Ship profile for the sailing ship: "Le Français"

Photos of the sailing ship:

Please click into a photo to see it in higher resolution.

Le Français, Volker Gries, Brest/Douarnenez 2004 , 07/2004

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Brest/Douarnenez 2004,
07/2004

Le Français, Volker Gries, Brest/Douarnenez 2004 , 07/2004

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Brest/Douarnenez 2004,
07/2004

Le Français, Volker Gries, Brest/Douarnenez 2008 , 07/2008

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Brest/Douarnenez 2008,
07/2008

Le Français, Volker Gries, Brest/Douarnenez 2008 , 07/2008

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Brest/Douarnenez 2008,
07/2008

Le Français, Volker Gries, Sail Brest 2016 , 07/2016

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Sail Brest 2016,
07/2016

Le Français, Volker Gries, Sail Brest 2016 , 07/2016

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Sail Brest 2016,
07/2016

Le Français, Volker Gries, Sail Brest 2016 , 07/2016

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Sail Brest 2016,
07/2016

Le Français, Volker Gries, Temps fete Douarnenez 2018 , 07/2018

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Temps fete Douarnenez 2018,
07/2018

Technical data of the sailing ship:

Name:Le Français
Ex-names:Arctic Explorer, Anne Marie, Anne-Marie Grenius, Cream of Bristol, Kaskelot
Registered port:St. Malo
Nation:FRA
Type of rigging:BARK
Year built:1948/1984
Yard:J. Ring Andersen Werft, Svendborg, DK
Overall length:46.50 m
Length (hull):38.70 m
Breadth:7.60 m
Draught:3.60 m
Sail area:883 m2
Ship's hull:Holz / Wood
Power:584 PS
Engine:Mitsubishi S6A3

Portrait of the sailing ship:

Last update: 13 Jun 2021

  • the ship's Danish name "Kaskelot" means cachalot. built like a Greenland whale fishing boat by J. Ring Andersen for the Royal Greenland Trading Company.
  • used for coastal trade between settlements on Greenland and the Faeroe Islands, equipped with extremly strong ice timbers and ice mountings (iron work).
  • worked as a support vessel for the fisheries in the Faeroe Islands during the 1960s.
  • sold to Clearwater Holdings Ltd. of Jersey in 1983.
  • rebuilt in Troense, DK as a polar sailboat for use on the Robert F. Scott expedition.
  • sold to England in 1988 for different purposes, e.g. making films, harbour festivals, maritime events and exibitions; operated by the Square Sail Services.
  • used in several TV series and films, like The Last Place on Earth (1985), Revolution (1985), Return to Treasure Island (1986), The Three Musketeers (1993), Cutthroat Island (1995), Swept from the Sea (1997), A Respectable Trade (1998), David Copperfield (1999), Longitude (2000), Shackleton (2002), Amazing Grace (2006) and is also used for sail training programmes.
  • participations in the Oldtimer festivals in Douarnenez beginning in 1988 and the Windjammer meeting in Rouen in 1994.
  • in 2012 there was some rumor that she should be reconverted and used as a cargo ship again.
  • 2013 new owners, April - December 2013 restoration and repairs at the shipyard of Tommi Nielsen in Gloucester, removal of the figurehead.
  • since 2014 available for charter opportunities, filming requirements, and/or potential purchase.
  • 2018 purchased by Frédéric Lescure, France Armement Company, registerred in St. Malo, FRA and renamed the "Le Français" to remember to the ship by the French medical doctor and polar explorer Jean-Baptiste Charcots (1867-1936).

Last tracked position of the ship:

Map provided by FleetMon.com

Last tracked position of the ship Le Français

Contact:

Website (français, 13 Jun 2021):
https://www.lefrancais.info/
Kaskelot: basics about her history and restoration and specification, charter information, media gallery, contact

Literature for further reading:

We recommend the following references for your further research of the ship. The references marked with have been included in the generation of the ship profile on this page.

Ollivier Puget, Jean-Noël Darde
"Partir sur les Grand Voiliers - Le guide pour embarquer"
Guides Balland 2000 ISBN: 2-7158-1277-9
Page: 100 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data Quelle with contact

Otmar Schäuffelen
"Die letzten grossen Segelschiffe"
Delius Klasing Verlag 1997 ISBN: 3-7688-0483-6
(9. aktualisierte Auflage)
Page: 144 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data

Beken of Cowes, Eric C. Abranson
"Segelschiffe der Welt"
Edition Maritim 1995 ISBN: 3-89225-314-5
(engl. Originalausgabe: "Sailing Ships of the World", 1992, Thomas Reed Publications Ltd.)
Page: 120 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data

Ollivier Puget
"Windjammer der Welt"
Edition Maritim 1999 ISBN: 3-89225-396-X
(franz. Originalausgabe: "Les Plus Beaux Voiliers Du Monde", 1997)
Page: 102 Source with picture Source with history

American Sail Training Association (ASTA)
"Sail Tall Ships! A Directory of Sail Training and Adventure at Sea"
2000 ISBN: 0-9636483-5-7
(12th Edition)
Page: 158 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data Quelle with contact

"Faszination Segelschiffe"
Ein interaktives Informationssystem auf CD-ROM 1998
(2. überarbeitete Auflage)
Source with history Source with technical data Quelle with contact

Thaddeus Koza
"Tall Ships - the Fleet of the 21th Century"
Tide-Mark Press, East Hartford 2000 ISBN: 1-55949-551-0
(http://www.tallshipsinternational.com/)
Page: 105 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data

Otmar Schäuffelen
"Die letzten grossen Segelschiffe"
Delius Klasing Verlag 2002 ISBN: 3-7688-0483-6
(10. aktualisierte und erweiterte Auflage)
Page: 162 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data