The 55th Nautic opened its doors to the general public this Saturday. From 10:00hrs local time, the aisles of the Porte de Versailles in Paris welcomed their first visitors for a packed day of entertainment. From the long pool at the Spot, the village devoted to boardsports, through to the stand featuring the major yards, a wealth of new features and attractions pulled in the crowds of enthusiasts, skippers and families.
Presentation of Groupama Team France
Exactly two years ago, within the context of the Nautic, the Team France project for the 35th America’s Cup was launched. Today, thanks to the team’s tenacity and the signing up of partners like Groupama, it is very much up and running. Furthermore, after a short round-up of images from the 2015 season, Michel Desjoyeaux, Olivier de Kersauson as well as Franck Cammas, contacted by telephone, revealed their initial analysis in turn. Following on from that, Bruno Dubois explained how the team will be organised and the schedule for 2016, whilst Martin Fisher expanded on what the stakes are for the design team. Though the Cup is clearly a technological challenge, it’s also a national challenge in terms of economics and image explained Thierry Martel, Groupama’s General Manager. It’s also a regional challenge for Lorient, Groupama Team France’s port of registry, and a long-term commitment. Indeed, through the scope of this sizeable project, it’s also a question of preparing for the future by launching a series of networks of excellence. In this way, visitors to the Nautic have had a chance to explore behind the scenes of the selection of ten youngsters, who will be trained up by Team France to defend France’s colours during the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in 2017 in Bermuda. This new network is actively supported by the ENVSN (French Sailing and Watersports School), the French Sailing Federation and Bic Sport, all of whom were present in Paris today, along with the professional crews of Groupama Team France, who came to the event specially to present their young recruits.
The Paris Stand Up Paddle Crossing is tomorrow
Organised by the Nautic, the negotiation of Paris via the River Seine in a Stand Up Paddle race will welcome some 500 pro and amateur riders tomorrow, Sunday 6 December. The particularly top-flight line-up for this 6th edition of the Nautic SUP Paris Crossing positions the event as the largest in the world, with the notable participation of Pro Sup racer Eric Terrien, Tahitian Steev Teihotaata, a famous pirogue champion, Gaëtan Séné, as well as Nicolas Jarossay, who has a project to cross the Atlantic on a SUP in 2016. In the midst of the COP21, French TV legend and environmentalist Nicolas Hulot will also take the start, presenting a powerful image for this conference, especially when he passes the course mark in the colours of Océan&Climat (Ocean&Climate) opposite the scientific research vessel, TARA. Among the French sailing fraternity on the start line will be Marc Guillemot and Yves Le Blévec. Finally, among the sizeable female contingent are Pauline Ado and Olivia Piana, World No.2 in 2014 and long-distance champion of France. This evening, the event briefing was held on the Nautic Stage and competitors have already set a date for tomorrow morning at 08:00hrs for the kick-off in front of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (National Library). The finish will be decided on the Quai de Javel bas, below the PLANET SOLAR boat.
The biggest SUP race in the world is clearly taking on an environmental slant and what could be more natural for the cleanest of watersports?
727 Sailbags charity auction
This year, French sailors have rallied together to give hospitalised children some time to themselves and some much deserved freedom via the cinema. Nine of them have entrusted one of their sails to 727Sailbags to create some legendary bags. Samantha Davies, Loïck Peyron, François Gabart, Armel Le Cleac’h, Thomas Coville, Alain Gautier, Jérémie Beyou and also Franck Cammas (Volvo Ocean Race, Jules Verne Trophy record, Vendée Globe)… all of them have committed to the project and signed the famous authentication form certifying the authenticity and the mileage of the sails. This afternoon at the Nautic saw the charity auction for these rather special bags. Hosted by the auctioneer Vincent Sarrou from Tessier & Sarrou, the latter proved incredibly successful as some 6,400 euros in profits have been racked up and will now be donated to Les Toiles Enchantées association.
Macif back in festive mode!
At noon this Saturday, centre stage at the Nautic, a Macif Solidarité Mer conference was held in the presence of the highly talented François Gabart, the latest winner of the Transat Jacques Vabre, who was accompanied by his co-skipper in this race, Pascal Bidégorry, as well as fellow Macif Skippers, Charlie Dalin and Yoann Richomme. As such, visitors to the show got the opportunity to chat with them and then listen to them reviewing their performances in 2015. As is the case every year, Macif is omnipresent at the Nautic: indeed, each day from now on, it is organising mini-races for kids at the Spot Nautic (registration can take place at the Spot’s reception area), whilst instructors from the Macif Centre de Voile are coordinating demonstrations on inflating liferafts and automatic lifejackets, as well as man overboard location systems.
Prize-giving for the Mini Transat and the Championnat de France Elite de Course au Large en Solitaire (French Elite Solo Offshore Racing Championship).
