A Carter 37 born for the race

Pordin Nancq comes from Dick Carter's famous drawing Carter 37, a series of sailboats designed at a time when offshore racing is undergoing tremendous development. The boat appeared in the regatta archives in the mid-1970s.

His sporting career really began in 1974, including La Rochelle Week, the French Championship in La Trinité-sur-Mer and the Fall Challenge. He was then led by crews including, among others, Jean-Marie Vanek. From the very beginning, the boat was particularly efficient.

In 1975, Pordin Nancq confirmed its potential. He won third place at the Semaine de La Rochelle, then took part in the major events on the British and French coast: Cherbourg-Cowes, Cowes-Dinard, the Fastnet Race, Plymouth-La Rochelle and La Rochelle-La Trinité. During the 1975 Fastnet Race, he finished 14th out of 42 in his class, in 117 hours and 55 minutes.

These results help to establish its reputation. According to a Carter 37 testimony, Pordin Nancq was long considered one of the best Carter 37 on the Atlantic façade. His softness under sails, speed, and balanced behaviour at the porter were particularly appreciated.

A boat cut for the sea

The Carter 37 is a 11.25 metre Bermudian sloop. Pordin Nancq has the typical characteristics of racing boats off this period: a relatively fine hull, a large displacement and a rig designed to best exploit the qualities of the boat in long navigations.

The gauge archive shows a 6 950 kg unladen displacement and a water drawer of approximately 1.92 metres. His historical sailing number remained the FRA 6164.

His charts show true versatility. After his first years of competition, he continued to take part in races in the Channel and Atlantic. In 1976 he took part in the Lorient – Les Azores – La Trinité race, which he finished third in his class. In 1977, he was still present in the Channel Race.

A second life with Passe-Coque

After his racing career, Pordin Nancq could have known the fate of many former racing sailboats: to be forgotten, abandoned or transformed at the discretion of successive owners.

Passe-Coque, an association based in Saint-Philibert, Morbihan, which works to safeguard and return to navigation boats destined to disappear.

Pordin Nancq gradually becomes the ship ambassador of the association. The philosophy of Passe-Coque — to transmit, restore, share and navigate — finds in this Carter 37 a great support. The nautical press thus presents it as the "admiral sailboat" of the association.

This renaissance does not mean that the boat is frozen like a museum piece. Pordin Nancq was restored to navigate again and regain the atmosphere of the great regattas in which he had participated in his youth.

The return to competition

Pordin Nancq's new life really begins in the 2020s. The boat returned to the regattas and returned to Breton waters.

This year 2023 is also important for Carter's history 37. During the Carter Cup, Pordin Nancq won the overall standings in time compensated for all categories. The event brings together several boats designed by Dick Carter and allows to revive the spirit of this generation of racing sailboats.

Pordin Nancq is no longer just a restored former racing boat: he becomes a true actor in the classic sailing.

A still alive heritage

The history of Pordin Nancq illustrates the evolution of the maritime heritage. Its value lies not only in its age or its record. It is in the memory of the men who made it sail, the races in which it participated and the sensations it still provides.

In 2024, Passe-Coque reported that its ambassador vessel had received a new engine, proof that its restoration and maintenance were continuing to allow it to continue sailing.

In 2026, Pordin Nancq is still present on Breton water bodies. He is one of the competitors of the Spi Ouest-France BPGO, in the colours of EV Océane, with Pierre-Jean Jannin as skipper.

Pordin Nancq in Le Chasse-Marée

Recognition of this story now goes beyond the circle of regatiers. In issue 350 of the Chassage-Marée, published in April-May 2026, an article is dedicated to Pordin Nancq. The presentation of the number describes him as a Carter 37 from the 1927 Fastnet.

The latter, however, appears to have an anomaly: the available records show that Pordin Nancq was a Carter 37 built in the mid-1970s and that he ran the Fastnet Race of 1975, not the one of 1927. It is therefore very likely that the entry " Fastnet 1927" in the commercial presentation of the issue is a shell.

A legend that continues to navigate

Almost half a century after his first regattas, Pordin Nancq kept an amazing news. Designed by Dick Carter for offshore racing, he went through the major competitions in the English Channel and the Atlantic before returning to a second youth with maritime heritage enthusiasts.

His story is finally that of a boat that refuses to become a museum piece. Pordin Nancq continues to navigate, race and transmit the memory of a time when the Carter 37 represented one of the most accomplished expressions of offshore racing.

Through him, it is a whole culture of sailing that reborn: that of the great Atlantic regattas, passionate crews, beautiful hulls and boats built to go quickly but robust enough to cross the decades.

Pordin Nancq is therefore not only an ancient Carter 37. It is a living piece of the history of offshore racing.