Inspector Lavardin is called to a provincial village to investigate a murder – only to find that one of his ex-lovers is the victim’s widow.

Julien is an electronics professional who is down on his luck when he decides to enter an international sailboat race. He is led astray from his original good intentions by a low-life press agent who convinces him it would be well worth his while to win the race by illegal maneuvering. As he sets off, flashbacks tell how he came to be on the sailboat; later he has long monologues -- several of them, and in-between he occasionally battles to stay afloat on an uncooperative sea.

Madame G is an older woman with a daughter, who works as a shopgirl, and an alcoholic husband. Madame G works as dishwasher in a popular restaurant in the village. Her husband unhappy with his life is bitter and abusive. Madame G dreams of winning enough money to escape and find a new life.

In 1916, Vincent van Horst leaves Europe to return to his Canadian homeland. There, he seeks his former love, Maria... but the lady's pride is hurt and she refuses to see him. Vincent then falls for a younger woman, Annie.