. This will be the last public tribute to this great sailor. At the end of 2020 Mike is 89 years old.
He was not afraid of anything, especially not of Covid, and he is going back to his native country in spite of everyone’s rec- ommendations, to see his fishing friends on Gabriola Island in the Vancouver Estu- ary. Much later, when the borders were reopened, his wife France went to pick up the weakened Mike to bring him back to his beautiful Brittany. The doctors treated him very well. Jimmy Pahun, a sailor and now Deputé of Morbihan, and his friend, will remain very close to him throughout. Mike was very saddened to see the
pollution invading the sea. And to learn in particular of the disappearance of the colony of gannets on Rouzic Island in northern Brittany. Where they had been established for decades. Mike passed away peacefully at 4am on Wednesday 26 Octo- ber, watched over by all his family. At dawn France will discover a rainbow
over the surrounding countryside. Like a sign from heaven, a last goodbye… Six days later Mike would have been 91. Farewell, my great friend… Christian Février, Brittany
q SEAHORSE 45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126
