Jacques Thubé

Jacques Thubé was one of the sons of the Nantes shipowner Gaston Thubés, Sr., who introduced his sons to sailing in Brittany. Jacques was married to Marguerite Pavy and they had one daughter, Odette. Jacques later became a director of the Bolloré paper mill (together with his brother Gaston as the successor of his sister Marie’s husband René Bolloré.

Together with his brothers Gaston and Amédée he won the first sailing gold for France at the 1912 Olympic Games in the 6 metres class. In the duel of the Danish Nurdug II and the French Mac Miche with Gaston Thubé at the helm, the two yachts tied after two races. In the match-race for gold, Mac Miche won convincingly by almost three minutes to claim gold.

As an avid sailor he claimed many victories as helmsman of both 6 and 8/8.5 metres classes. After World War I, he was among the organizers of regattas for dinghies and 8.5 meters yachts for his club, the Sport Nautiques de l’Ouest. Around 1935, while returning from a business trip to the United States, he introduced a boat of the 5.72 meters series, the Snipe, to France, which later proved to be quite successful.