French Kiss, the legendary America's Cup yacht, celebrates its anniversary in Hyères

French kiss, those who lived through the 1980s will not forget this name. That of the 12 Meter (actually 20 meters), which was a semi-finalist in the America's Cup in 1987, with a French crew led by skipper Marc Pajot. A first at the time.

French success story

Currently based year-round at the port of Hyères, the powerful aluminum sailboat designed by architect Philippe Briand celebrated its 40th anniversary this Saturday. For the occasion, all the members of its original crew, who had an average age of 27 at the time, made the trip to meet up and compete in a friendly regatta.

The fifteen sailors on board were training from the port of Sète, with the winner of the Route du Rhum and Olympic medalist Marc Pajot, who had just taken on this new challenge, after that of solo transatlantic races.

The CEO of the Kis France group, Serge Crasnianski, their sponsor and the former mayor of Sète, Yves Marchand, were also present on Saturday, as well as the majority of the historical staff, and the current owner of the boat, Christophe Babule, a big fan of this adventure since adolescence.

French Kiss was due to face a friendly boat of the same class, and not the least, France 1, made of wood this time, the former 12MJI of Baron Bich, listed as a historic monument, which was the first French ship to have participated in the America's Cup, in 1970.

Two legendary sailing ships based in Hyères

Like French Kiss, it is moored year-round on the Marcel Bich quay in the port of Hyères, where the two giants continue their training.

Support for the French crew

As the current French team prepares for the next America's Cup, which will be held in Naples in 2027, the veterans wanted to assure them of their support and pass on this team spirit, which seemed still very much alive this Saturday, 40 years later.