The prize-giving ceremony for the Mini Transat Iles de Guadeloupe 2015 was held at the International Paris Boat Show today, attended by Jean-Pierre Champion, President of the French Sailing Federation, Bertrand Nardin, President of Douarnenez Courses, and Renaud Mary, President of the Mini Class. In this way, the public were able to witness the star prizes being awarded to Frédéric Denis (Nautipark), winner in the prototype category, and Ian Lipinski (Entreprises Innovantes), winner in the series category. This ceremony was followed by the prize-giving for the French Elite Solo Offshore Racing Championship, with skipper Xavier Macaire succeeding Charlie Dalin on the highest step of the podium.
Appointment with Stéphane Mifsud
Stéphane Mifsud, world static freediving record holder with a time of 11’35’’, is present at the Nautic with the support of Suzuki Marine to offer visitors a host of conferences. On the menu: a set of powerful themes such as “World freediving record inspired by dolphins”, “The human being and its capabilities, where are our limits?” as well as “Journey to the End of Life 11’35’’”. “In addition to the conferences, I’m also organising workshops and debates. With my skillset, I proclaim to be a link between the sea and the land. I’m an enthusiast and I love communicating with people. I hope to be able to raise awareness about the environment and give people a better understanding of the sea so they will be more protective of it”, explained Mifsud. He went on to perform a static freediving demonstration late today at the Spot Nautic in homage to the victims of the attacks on 13 November 2015. The water was at 6°C. A first for him!
Launch of the 3rd edition of Le Havre Allmer Cup
Sébastien Tasserie, Deputy Mayor of Le Havre, Sylvain Dupray, President of the Société des Régates du Havre and Michaël Knockaert, Manager of the Allmer company presented the third edition of Le Havre Allmer Cup, attended by a number of Figaro sailors this Saturday at the Nautic. The event, the first official race of the French Elite Solo Offshore Racing Championship 2016, will run from 19 to 29 May. On the programme: seven days of races, with a mixture of offshore racing and short technical courses, on a race zone notorious for its strong current and its many pitfalls. A major new feature this year is the integration of a long 300 to 350-mile course, which is a perfect way for participants to gauge the standard of their training in the run-up to the Solitaire du Figaro. To date, nearly twenty or so sailors have already expressed their desire to be part of this event, notably including Gildas Morvan (Cercle Vert), reigning champion, Thierry Chabagny (Gedimat), Yoann Richomme (Skipper Macif 2014) and Nicolas Lunven (Generali).
The crews of the Masterclasses AG2R – La Mondiale rewarded.
This morning at the Nautic, Yvon Breton, CEO of AG2R LA MONDIALE, started the countdown for the Transat 2016, which will set sail on 3 April in Concarneau, Brittany. Registration is already open and to encourage the greatest possible number of skippers to write a new page in this double-handed one-design race, the group has put in place a unique support device: four Masterclasses. Around thirty or so sailors have taken part with themes including communication, business and sponsorship, sport and finally health. Moreover, this Saturday was an opportunity to reward three crews who participated in these Masterclasses, whom the coaches deemed to be rather special. In this way, a financial boost has been extended to Yannig and Erwan Livory (€10,000). Meantime Sophie Faguet / Jean-Charles Monnet and Tolga Pamir / Stéphanie Jadaud have respectively received €5,000 and €3,000. “Naturally it’s been a tough decision. We’ve selected these skippers as they demonstrated a great ability for structuring their project and applying the feedback they benefited from during the Masterclasses. Each of them has put the coaches’ advise to good use to develop their project and carry out some concrete action in their search to put together a budget”, commented the President of the jury, Michel Desjoyeaux.
Brittany, the IMOCA class’ little nest
Between the recently completed Transat Jacques Vabre (Le Havre – Itajai) and the prospect of the next Vendée Globe in less than a year, Bretagne Développement Innovation offered visitors the chance to come together this Saturday to discuss links, which unite Brittany and the IMOCA Class in the search for performance. To discuss this and highlight the current trends on the eve of the start of the return solo transatlantic sprint Saint Barth / Port-la-Forêt, BDI brought together four of France’s finest: Jean Le Cam and Vincent Riou in Paris, Yann Eliès and live from St Barths, Paul Meilhat, who will set sail tomorrow on this first qualifier for the Vendée Globe 2016. Port-la-Forêt, at the heart of Brittany’s Sailing Valley, has witnessed the creation and development of the IMOCA Class. It is in this ecosystem, made up of skippers, naval architects, laboratories and cutting edge businesses, that the latest technological innovations are tested and then go on to become references in competitive sailing. Today, most IMOCAs are designed by naval architects from Brittany and nearly 70% of the boats are built in this region.