Joshua, Bernard Moitessier’s legendary boat returns to the sea.

After a long and rigorously conservative restoration in the canters of La Rochelle, French sailor Bernard Moitessier’s legendary Joshua is sailing again. And it is gearing up for a season of events, regattas and boat shows.

The best place for a boat is always the sea. Even when a cabin cruiser is old and battered, it is always poignant to see it out of its element, perhaps abandoned on the ground, alone and useless. It is as if the soul of that boat made to ply the waves freely, somehow screaming for revenge. And it applies even more so when the boat in question is a true legend of the oceans.

Like the mythical Joshua by the great French navigator Bernard Moitessier, the wanderer of the seas, who finally after a long restoration work returns to touch the water. It is a very special boat, but also very old, as it was built in the early 1960s.

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Joshua (14.12 m overall, hull length 12.07 m, weight 13 t, ballast 3 t) was designed by four hands by Bernard himself and Jean Knocker, who put the French sailor’s ideas and sketches into practice.

After 14 months of preparation, Jean Fricaud’s Meta shipyard built the steel hull in just three months in 1962. Moitessier paid only the living cost of the sheets. But the operation turned out to be profitable; as many as 70 twins were produced.

He has been through everything in his life: prestigious regattas, Polynesian atolls, storms, shipwrecks and long periods of neglect. For a few years now it has been taken care of by the association “Les Amis du Musée Maritime” of La Rochelle (France), the same association that provided the restoration through public fundraising.

Moietssier’s soul is still alive

Work on Joshua began in the fall of 2022 and focused mainly on the hull with the replacement of some steel plates severely corroded by rust. The engine also needed to be tuned up after the long stop. Out of respect for the history of the boat and its uniqueness, the restoration was particularly conservative and about 80 percent of the original materials were retained. “It had to be restored to its original state, not transformed, so as to preserve its soul and the soul of Moitessier, ” explained La Rochelle Maritime Museum technical director Jean-Marc Duboc.

In fact, the Joshua is unmistakable with its bright red hull and two large eyes drawn on the masks. But the masts of his ketch rig made from two old wooden telegraph poles are also legendary. So was the name by which Moitessier wanted to pay tribute to Joshua Slocum, the navigator who first sailed solo around the world between April 1895 and June 1898. Sailing on this boat to this day is anexperience that enlightens the heart of every enthusiast.

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So many adventures yet to come for Joshua

For 20 years the Joshua was Moitessier’s faithful companion. It was the boat aboard which in 1968 the sailor abandoned while leading the fleet in the first edition of the Golden Globe, the nonstop round-the-world race, pulling straight for the South Seas. An adventure of rebellion that was later recounted in detail in the beautiful book “The Long Route.” In 1982 the boat was wrecked in the Gulf of Mexico by a hurricane and was given to two local boys. Then through other vicissitudes it passed into the hands of the Maritime Museum of la Rochelle, which manages it today.

After the launch, the summer schedule includes Joshua’s participation in the Voiles de Nuit at Grand Pavois 2023, then the Voiles de Nuit next September and probably the Festival des Aventuriers in Lorient, also in the fall. In short welcome back to sailing dear Joshua!

• Read also: we have been aboard the Joshua