The fastnet race of 1925; Jolie Brise vs Gull and Saladin

One of the most celebrated yachts of the twentieth century, Jolie Brise was built as a French pilot cutter. Jolie Brise was purchased by Evelyn George Martin in 1924 and converted into a cruising yacht. The next year, Martin helped establish the Royal Ocean Racing Club's first Fastnet Race, which Jolie Brise won. The next year, Martin sailed to Newport, Rhode Island, for the start of the Bermuda Race, which Jolie Brise won. Jolie Brise was sold to Robert "Bobby" Somerset, under whose command she won the 1929 Fastnet Race and she was then entered in the 1932 Bermuda Race, the only one to begin from Montauk Point, New York. Jolie Brise distinguished herself the first night out when she was run alongside the burning Adriana to retrieve her crew, all but one of whom leaped to safety on the cutter. This was Jolie Brise's last major race, and she still can be seen sailing around the Meditteranean and the coast of France.