François-Médard Racine (1774-1817) began his maritime career aged 15. After several years of apprenticeship, he landed in Camaret in 1804 and got married. Prisoner of the English, he escaped several times and was given his first command (the Anarcharsis) in 1812, followed by the l'Embuscade in 1813. To shelter his boat, Racine had the dyke of the small harbor that now bears his name built. As a Corsair appointed by a letter of marque, he was not a pirate but a civilian sponsored by the French government. He lived on the heights of Port Racine, on the site of the current Erguillère hotel, and died en route to Guernsey in 1817.