Mike Birch is a Canadian navigator. He was born on November 1, 1931 in Vancouver, Canada. Mike Birch entered the world of competitive sailing late, after being a cowboy, a little adventurer, having embarked on freighters and made many escorts. He enters into competition late, but with a crash. It is first his second place in the Ostar 1976 with the smallest trimaran of the fleet, Third Turtle, 31 feet! It is then his anthology victory in the very first Route du Rhum. On board his trimaran Olympus, he caps Michel Malinowski 98 seconds, in front of the finish line. This very spectacular victory will mark the end of the victories in monohulls and the supremacy of the multi, faster boats but also often less reliable, especially at that time (another famous trimaran took the start of this same race and never arrived, Manureva, ex-Pen Duick IV of Tabarly, with Alain Colas at the helm). Since then, this fan of multihulls, big or small - he will be at the helm of the maxi catamaran Formula Tag in the 1980s -, has participated in all major offshore races, and very often shines: English Transat, Route du Rhum, Twostar , Race of Europe. He will be crowned twice world champion Fico. Even today, more than 70 years old, the Canadian skipper (married to a Frenchwoman) remains an indefatigable passionate, always present at the beginning of the big transatlantic ones. Faithful to Quebec-St Malo since its creation, it will participate in its sixth edition aboard a trimaran of 50 feet on which it has sailed a lot, Nootka. Рrize list: Six participations in the English transatlantic race, 2nd in 1992 and 1976. Five participations in Quebec-St Malo. Fico World Champion 1991 and 1992. Winner Lorient-St Barth-Lorient 1989 on Fujicolor. Winner of Monaco New York in 1985 on Formula Tag.
Centrafricaine 1961;80f;Sg782 Source:http://philippe.hillion1.free.fr/mb.htm. https://translate.google.com/translate? ... .wikipedia .org/wiki/Mike_Birch&prev=search

The stamp issued in 1981 by French Polynesia showing a painting of Pointe Venus painted by the British Naval Officer George Tobin (1768-1838) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_To ... vy_officer)

The painting was made in 1792 when Tobin as third Lieutenant was on board of HMS PROVIDENCE under Capt. Bligh command on his second bread fruit voyage from Tahiti in company with the ASSISTANT under command of N. Portlock. The ASSISTANT was an ex mercantile Gosport Packet. The ships are British as can be seen on the flag on the stern. In 1792 very seldom British ships made calls at Tahiti.

I assume that the painting shows this two vessels at anchor off Pointe Venus at Tahiti, but can’t find a confirmation if it is true.

HMS PROVIDENCE : viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6666
ASSISTANT : viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13017

French Polynesia 1981 120f sg 359, scott? The native craft is a Vaka Motu : viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13414

Kazimierz "Kuba" Jaworski (born October 17, 1929 in Augustów, died July 8, 2005 in Szczecin) - Polish sailor, yacht captain of great navigation, yacht constructor.
One of the best Polish sailing sailors. His cruises on yachts of his own design: Spaniel and Spaniel II were symbols of the achievements of Polish sailing.
Kazimierz "Kuba" Jaworski began his adventure with sailing in 1939 on Lake Głęboczek. During the occupation, the family was displaced to Krakow. After the war, he won the first sailing classes in Gdynia, and then he was active in the Krakow Yacht Club "Szkwał". He then starts in regatta in classes "N", "H" and Finn. He organized the Cracow District Sailing Association, in which he was the first president and later a long-term secretary. In the 1960s, he started working in the construction office of the Szczecin yacht shipyard. In 1961, he obtained the patent of the yacht captain of the great shipping. He competed in the regatta on Folkboatach, and in 1969 and 1970 he won the Polish Championship at ENIFA. He was also a champion in the IOR II class on Ogar (70s), and in 1975 he won the Polish Championship in the IOR I class on the Spaniel yacht. In 1976, he ranks 3rd in the general classification in the transatlantic regatta of lone sailors, and in the Jester second class. After the regatta, he was invited as an honor guest of the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the United States and received the title of honorary citizen of Chicago. On the Spanielek yacht in 1977, in the Mini-Transat regatta, it ranks second. His yacht Spaniel II was the fastest single-hulled yacht on the OSTAR'80 regatta route.
He withdrew from the active sport in the 1980s, after an incomprehensible decision to sell the yacht Spaniel II by the Polish Sailing Association. He was buried at the Central Cemetery in Szczecin (plot 48d). In front of the Szczecin Archcathedral Basilica of Saint. Jakuba stands a monument commemorating Szczecin's yacht captains, among others Kazimierz Jaworski.
He was a co-constructor of the Polonez yacht.
For his achievements, he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of the Rebirth of Poland. Twice he received the Cruise of the Year award - Silver Sextant (1976 and 1977).
Centrafricaine 1961;60f;Sg781.
Source:https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazimierz_Jaworski_(%C5%BCeglarz)

