Pen Duick 600: Eric Tabarly's miniature brainchild

Pen Duick 600 and affordable yachting

Without further ado, let's get started! The Pen Duick 600 is the brainchild of Eric Tabarly, his loyal assistant Gerard Petipa and naval architect Dominique Prel. The yachtsmen decided to create an affordable yacht for those who want to touch the sea, but due to life circumstances or preferences cannot purchase a full-size cruising yacht.

Source: https://www.minicroiseur.fr/upcp_product/pen-duick-600/

This is how the Pen Duick 600 was born. This boat is an aluminum daysailer 6 meters long. Despite its modest dimensions, the 600 is more than a worthy representative of the family of "one-day" boats. No joke, not all daysailers have an aluminum hull.

Eric Tabarly and Gerard Petipa specifically chose metal as the main case material. Tabarly generally preferred metal cases, so the choice of aluminum seems logical. The Pen Duick 600 was never intended to be anything more than a daysailer, but its design features were treated with care and attention - that's why a robust aluminum case was chosen.

The Leguen Hemidy shipyard was responsible for the boat's production, with Tabarly and Petipa acting as designers. The Pen Duick 600 was produced between 1976 and 1979. Over three years, 350 boats were launched.

By the way, we talked about other “pendykes” in this article 👉Pen Duick VI: the yacht of the legendary Eric Tabarly👈

Daysailer Features

Today, the Pen Duick 600 can be found on various used boat websites. There, it is valued at an average of 2,500 to 4,000 euros. Due to its aluminum hull, the Pen Duick 600 is well preserved, and therefore almost all of the surviving examples are running. 

Source: voilierordalie.travel.blog

The boat consists of five hull sections. The bow, stern, deck and transom are made of simple aluminum sheets, but the middle section - the midship - has a more complex design. In fact, the midship is a kind of load-bearing wall for the rest of the boat.

The Pen Duick 600 has a very narrow bow, but the entire hull is quite rounded. According to the owners, the boat feels great in both light and strong winds, and the pitching is not as bad as for other daysailers. Tiller steering, benches for the crew are located on both sides of the cockpit. Due to the modest dimensions, it may be difficult to reach the winches at first. 

Hidden below deck is a small forward cabin with a double bed. The accommodation conditions are unlikely to be suitable for a long cruise, but for one-day trips - quite enough. Of the real disadvantages, they note the insufficient weight of the ballast.

A little more about the behind the scenes of the Pen Duick 600

Despite its worldwide fame, the eponymous company Pen Duick — Eric Tabarly and Gerard Petipa — was experiencing financial difficulties. There was a critical shortage of money, and the founders were looking for ways to become completely financially independent. That's when the idea of creating "named" sailing yachts aimed at the general public appeared.

Source: sailboatlab.com (plan on the left) and voilierordalie.travel.blog (plan on the right)

The initial goal was to create a series of boats of different sizes. According to Petipa, the line was to include yachts of 6, 8, 10 and 12 meters. With this idea, Gérard went to the director of the well-known Béneteau shipyard, Dominique Prel. An architect by profession, Dominique was interested in the idea. This was followed by several detailed meetings, at which Prel and Tabarly discussed ideas and demonstrated sketches.

Who was the Pen Duick 600 created for?

Eric positioned the Pen Duick 600 as follows: a small daysailer with a powerful hull, good performance characteristics, aimed at young people and yachtsmen with a modest budget. For context, it is worth adding that such a decision seemed very justified at that time, because it was in the 70s that a boom in sailing schools among amateurs was recorded.

The main emphasis, of course, was on the boats' accessibility. With a small price tag (approximately 20,000 francs at that time), the yacht was to become a window into the world of yachting for a modest price. On the other hand, the serious aluminum hull made it clear that the yachtsman was not looking at a toy, but a full-fledged daysailer, capable, with the right approach, of delivering a person to almost any point on the globe.

How was the launch of the Pen Duick 600?

The first sea trials of the very first hull in the presence of Eric were successful. The ceremonial launching took place with great pomp in Saint-Malo in the presence of the daughter of the then President of France, Jacinta Giscard d'Estaing, the godmother of the sailboat.

Source: voilierordalie.travel.blog

The boat was presented to the general public in January 1976 at an exhibition. The excitement was so intense that after a couple of days, Gerard Petipa asked to stop accepting orders. There were more than 300 of them in three days. Gerard was sure that the shipyard would not be able to meet the delivery deadlines, especially since Leguen-Hemmidy was very late in developing a machine that would allow stamping sheets.

A double-edged sword

From a purely commercial point of view, the launch of the Pen Duick 600 was very successful. 300 orders in the first three days after the premiere alone is a very good result. Yacht clubs from other countries even showed interest in the boat, and several copies were ordered to Switzerland.

Source: https://www.botentekoop.com/boat/1976-leguen-hemidy-pen-duick-600-9793048/

However, from an industrial perspective, the launch of the boat was a terrible failure. The Leguen-Hemmidy shipyard was unable to produce the product quickly in large quantities, and this was a disaster that led to the cessation of production and the experiment. 

In addition, as soon as rumors of production problems reached the press, the media immediately rained down not the most constructive criticism on the Pen Duick 600. It turned out that yesterday's "best small sailboat" lacked stability, the draft was too small, and the interior was created for ascetics. 

Mixed reviews for the Pen Duick 600

Even today, many yachtsmen, especially on forums, like to remind Eric Tabarly of the release of the Pen Duick 600. In general, all comments on this topic can be summarized as follows: 

• "a shameful boat for such a legendary sailor, how could he come up with such a thing"
• "he wanted to make money on his name and made a terrible boat"
• "he didn't even spend an hour on board, but he allowed his name to be placed on board."

Some quibbles are understandable, but people who know about yachting are more reserved in their assessment. Perhaps the most important point is that the Pen Duick 600 was never positioned as a full-fledged cruiser with all the amenities. It is a real aluminum daysailer that, if desired, can take you across the Atlantic, but yes, you will have to endure Spartan conditions.

Source: https://www.botentekoop.com/boat/1976-leguen-hemidy-pen-duick-600-9793048/

One thing is certain: the Pen Duick 600 would have gotten rid of most of its ailments if the shipyard and its managers had been able to contain the pressure from customers and improve their production capacity. Alas, this did not happen, and now we are dealing with an interesting example of yachting from the past.

Technical characteristics of Pen Duick 600

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31.07.2025