A Tour of Finistère under sail that is transformed
For its 2019 edition, the Tour du Finistère welcomed 76 boats. "It's less than some years, but it stays within the average," says Gaël Le Cléac'h, the race director. "The good news is that the average age of crew members remains young, but the average age of owners is increasing. We must ensure that young people continue to have boats to sail on in the future."
Alain Barazer, skipper of the sailboat Glaz, with more than twenty participations in the Finistère regatta, underlines the evolution of the boats. "In the 1990s, we had small quarter thunder, today we have boats over 47 feet. This changes, even if the spirit remains the same, with beautiful stops." For his part, the race director is delighted with the presence of First 24, formerly Seascape, rented by Bénéteau dealers. "These formulas are interesting to bring people, especially young people, who don't want to have their own boat."
Simplify participation for those who want to navigate
Freeing yourself for a whole week of racing, to which you have to add the delivery time, is always tricky. Skippers sometimes struggle to gather crews, despite their pleasure in sailing, as Catherine Roudot, owner of Brizhenn (Editor's note: A woman scatterbrained in Breton), at the head of a female crew, shows. "It's our anti-depressant, and we had a great time sailing the Tour du Finistère. But there were only four of us because it's not always easy to free yourself. It wasn't enough, it was even a little hot during the first stage before the storm passed."
Participate in the map at certain stages. This was the solution proposed by the organizers to bring in new boats during the stops in Roscoff and Concarneau through the "Boater's Loops". More flexible and less restrictive, this proposal of a participation limited to one stage could give amateur boaters the chance to take part in the Finisterian tour as a whole. "This allowed us to be joined by a crew of two on a Figaro 2 at Concarneau. It's an interesting experience to attract new participants," explains Gaël Le Cléac'h, who hopes to transform the trial next year.
