The yacht · Gin Fizz
The Gin Fizz
“You never really own a boat. You just become her custodian for a while.”
01 Her story
Astarte was born in 1978, in La Rochelle, France. She was bought by a Greek owner and brought to Athens as a luxury yacht.
She joined our family in the summer of 2019.
By complete coincidence, that same summer, I met the original owner — a distinguished sailor with a long history in Greece. I was docked in a small village port near Athens. As I said good morning to my neighbour, he greeted me and said: “I had a yacht like this, some years ago!” It turns out this was indeed his original boat — and he went on to reminisce about the late-70s and early-80s achievements (and upgrades).
The model
The Gin Fizz was designed by a young Michel Joubert and Bernard Nivelt and manufactured by Jeanneau and Gilbert Marine — this particular boat is a Gilbert Marine variant. The distinguishing factor is the saloon / head layout: Jeanneaus have it to port, Gilbert Marine to starboard.
Two masts? Really?
Yes — this is a ketch. Lots has been written about them. I chose it because I like the looks, the ease of handling and the extra hassle. Jokes aside: the Aegean is rather unforgiving, so ease of handling in high winds is a good idea.
The name
Astarte (/əˈstɑːrtiː/; Greek: Ἀστάρτη, Astártē) is the Hellenized form of the Middle-Eastern goddess Astoreth — a form of Ishtar — worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. She was the goddess of fertility, sex, love and war. Read more on Wikipedia.
02 At a glance
- Launched
- 1978
- Built in
- La Rochelle France
- Designer
- Joubert & Nivelt
- Builder
- Gilbert Marine
- Rig
- Ketch
- Model
- Gin Fizz 37
03 ORC racing data
Measured performance from Astarte’s ORC certificates. Data borrowed from sailboatdata; ratio explanations from Sail Magazine.
