While a competition is being organized for a project to rebuild a frigate on the 18 e at the age of 32, François Asselin is taking a stand on this issue. He had taken over the family business only three years earlier, but had every confidence in his team to defend their skills before a jury. " We must have been the least bad." he explains.
A company specialized in wood
"It's an adventure in adventure, since we've never built a boat x." The company specialises in the restoration of historical monuments, carpentry and joinery, but not in the maritime sector. " This is the first boat we're building." .
" Since 1967, we have been restoring major national buildings such as the Palace of Versailles, the Elysée Palace and the Invalides. We work everywhere in France and abroad as heritage specialists, complex realizations with solid wood." When the project began to emerge in the Poitou-Charentes region, where the company's head office is located, François immediately wanted to be part of the""-project I said to myself, it's an extraordinary work to rebuild. The philosophy of the company corresponded completely to this project, to use the elements of the past to remake such as it was done ."
" Secondly, it was a major solid oak structure. It is a raw material that we have mastered perfectly for decades and we had a great technical capacity." Seeking diversity in each project, reproducing Hermione represented something unique an extremely complex prototype to produce ."
Obtaining knowledge in the maritime sector
Although Asselin specializes in wood, it did not have knowledge of boat structures. " We hired Jean Thomas, a model designer specializing in the boats of the 18 e ." Thanks to his rare speciality, he designed the first structural elements of Hermione. " After our technical teams, design offices and carpenters, did the rest. From the interpretation of the historical documents, we made the sketches on the ground, tracing the woods, the cuts..."
Maritime constraints also pose a know-how problem. " In the building, it is the roofers who ensure the watertightness of the structure. In marine carpentry, it is the carpenters who ensure watertightness. We then went to look for Jean-Luc Durand. He gave us all the techniques to make a boat watertight."
The alchemy of all these skills, with self-sacrifice and humility, allowed the realization of an extraordinary project "After 17 years, we open our eyes wide and realize we've achieved something fantastic."
