60 years ago, in June 1959, the magazine Bateaux published its issue 13. It had been a year since the magazine was launched. This one dealt with pleasure boating, sailing and motoring. At that time, he was the only one in the French landscape.
At the helm of the Beluga
For this month of June, the magazine had tested the Belouga, this Cornu plywood plan was produced by several shipyards in France. It cost 1,200,000 francs to buy a new model. Created in houari (with a peak) this dinghy sailboat was not considered as very stiff to the canvas.
The magazine Bateaux does not hesitate to make quantified comparisons with nearby yachts. Thus the Beluga (6.50 m) is compared with the privateer (5.50 m) and cape Horn (6.50 m) . With very technical information such as wet surface or some coefficients and other complex ratios.
Where to sail
The "Where to sail" section, which will last for years, leads us to the deauville Harbour . It is amusing to compare the facilities of the time, which are limited to the current old port, with those of today and the new floating dock just at the entrance to the port. The map of the bay of the Seine has a little old-fashioned charm, but shows the navigation area with precision.
For sailors
The subject "To be in perfect condition" advises us to take a notebook in the pocket of his waxed pocket (recommended format 12 x 17 cm...) to note all the information concerning his navigation: wind, sea, sail configuration, settings, speed... What the English call a Log Book. This operation in the era of embedded computing is completely obsolete. Today, sailors automatically record all the boat's data and can "replay" them in order to analyse them. Not to mention that in real time, the target speed is indicated on a display: it is up to the sailors to reach, hold and even improve it!
Advertisements and classified ads
In 1958, how to keep informed of commercial offers or boats for sale? The magazine Bateaux was one of the mandatory passages to buy a boat or to equip it. The advertisements promote the merits of a "reinforced plastic" hull or a cotton liferaft...
