A sailor tells of French sailing ship Etoile’s speedy crossing to Dartmouth from France.

Agathe Roullin is a journalist for Canal Plus in France. She shared with us her thoughts on the passage to Dartmouth this year: “I joined the sailing ship Étoile for the second time this year. The ship is a schooner, it belongs to the French navy and it is used for sail training.

“We are the only two civilians on board. The rest of the crew are all from the Navy. I got that chance thanks to a sail training association I am part of, Les Amis des Grands Voiliers.

“We left Brest and France on Monday morning. It was already raining a bit, and we expected tough weather in the Channel. And we got it! Strong winds, 50 knots, big waves. “The consequence, some people on board were sea sick, including the four British students from Dartmouth Naval Academy who joined us for the leg.

“We crossed the Channel in only 24 hours! The last time we did it with L’Étoile, in April, we were stuck with no wind at all for 2 days. So I was happy about that and I’ve enjoyed it so far, especially because I am not a sea sick person.

“It kept raining all day long, so that our coats were completely wet after only 10 minutes outside. We were so glad when lunch time came. All of us, except from the watch on duty, filled our stomachs with pleasure and good company.

“I am not sure our British friends enjoyed it as much as we did. Because they had to leave the table several times to throw up on the main deck but they kept smiling anyway.

“On the night watch, the rain stopped and we put the music on to help us through the storm.

We finally arrived in Dartmouth on the Tuesday morning, after a rough night, waving from port-side to starboard side in our beds.

“What a delight to discover the lovely city of Dartmouth, with its castle and colourful houses.

We will leave tomorrow (Saturday June 10th) for Kinsale, Ireland, au revoir!”