The magazine in this small format that forged its identity (15.5 x 23 cm) has a stapled binding (we will have a square spine later). The 60-page magazine, printed in black and white, has a few colour pages, including the cover and a double-page centre spread in the shape of a poster. Even the advertising tunnel at the beginning of the magazine is in black and white! Enjoy the "Nulefort" trailer, whose name was probably thought up by a communications professional..
Bateaux takes you sailing on Lake Annecy
This month, the famous "where to sail..." section will visit Lake Annecy. A navigation in the middle of the mountains that makes the author G. H. Lévêque very lyrical: "A light mist stretched over the surface of the calm water, as never water can be. The black toothless wall of the mountain opposite me was lost in the flakes of grey and white clouds. The sun, in a halo, seemed to roll from one to the other and frolic in a fleeting rotundity..." A 7-page report follows with the map of the place printed in yellow and blue.
The author discovers the pleasure of sailing on inland waters and concludes on these lines when night falls on the very calm lake: "At sea it is time to light the lights and the compass. It's time to hoist a smaller jib and hand out the night shifts. Contrasting two things that are meant to be loved."
Precision!
In its columns, Bateaux magazine does not hesitate to go into detail, even if they are sometimes difficult to understand. Thus the hulls of motor boats are screened in a very technical subject on the shape of the waves according to the speed of the boat. Formal resistance and frictional resistance are thus opposed in graphics.
The practice of sailing is also detailed with practical applications of the action of the wind on a sail. Vectors and applied forces are thus deciphered according to the shape of the sail. All these notions are still very relevant and applicable to our modern yachts. A subject that has (almost) not aged a day!
At the helm... of the Mousse
The sailboat tested this January 1960 in the "at the helm" section is the foam. This dinghy for one or two crew members, designed by the naval architect Eugène Cornu and built in plywood, measures 3.91 m long. There is a detailed test of the boat and a comparison of the figures with the Vaurien and the 5o5.
But funny detail, if the magazine Bateaux is used to publish the shape plans of the boats tried, this time it is a letter from the architect that is published instead. The latter refuses, in the name of the notion of "copyright", to publish his plan. The magazine amuses itself by indicating "Secret" on the map.
