Organised by the Société Nautique de La Trinité-sur-Mer, in partnership with the newspaper Ouest-France, it was founded in 1979. Organized during the Easter weekend, the Spi Ouest France was created by André Facque - at the time president of the Société des régates de La Trinité-sur-Mer, Gilles Le Baud and Roger Lavialle, one of the directors of Ouest-France.
What route?
The Spi Ouest France is 4 race zones affected more or less close to the port of La Trinité with different race programs depending on the categories of boats that race. It is the race director who decides which type of boat will run which type of course (depending on size, speed).
There are 2 types of routes on the Spi Ouest France:
- Built courses (single or double banana) where it is a question of going upwind and down downwind
- Coastal routes in Quiberon Bay (40 miles)
Not all series necessarily participate in both courses. It is the race committee that decides to launch the coastal course, but generally it arrives later on the weekend.
The ideal spinnaker according to Philippe Guegan, editor-in-chief of the Spi Ouest France website "4 to 5 courses built on the first day, 1 warm-up with a course built in the morning then a coastal course from 12:00 to 16:00 in the afternoon on the 2nd e day, a coastal route (organized according to weather conditions) on the 3rd e day and again one or two (maximum) courses built early in the morning on the 4th e because people go home later in the day."
Who is participating?
This popular event attracts both amateurs and professionals, who flock to Quiberon Bay to race for 4 days. The race is run with a crew and this year 2016, it will be open to doubles. The boats are then divided into 4 rounds. "There were up to 500 boats on the water for the best years." explains Philippe Guegan. This year, about 360 boats are expected.
The regatta is open to:
- monotypes of a class recognized by the ISAF and/or FFV Sailing with an overall length of at least 5.70 m. A minimum of 8 boats is required to constitute a one-design series. If this number is not reached, they may be classified as IRC or Habitable Osiris, depending on their choice
- Diam 24 One Design
- Crewed IRC with a minimum TCC certificate of 0.850 and a minimum overall length of 7 m
- Double IRC with a certificate with a minimum TCC of 0.949 and less than 1.060. Not all prototypes (Half Tonner, 3/4 Tonner...) are not allowed
- Osiris Habitable
- The boats of classes Open 5.70, Class 6.5, Open 7.50, Diam 24 One Design and Longtze
Those registered in 2016
| Round A | J80, J70, Open 6.50 |
| Round B | Mach 6.50, Open 7.5, Diam 24 OD, Longtze |
| Round C | Great Surprise, First 31.7, Osiris 1, Osiris 2, IRC Double |
| Round D | IRC 1, IRC 1.0, IRC 2, IRC 3, IRC 4 |
What is special about it?
The Spi Ouest France takes place every year on the Easter weekend and 2016 will celebrate the 38 e edition of the race. It is the largest European gathering of habitable sailing boats but also the event that opens the season.
With a fluctuating Pascal weekend, it is either very sunny, very cold evening and this year 2016 promises to be rainy.
Finally, the Spi Ouest France has a particular folklore. There are 14 series with one winning crew per series. Each winning crew then designates the most handsome man or woman on board, who will then be weighed and recovered his weight in oyster boxes or Muscadet!
