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Founded in 1965, the International Cruise Group - GIC Voile - is a non-profit association that has been offering its members a wide range of services for more than 50 years, coastal and offshore navigation on all the seas of the globe. Its strength lies in its ability to build homogeneous crews from individual or couple registrations, supervised by experienced skippers who remain volunteers. The GIC Voile is open to all sailors. For beginners, the GIC recommends a course in a sailing school before joining the crews for a cruise.
Navigate off the beaten track
In addition to traditional cruises in the English Channel, South Brittany and the Mediterranean, the GIC offers sailing to exceptional destinations. The club has a Dufour 445 (4 double cabins) which is based in Cherbourg and sails every year for six months, during a long voyage to Norway, the Baltic, Scotland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Newfoundland and the Azores (programme evolving according to the years). Thus about ten crews of 8 people take turns on board every two weeks.
The GIC also rents boats all over the world: Baja California, South Africa, Cape Verde Islands, Thailand, West Indies, Spitsbergen, Madagascar, but also more classically in Greece-Croatia-Italy-Spain. Each of these cruises is offered to members as part of a programme published every year.
This year 2020, the health situation forced the ICG to sail along the Channel and Atlantic coasts from Dunkirk to Royan with crews reduced to 5 people. In spite of this brake, these cruises were a great success among the members. The off-season left room for sailing to Malta, Naples and from Athens to the Cyclades in Greece.
A 2021 season with surprising stopovers..
The 2021 program is now online on the GIC Voile website .
It is obvious that this programme is likely to evolve according to the health measures in force in the countries visited.
From improvements to navigation
In addition to cruising, GIC Voile also organises numerous discovery and improvement courses. Thus his "advanced chef de bord" internship is particularly reputable. It includes a theoretical part followed by a week on board in the English Channel during which the trainee is put into a real situation as a skipper.
It is also proposed to improve the manoeuvres of 3 to 4 days, initiations to cruising catamarans, training in navigation software... All these improvements will be very useful to start sailing autonomously on a sailboat.
Become Chief of Board
The ICG currently has 25 skippers and is looking for new, young and dynamic contenders to share the experience gained by the club. Places are open to both women and men. In order to become a skipper, in addition to a personal apprenticeship, the candidate takes part in a 3-day theoretical seminar and a week on board to validate the knowledge acquired.
A spirit of sailing
Finally, GIC Voile strives to communicate its passion, sailing, and everything that surrounds it (the sea or life on board). This association has a website on which, in addition to information on its cruises and courses, it publishes many stories of exciting cruises, written by those who have experienced them. Other useful information and links for any navigator are available on this site.
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