Cornelis "Conny" van Rietschoten (23 March 1926 – 17 December 2013) was a Dutch yacht skipper who was the only skipper to win the Whitbread Round the World Race twice. Born in Rotterdam, van Rietschoten was unknown as a sailor even in his own waters before competing in the 1977–78 Whitbread Round the World Race. At 45, the industrialist had retired from active business and was looking for a fresh challenge. He had read reports about the first Whitbread Race, saw it as the opportunity of a lifetime – and grabbed it with both hands. A circumnavigation was something his Father, Jan Jacob, had always wanted to do but never found the time. What set Van Rietschoten ahead of the established sailing names like Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Éric Tabarly was a professional business approach to his campaigns. His eight-year tenure at the top of the sport spelled the end of amateur gung-ho ocean racing entries. He may well have continued to see himself as an amateur, but he set levels of professionalism within the sport that were not repeated until Peter Blakealso won every leg with his Steinlager 2 in the 1989–90 Whitbread Round the World Race. Van Rietschoten was first to undertake extensive trials and crew training before the race, and invested in research to improve crew clothing, rigs and weather forecasting techniques. For his first Whitbread yacht, Conny van Rietschoten turned to American designers Sparkman & Stephensto design a more modern version of the Swan 65 production yacht Sayula II, which had won the first Whitbread race in 1973/74. The new Flyer, built in aluminium by Jachtwerf W. Huisman, was also a ketch, but with a longer waterline and more sail area. After winning the transatlantic race, the Flyer crew found their greatest rival to be another Swan 65, the sloop rigged British yacht King's Legend, with Nick Ratcliffe as the skipper and American Skip Novak as the navigator. 1,000 miles from Cape Town, the two crews found themselves within sight of each other, before Flyer pulled ahead to win the first leg of the race from Portsmouth by 2 hours 4 minutes. On the second leg to Auckland, New Zealand, King's Legend stole the upper hand, and soon had a 360mile lead over Flyer as the Whitbread fleet raced across the Southern Ocean, but then suffered a leak, which slowed her progress. At the finish, Conny van Rietschoten’s crew had cut King's Legend’slead back to within 1 hour 15 minutes. The third leg around Cape Horn to Rio de Janeiro proved something of an anti-climax as far as the race was concerned, for Kings Legend suffered a broach and water wiped out her radio. Without weather forecasts, Novak and his crew were at a distinct disadvantage and fell almost 60 hours behind Flyer. On the final leg back to Portsmouth, Van Rietschoten and his crew had only to shadow Kings Legend home which they did, finishing 2 hours behind the British yacht, to win the Whitbread Race on handicap. Flyer was recently refitted by the original manufacturer.
The 1981/82 Whitbread Race saw Conny van Rietschoten’s maxi sloop Flyer II designed by German Frers matched against Peter Blake’s 68 ft Bruce Farr designed Ceramco New Zealand. Ceramco New Zealand was dismasted during the first leg to give Flyer II a run-away victory on this first stage of the race to Cape Town, but thereafter, the two yachts raced neck-and-neck around the rest of the world. It was at the height of this competition when Conny van Rietschoten showed the steely side of his character. He suffered a heart attack when their yacht was deep into the Southern Ocean, en route to Auckland, New Zealand. Van Rietschoten swore his crew to secrecy, and would not even allow the Flyer II doctor Julian Fuller to call a cardiologist aboard their rival yacht Ceramco for advice. “The nearest port was 10 days away and the critical period is always the first 24–36 hours,” he recalled later. “Ceramco was already breathing down our necks. If they had known that I had a health problem, they would have pushed their boat even harder. When you die at sea, you are buried over the side. Perhaps those Ceramco boys might then have spotted me drifting by. And that I was determined would be the only thing they would see or hear from Flyer II on the matter!” Flyer II pulled out a 9 hour lead by Auckland, but Ceramco New Zealand won the leg on handicap. The race from there to Cape Horn was one of constantly swapping places. Half way across the Pacific, they were within sight of each other, and also rounded Cape Horn together. Flyer II got to Mar del Plata first to take line honours, but the Ceramco New Zealand crew were rewarded with 2nd on handicap. Conny van Rietschoten and his crew finished first again back at Portsmouth, followed by Ceramco New Zealand to take line honours for the Race, and with the rest of the fleet becalmed near the Azores, took handicap honours too – the first crew to win both line and handicap honours in the history of the Race. Van Rietschoten and his crew also set two world records: The fastest Noon to Noon run of 327 miles, and the fastest circumnavigation of 120 days. In 1948 Conny van Rietschoten and his friend Morin Scott sailed their Dragon class yacht Gerda from Cowes England across the North Sea to Arendal to compete in that year's Dragon Gold Cup world championship. They did not win, but Crown Prince Olaf of Norway proclaimed the two sailors the best at the regatta for sailing by far the furthest distance. Since the 1980s the Conny van Rietschoten Trophy has been awarded each year as the best Dutch sailor.December 2013, Conny van Rietschoten died in Portugal.
Centrafricaine 1961;40f;Sg779.
Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conny_van_Rietschoten

