Éric Marcel Guy Tabarly (24 July 1931 – 13 June 1998) was a French naval officer and yachtsman.

Through his victories, Tabarly inspired an entire generation of ocean racers and contributed to the development of nautical activities in France.

In 1938, his father Guy Tabarly purchased the gaff-rigged cutter Pen Duick, built in 1898 and designed by William Fife.

[2] After earning his pilot licence and the rank of Second Maître de deuxième classe in December 1954,[1] he fought in the First Indochina War, appointed to Tan Son Nhut Air Base.

[1] She was in a state of disrepair since the Second World War, during which she had been decommissioned for fear of being requisitioned, and her wooden hull had rotted.

[2] On 16 November 1960, Tabarly embarked on the school cruiser Jeanne d'Arc, for the ritual circumnavigation that is part of the practical teaching at the École Navale.

[1] Tabarly had intended to sail the Margilic V, then in autumn 1963, realizing he was capable of handling a larger boat, began building the Pen Duick II, the first sailboat designed specifically for a single-handed trans-Atlantic race.

[1][3] This achievement earned Tabarly instant fame and the rank of Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur.

[1] The next year, Pen Duick II was shortened to match the regulations of the Cruising Club of America, and Tabarly single-handedly sailed her to New York.

In 1969, Tabarly shadowed the Transpacific Yacht Race (from Los Angeles to Hawaii) on Pen Duick IV.

Tabarly returned to naval service in February 1971 and was appointed to the Technical Inspection for Physical Education and Sports.

[7] While in transit in the Irish Sea, during the night of 12 to 13 June, a spar threw Tabarly overboard and he drowned.