In Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, tribute to Olympic sailing champion Virginie Hériot

For lovers of the aquatic world, the year 2025 is one to be remembered with white foam. Riding high on the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice , France has indeed confirmed that this quarter-century will be celebrated as the Year of the Sea.

In Roquebrune, it seemed natural to honor a "marine" figure for the Journées de l'Art-Bre.

A cultural event organized every year under the high patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco, during which a new bust of a personality (linked to the town) is unveiled.

This Tuesday, in the Cap Martin park, we will focus on the figure of Virginie Hériot. She who, in just over thirty years of sailing, will have covered 143,232 nautical miles.

That's the equivalent of circling the Earth six and a half times. No wonder she was nicknamed "Madame of the Sea" by the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, and called the "Greatest Yachtwoman in the World" by the British...

A passion born in Menton

Daughter of Commander Zacharie Olympe Hériot, wealthy heir to the Grands Magasins du Louvre, and Anne-Marie Dubernet, a modest saleswoman, Virginie Hériot was born on July 25, 1890, in Le Vésinet (Yvelines). Far from the sea, in short.

After her father's early death, she remained firmly convinced that she had to live life with passion and as quickly as possible. And the waves offered her that.

It was in Menton that Virginie Hériot discovered cruising—on the family yacht, the Salvator, moored in the city of lemons. During this long voyage, she met the writer and naval officer Pierre Loti, who taught her about the sea and passed on his passion. A certainty soon came to her: "I will be a sailor." Meaning, a female sailor.

In 1912, for her 22nd birthday, she had her first racing yacht built: L'Ailée. A name she would give to virtually all of her boats thereafter. L'Ailée II and L'Ailée III would, in turn, be moored in Menton.

But it was with L'Ailée IV, built in Cannes, that "Madame de la mer" won the gold medal in yachting at the Amsterdam Olympic Games on August 9, 1928. With a lead of 46 seconds over Sweden and 1 minute 41 seconds over the Netherlands. A fine revenge for the one who had missed out on qualifying for the 1924 Olympics...

"My Olympic victory was very beautiful. A fierce struggle against everything and everyone. Everything united against my Wing! I had to fight doubt, time, routine, superiority, rudeness, fatigue and illness. I gave, as in a battle, my life to achieve victory," she wrote.

What made this triumph so special? Virginie Hériot was in command of a five-man crew. Behind her frail appearance and melancholic gaze lies a steely mentality.

"The people I meet don't understand me (...) They don't judge me by my actions but by their feelings. Physically, I amaze them: how can you sail your boats to victory with such thin attachments? Or again: how can such a beautiful energy be hidden in such a small body!!" she revealed on this subject.

For the "navy" was not lacking in talent. As evidenced by the works on the world of the sea that it published. Among them was a collection of poems, A Soul at Sea, distinguished by the French Academy.

As her lobbying for French industry and commerce also testifies. Navigation and patriotism are not incompatible for someone who has a double hope: "to make the French love the sea by using sport to revive in young hearts the love of the ocean that was dying and in my maritime propaganda to make our dear French flag fly and be loved."

Seriously injured after facing a storm, Virginie Hériot died of fainting shortly after, at the age of 42.

Sea swallow

But the link with Roquebrune, you might ask? It is to be found on his mother's side, who, as a widow, had the Villa Cypris built in Cap-Martin.

When Virginie moved into a neighboring villa – Les Hirondelles – built by Hans-Georg Tersling, she made regular visits there during her travels, although her main residence remained the sea.

"Perhaps it is because I love my boats like loved ones that they give me such sweet joys..." she will say.

An avenue on Cap Martin was named after her in 1932. But until now, Virginie Hériot's statue was in Cannes, unveiled in 1936. In Roquebrune, the mistake is about to be corrected. Her bust will join the Walk of Fame this Tuesday.