French sports star Florence Arthaud, 57, best known for her victory in the 1990 Route du Rhum, was among 10 people killed on March 9, 2015 when their helicopters collided in northwestern Argentina.

Arthaud sailed the VPLP-designed 60-foot trimaran Groupe Pierre 1er to victory in the prestigious transatlantic singlehanded race, held every 4 years in November, between Saint Malo, Brittany, France and Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe.

In 1997, she joined skipper Bruno Peyron (FRA) onboard the 86-foot catamaran Explorer in the Transpac Race, setting the fully crewed multihull elapsed time record of 5 days, 9 hours, 18 minutes, 26 seconds.

The current Transpac record, set in 2005 by Olivier de Kersauson (FRA) on the 90-foot trimaran

The accident occurred while filming for the reality TV show “Dropped”, which involves sports stars being dropped into inhospitable environments for an adventure- and survival-themed show.

Photos by Christian Fevrier.