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Alain Jacques Georges Marie Gerbault (1893 – 1941) was a French aviator and tennis champion, who made a circumnavigation of the world as a single-handed sailor. He eventually settled in the islands of south Pacific Ocean, where he wrote several books about the islanders' way of life.〔''Singlehanded Sailing'', Richard Henderson; page 19. A&C Black, 1988. ISBN 0-7136-4498-2〕 As a tennis player he was ranked the fifth on the French rankings in 1923. == Early life == Alain Gerbault was born on November 17, 1893 in Laval, to an upper-middle-class family. He spent much of his youth in Dinard, near the ancient port of St. Malo; he spent his summers playing tennis and football, as well as hunting and fishing. At college he studied civil engineering.〔(''The Circumnavigators — Chapter 8'' ), by Don Holm〕 He had a brother with whom they owned a lime factory in Laval.〔 At the age of twenty-one, Gerbault joined in the Flying Corps, serving as an officer; by the end of the war, he was a decorated hero. After the war, he took up tennis, becoming the French champion, and also bridge, at which he achieved an international rating. Despite his achievements, he was still searching for something do to with his life, and considered attempting to fly the Atlantic Ocean. While visiting England in 1921 to play tennis, he came across ''Firecrest'', an old British-designed 39-foot racing/cruising gaff sloop, at Southampton. He had already been toying with the idea of long-distance sailing, so he purchased the boat and spent a year or so sailing her around Cannes. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alain Gerbault」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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