Laurent Bourgnon Missing

  June 26, 215 , Fiji  

JAMBO in Moorea

 It is with an immense shock that we are reporting the disappearance of our friend Laurent Bourgnon.  

According to sources in Tahiti, Laurent was diving on his own in Toau (Tuamotus) and did not resurface from his dive. 

He was diving the East reef at Pass Otugi, much more treacherous than the false pass in the West at Anse Amyot.  Otugi Pass is notorious for its strong currents and the sudden, almost cliff-like depth change, from 1,200 meter to 80 meters within 500 yards.  This is the only pass where DOMINO had to wait until slack to enter, so strong was the turbulence caused by the outgoing current.

Diving is a major activity on JAMBO

  Did he get swept by the current?  If so we hope that he was able to get back to the surface, dump his tank, drift and wait for rescue.  This was 2 days ago and the extensive search by the MRCC helicopter and the locals have not yielded any success yet.  But we still hope.  Laurent is a tough old sea dog, resourceful and tenacious.        

The reef at Otugi, Toau

Renown in the world of international sailing and racing, victorious of 2 Route du Rhum and a Transat, Laurent readily admits that he is an adrenaline junkie… anything that goes fast … rally cars, airplanes, fast catamarans… when he decided to retire from competitive sailboat racing and take his family on a world cruise, Laurent turned his attention to motor catamarans.  If you could not go fast on a sailboat, at least you could go in comfort and safety in a motorcat, and still enjoy a fair speed.  In collaboration with Sunreef Yachts, he designed and built (in Poland) the 80'JAMBO .  From Europe to the canals of Patagonia  to French Polynesia and New Zealand, JAMBO has proved to be a spectacular cruising platform.      

We met Laurent and Jambo in Tahiti 2 years ago and no sooner had JP and Laurent eyed each other’s boat that they were in long discussions of what makes a great motorcat.  Laurent had added wave piercing bows and extended his aft platforms to enclose a full dive center (tanks, compressor, etc..) His love of motorcats and his dedication for their vulgarization and acceptance in the yachting and cruising world was remarkable.  To JP he felt like a brother.  They energized each other.  They were 2 peas in a pod.   The news of his  missing is just shocking and we hope that he was lucky enough to resurface and we dare hope that he will be rescued any minute now.

  To Caro, Basile and the kids, to Hervé, all our hearts!

  dominomarie