She was built as a wooden hulled 3-masted topsail schooner by J. Ring-Andersen at Svendborg, Denmark for P Reinhold of Råå, Sweden.
Launched as the REGINA.
Tonnage 173 gross, 63 net, dim. 30.48 x 7.62 x 3.08m.
She was strongly built, designed primarily for the arctic waters.
In the 1920s was she sold to O.B. Bengtson in Råå.
Around 1932/34 was she fitted out with a 2-cyl auxiliary engine manufactured by Bolinders, 49 nhp.
1932 Sold to Gustaf F. Edvardssen, Skarhamn, Sweden
1955 He was still the owner. At that time she had a new oil engine.
1962 She got a fire in the engine room which damaged the ship significantly.
1962 Bought by Siegfried and John Aage Wilson (Ocean Transport Lines) of Arendal, Norway, at that time she was laid up at Ystadt, Sweden.
She was thereafter converted at the Hoivolds Mek. Verksted A/S in Kristiansund for 299.000 Dollars in a brigantine rigged private yacht.
Tonnage 186 gross ton, 42.50 x 7.60 x 3.30 (draught), length of hull 35.00m, length bpp. 30.50m
Fitted out with an 8-cyl Caterpillar diesel of 242 hp.
She was renamed in REGINA MARIS. Homeport Valletta, Malta.

