During one week, the Gulf of Morbihan will be the place of many nautical animations including parades, sailing days or specific sailing programs by type of fleet. It will also be an opportunity to discover a fleet of tall ships of European heritage. Five of them will be chartered by the "Semaine du Golfe" Association and the others will set up a paying sailing program. Numerous animations, exhibitions and musical events will take place throughout the week.
17 cities to host the fleets
This year, 17 communes will be involved in the event and will be a great playground for participants and visitors of the Semaine du Golfe 2015. Here is the list: Arradon, Arzon, Auray, Baden, Crac'h, Ile aux Moines, Ile d'Arz, Larmor-Baden, Le Bono, Le Hézo, Locmariaquer, Plougoumelen, Sarzeau, Séné, Saint Armel, Saint-Gildas de Rhuys and Vannes.
Each day, all the ports will host different fleets.
Thousands of boats gathered in the Gulf of Morbihan
Every year, the Semaine du Golfe welcomes boats of different categories, histories and practices. The concept is to group more than a thousand boats in only 10 homogeneous, well differentiated and identifiable flotillas. They will sail each day on a specific course and will change port each evening. All the flotillas will be reunited on Saturday, for the final Grand Nautical Parade.
Flotilla 1 yawls: These boats are being revived with replicas or new models. They are particularly adapted to the training of new crew members.
Flotilla 2 sailing-oars: These are small traditional American or European boats that are easily transportable. There are also third party or lateen sailboats as well as all the small flat-bottomed sailboats from 3 to 5 m that can also be rowed.
Flotilla 3 small traditional yachts, not decked : impregnated with the traditional wood construction, this fleet reflects the time when the local pleasure sailing cohabited with the last fishing boats. It includes: Canoes in third, misainiers, Latin barques âeuros Dériveurs anciens marconis ou houaris âeuros Olonnois, "day-boats", and other small sailing boats without deck of 5/6m... :
Flotilla 3 bis today's light displacement boats with cabins, bunks and storage, designed for touring, offering shelter and sleeping on board for at least two crew members: Skellig, Drascombe Drifter & Coaster, Cornish Shrimper, Swallow Boat, Bayraider...
Flotilla 4 classic yachts of more than 8 m : Sailboats with slender lines, perfect finishes and gleaming varnishes, built for regattas or cruises and some of which are more than a century old and reflect the "sailor-gentlemen" style : Classic auric or marconi yachts, international gauge sailboats, former one-design regatta keelboats, R.O.R.C. and also Arpège and Romanée of the first generationâeuros¦
Flotilla 5 60's and 70's yachting: more affordable boats, good walkers, safe and livable, built in the 1960's for amateurs with a modest budget. Many of today's yachtsmen got their start on these boats built by Herbulot or Hervé: Corsaire, Muscadet, Armagnac, Cognac, Cabernet, Sauvignon, Mousquetaire, Tiburon, First 18.
Flotilla 6 sailing boats : old fishing boats, but also coasters, pilots or buoy tenders, restored or rebuilt identically. Next to the Sinagos and Forbans du Bono, emblematic of the Gulf of Morbihan, we find the luggers and trolls, the mizzen and third-hand boats, the sloops, the cutters and the gold dundeesâeuros¦ From the herring boats of the Baltic to the Pilots of Bristol, the traditional working sailboats of the British Isles and the Nordic countries are also representedâeuros¦
Flotilla 7 small classic regatta boats (under 8 m): All the small classic sailboats authorized to regatta and who wish to regatta... : Guépards, Morgann, Tofinou, Billie Charlotte, Berny Cat, Cormorants, Ailes as well as the classic dinghy series, Flying Dutchman, Loups, Snipe, Caneton and 505âeuros¦ and also the classic European series such as the Schouw, Vrijheid, Valk in the Netherlands, the Water Wags in Ireland or the Loch Long One Design in Scotland.
Flotilla 7 bis : All those who do not wish to race and prefer free courses : Belougas, Loctudy, Folkboats, DC20, Micro-Challenger, etc.
Flotilla 8 classic motorboating: Motorized boats combining the elegance of the carènes and mechanical ingenuity: bolides of the Riviera or the Lake of CÃ'me at the time of the "Dolce Vita" as to the pretty walkers of the Thames or the Seine at the time of the guinguettes : Vintage speedboats, Rivas, steam yachts, cabin-cruisers, runabouts, Chris-Craft and other motorboatsâeuros¦
Each fleet has a dedicated program, which can be found on the Gulf of Morbihan website.
Croatia in the spotlight
Croatia being a maritime country, it is quite naturally that it will be in the honor for this 8 e edition of the Gulf. Thus, about fifteen emblematic sailboats from the ports of Zadar to Dubrovnik and the Neretva Delta have registered.
A Croatian village will also be installed on the right bank of the port of Vannes and will be the showcase of Croatia's maritime heritage, but also of nautical activities, tourism, craft and artistic productions or gastronomy. The official day and the special Croatian evening will take place on Thursday, May 14.
Program
- Monday 11th opening parade between 6:00 and 8:00 pm
- Tuesday 12th day of the island of Arz, stopover at Pen Ra between 11 am and 5 pm
- Wednesday 13, Thursday 14 and Friday 15 specific sailing program by flotilla, some including a mid-day stopover
- Saturday 16th grand Parade : Great Parade which gathers all the flotillas in the large channel for a grandiose nautical finale. Departure at 3 pm between the lighthouse of Port-Navalo and the tip of Locmariaquer.
