Florence Arthaud (28 October 1957 – 9 March 2015) was a French sailor from Boulogne-Billancourt. She was the daughter of Jacques Arthaud, director of the Arthaud publishing house.

Biography

At age 17, she was in a serious car accident, which resulted in paralysis. She was hospitalized for six months and her recovery took two years. She had a daughter with Loïc Lingois, a French professional sailor. In 1989, she recorded a song, "Flo", with

Pierre Bachelet Pierre Bachelet (25 May 1944 – 15 February 2005) was a French singer-songwriter and film score composer. He was also known as Andrew Bascon. He died of lung cancer in 2005. Personal life Pierre Bachelet was born on 25 May 1944 in the 12th ...

about her sailing. In 1990, she won the ''

Route du Rhum The Route du Rhum is a transatlantic single-handed yacht race, which takes place every four years in November. The course is between Saint Malo, Brittany, Metropolitan France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Mé ...

'' for ''Pierre 1er''. In 1997, she won the Transpacific with Bruno Peyron. She sailed in the 1989–90 Whitbread Round the World Race on board ''

Charles Jourdan Charles Jourdan (1883 – 12 February 1976) was a French fashion designer known best for his designs of women's shoes starting in 1919. His name reached its greatest reputation in the years since his death under the leadership of his sons, firs ...

''. In 1990, Arthaud established a new world record for the fastest solo crossing of the North Atlantic, beating the previous record by two days. In 2014, she took part in

Sea Shepherd The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

's "GrindStop" campaign against pilot-whale whaling in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

Death

In 2015, Arthaud took part in '' Dropped'', a reality television show on TF1 in which sportspeople were transported by helicopters into the wilderness. During filming on 9 March 2015, she died in a helicopter collision in Argentina along with nine other people, two of whom were fellow contestants.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arthaud, Florence 1957 births 2015 deaths 20th-century French women musicians French female sailors (sport) Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Argentina Sportspeople from Boulogne-Billancourt Single-handed sailors Volvo Ocean Race sailors