Wikipedia has on her: The sailing ship REGINA MARIS was originally built as the three-masted topsail schooner REGINA in 1908. She was a 144-foot (43.9-meter), wooden, completely fore-and-aft–rigged sailing ship with three masts. She was re-rigged in 1963 as a 148-foot (45.1-meter) barkentine. REGINA MARIS can reach a speed of up to 12 knots, especially on a half-wind course or with a fresh back-stay breeze.
Her original home port was Amsterdam as private yacht ??. Her classification was SI Z1234+, EU 98/18. Her length overall was 48 meters (157 feet). Her beam was 6.90 meters (22.6 feet), with a draught of 2.80 meters (9.2 feet). Her masthead height was 29.00 meters (95 feet). Her displacement was 280 tons with a gross tonnage of 153 tons. She was rigged as a three-masted topsail schooner with a sail area of 720 m² (7,750 square feet) across 11 sails.
Her main engine was an eight-cylinder Caterpillar 3408 that produced 365 hp (272 Kw). Her generators were a Mitsubishi 15 kW and a Lister Petter at 20 kW. Her bunker capacity for gas and oil was 12,000 liters (3,170 U.S. gallons; 2,640 Imperial gallons). Her bunker capacity for fresh water was 16,000 liters (4,227 U.S. gallons; 3,520 Imperial gallons).
Her speed under sail was 12 knots and under engine was 9 knots. Her passenger capacity was up to 80 passengers for short-term voyages and 36 passengers for overnight voyages. She had two two-passenger and eight four-passenger cabins.
History
REGINA was built to ply the Iceland-to-Baltic Sea codfish trade. The original wooden hull was completed in 1908, the 100th hull produced by the shipyard of J. Ring Anderson in Svendborg, Denmark.
On 15 February 1920, REGINA was discovered abandoned in the North Sea. Her crew was rescued by the Swedish steamer FRITIOF. REGINA was towed into IJmuiden, North Holland, Netherlands by the Dutch fishing trawler EENDRACHT II.
REGINA at one time was believed to have been involved in the rescue of Danish Jews during World War II, but this was later disproven.
Until 1963, the ship sailed under Swedish colors and was called REGINA, rigged as a three-masted topsail schooner. Following a severe fire in 1963, was she purchased by the Norwegian shipping magnates Siegfried and John Aage Wilson and converted to serve as the latter's private yacht. Rebuilt with a very tall three-masted barkentine rig for this purpose, the ship was renamed REGINA MARIS ("Queen of the Sea"). Between 1963 and 1984, she was used in many television and movie productions, conducted two global circuits, and underwent stints as a cruise ship, sail training facility, and marine mammal research vessel
For a number of years REGINA MARIS was docked in Gloucester, Massachusetts and was in the possession of the Ocean Research and Education Society (ORES) a local non-profit organization. She was used for day sails and short voyages as scientists and students sampled copepods in the Gulf of Maine, observed whales and other marine mammals but mostly for the pleasure of the Captain....... Volunteers could pay for acting as crew on short voyages and sampled life aboard an old wooden sailing vessel, including standing watch, sleeping in narrow bunks and climbing ratlines, the latter optional. When the organization ran out of money trying to keep REGINA seaworthy it is believed that she was sold to Anthony Athanas of Boston's Pier Four restaurant for use as a stationary party ship. One severely cold night with a loud crack she sank. Soon after she was purchased and raised by a group from Long Island that hoped to return her to seaworthy condition.
The vessel was saved from being scuttled by Captain Robert Val Rosenbaum and moved from Boston. Massachusetts, to Greenport, New York, where Rosenbaum founded the REGINA MARIS Foundation and began a restoration process with 70 local volunteers in 1991. Hurricane Bob hit the east end of Long Island in August 1991, and Captain Rosenbaum scuttled the vessel at her berth to save her from being destroyed by the storm and to prevent the destruction of the nearby historic waterfront buildings. After the storm, the vessel was raised by Captain Rosenbaum and sold for one dollar to facilitate the restoration effort by a newly formed nonprofit organization. During the next eight years the corporation raised money through donations in Greenport to restore the vessel, but the funds were misappropriated and never found their way into the ship.
The vessel was towed to Glen Cove, New York, in 1998 as part of a plan to revitalize the city′s waterfront. Plans to restore the ship were hampered by the discovery that she was not involved in rescuing Jewish refugees in World War II, as well as the economic impact of the September 11 attacks in 2001. The ship was chronically leaky and sank at the dock in 2002. Efforts to raise her in 2003 damaged her beyond repair. The deck, gunnels, deckhouse, bowsprit, masts, and rigging were preserved and set in concrete on the nearby esplanade

