Libertaire Sailing

The Crew

A family of five. A fifteen-metre boat. Sixty-two thousand three hundred nautical miles of memories.

The Crew Contract

Signed in February 2011 in Loctudy, with a Damien II named Libertaire as witness. Since then, the crew has grown — from two to five — and so has the logbook: Arctic, Antarctic, Cape Horn, and the Northwest Passage in 2024. Everyone has their place, their role, and their stories to tell.

D

Damien

Captain, mechanic & fisherman

Doctor on land, handyman on board. He's the one who diagnosed the turbo failure in 2013, built the aft gantry with reindeer as spectators, and never leaves without his fishing line. He also took a boom to the temple off Chile — the glory of the open ocean has a price.

Specialty: diagnosing the engine by ear, catching dinner, and reassuring the crew when icebergs approach.

Fun fact: he celebrated his birthday in Spitsbergen, cooked for by Perrine, with Norwegians as surprise guests.
7 000+ h moteur
186 nm record 24h
1 stitch
P

Perrine

Première officier & détective d'ours

Médecin comme Damien, mais c'est surtout elle qui repère les ours polaires aux jumelles avant tout le monde — et qui endure le seasickness avec une dignité exemplaire, surtout enceinte. Ses parents et ses frères ont rejoint l'aventure à plusieurs reprises, des Lofoten à l'Islande.

Specialty: spotting wildlife before everyone else, surviving rough crossings, and organising birthdays on deck in the sunshine.

Fun fact : elle a confirmé scientifiquement que la grossesse amplifie le seasickness. Données recueillies en 25–30 nœuds au travers vers les Fidji.
3 pregnancies at sea
1 bear spotted
sea baths at 6°C
N

Nina

Mousse experte & mascotte officielle

Born in Saint-Malo in June 2014, Nina hasn't been idle. At two and a half, she set off on the grand tour of the Americas. At three, she started school in the village in Chile. She recognises penguins, seals, and different species of seabirds — and doesn't hesitate to correct her parents.

Specialty: learning to fish, kite-surfing, taking part in the sailing course in Wallis, and crying when leaving her classmates.

Fun fact: she saw her first dolphins and whales at age 2, and her equator crossing costume remains in the family archives.
2 ans au départ
3 schools worldwide
1 manta ray met
Di

Diane

Navigateuse indifférente & grimpeuse

Née fin 2015, Diane est la seule à rester « complètement indifférente aux mouvements du bateau » — même à 9 mois dans une houle de Sud-Est bien raide. Elle a appris à grimper avant de marcher, et le seasickness ne la touche jamais. C'est la plus téméraire de la famille.

Specialty: climbing rocks and trees, taking her first steps on a Brazilian beach, and blowing out her birthday candle on Libertaire's deck.

Fun fact: at age 1, she celebrated her birthday in Brazil with a chocolate cake. At 6, it was in Raiatea. Her friends are scattered across four continents.
0 seasickness
1 an 1st birthday in Brazil
1 tooth lost at sea
E

Ernest

Mousse junior & bizuth de la ligne

Born on 21 January 2020 in Nouméa, Ernest is the last to arrive — and the only one to have been welcomed by Neptune himself during his equator crossing in 2022, with a sausage as a gift. He started out frustrated by his lack of autonomy, but quickly turned into an acrobat.

Specialty: eating pancakes for afternoon tea, wondering why we're going to the land of bears and wolves, and making quick progress with language when the ball doesn't roll enough.

Fun fact: he watched Dragons with his sisters during the North Pacific crossing, and never really understood why polar bears aren't as friendly as in fairy tales.
2020 birth
1 Neptune's sausage
0 bears seen