"French replica of revolutionary frigate sets sail for Boston"

"When you put people side by side aboard a ship, they're puking together, they're cleaning the toilets together, they're really bonding," he said. "It makes for a very close and open relationship between people and it lasts forever."

With champagne, fireworks and a presidential blessing, a painstakingly built replica of the frigate once used to bring French troops and funds to American revolutionaries set sail Saturday for the U.S. East Coast.

With the celebratory sendoff, the 25 million euro ($27 million) Hermione began its voyage to retrace the 65-meter (213-foot) frigate's trans-Atlantic journey in 1780, when its namesake under the Marquis de Lafayette's command helped to lay the foundation of French-American relations.

Lafayette persuaded French King Louis XVI to provide military and financial support to George Washington's troops. Lafayette set sail on the frigate on March 21, 1780, from the southwestern port of Fouras, arrived 38 days later in Boston, and played an important role in the revolutionaries' ultimate defeat of Britain three years later in the Battle of Yorktown with the support of a French army and fleet.