Timeline
Cargo schooner 1908–1963 (Commercial cargo years)
Private yacht 1963–1970 (Wilson years)
Cruise ship 1971–1973
Sail training and movie Set 1973–1976 (Willoughby years)
Research and sail training 1976–1984 (Ocean Research & Education Society)
From wharf-side attraction to ship's demise 1985–1990
Regina Maris Foundation and Hurricane Bob 1991
Save the Regina Maris (non-profit) 1992-1998

Source: Wikipedia. Lloyds Register, Great Sailing Ships of the World by Otmar Schäuffelen.
French Polynesia 1974 15f sg184, scott ?

Olivier de Kersauson (full name: Olivier de Kersauson de Pennendreff, born 20 July 1944) is a Frenchsailor and sailing champion. Kersauson was the seventh child in a family of eight. While he was the only Kersauson not to have been born in Brittany, he was born on 20 July 1944 and brought up near Morlaix in a “provincial Catholic aristocracy with compulsory mass” as he calls it. Very early on, Olivier de Kersauson was to break away from his family. Without being inattentive, he was a pupil who did not settle in well to school life with the priests at boarding school. He passed through eleven schools altogether. After his final school exams and getting up to a lot of things, always on the coast, he began studying economics. At the age of twenty-two, he met Eric Tabarly in Saint Malo. Shortly after, Eric invited him to do his military service on board. This opportunity stretched into eight years during which he was Tabarly’s mate. Together, they put on their boots and waterproofs, swallowing up the miles aboard the Pen Duicks. Very quickly, Olivier de Kersauson developed a passion for multihulls in which he became a pioneer. He was, in particular, the first to build a multihull of composite material, Ribourel, then a trimaran with long floaters, Poulain, at the helm of which he set in 1989-1990 the single-handed round the world speed record. From 1992 onwards, he spent his time working towards the Jules Verne Trophy, the round the world crew record. Wearing the livery of Lyonnaise des Eaux - Dumez, in 1994, he raced around the world against Peter Blake. At the helm of his catamaran Enza, the New Zealander and his six-member crew managed to go around the world in 74 days and 22 hours, while the five Frenchmen took 77 days and five hours. Remaining determined, he made some improvements to his boat and wearing the livery of Sport Elec, took off again around the world. On 8 March 1997, Olivier de Kersauson and his six-man crew left Brest. They were to return triumphant 71 days, 14 hours, 22 minutes and 8 seconds later, improving by more than a week on Peyron’s first time. In 2001, he named his giant trimaran Geronimo, "because Geronimo never gave up. It was at the helm of this boat that Olivier de Kersauson took the Jules Verne Trophy for the second time in 2004 (63 days, 13 hours, 59 minutes). In January 2003, Kersauson claimed that his boat was attacked by a giant squid.
Centrafricaine 1961;100f;Sg783. Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_de_Kersauson

This stamp designed after a painting made by Herb Kane shows us a canoe from Rurutu, noting I could find on the canoes of Rurutu only what was given by the British missionary Ellis who visited this islands around 1820. Have searched the net for more info, but I think this canoe is now extinct.
The stamp shows a canoe, who has a very high stem and stern. The painting after the stamp was designed is showed http://herbkanehawaii.com/image-catalog ... moorea-c5/
Ellis wrote about this canoe:
One canoe, that brought a chief from Rurutu, upwards of three hundred miles, was very large. It was somewhat in the shape of a crescent, the stern and stem high and pointed, and the sides broad; the depth from the upper edge of the middle to the keel was not less than twelve feet. It was built with thick planks of the Barringtonia, some of which were four feet wide; they were sewn together with twisted or braided coconut husk.
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarl ... d2-d8.html

French Polynesia 1976 30f sg 228, scott?