It was in 1913, noting that no organized structure allowed yachtsmen to compare the capabilities of their boats, that three passionate sailors and sportsmen founded the Union Nationale des Croiseurs. In 1971, the UNC and the Groupement des Croiseurs Légers merged to found a club whose primary vocation was to promote competition among young people on modest-sized sailing boats.
UNCL at the origin of major events in France
This sailing club aims above all to offer a wide and accessible program of competitions. It accompanies this offer with tools for training competitors and measuring boats ( the famous IRC gauge ). Finally, it offers common services to all the clubs in France.
The objective of UNCL is
- to encourage and develop sailing races by all means
- to organize national or international races
- to complete the nautical training of its members and to promote the practical and theoretical training of its members
- to create bonds of friendship between members.
The club is notably at the initiative of two competitions that have become references. The UNCL accompanied the first edition of the Tour de France à la Voile, created by one of its members Bernard Decré and the open races with the first edition of the Route du Rhum, created by Michel Etévenon.
The association initiator of the IRC rule
UNCL is the yacht club that created - together with the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) - the IRC rule, the most important measured handicap rule in the world, used on the most competitive and prestigious sailing events, such as the Rolex Fastnet Race, the Giraglia, the Sydney-Hobart...
This system of handicap racing, which allows different boats to be on the same starting line and to be classified together and equally at the finish, quickly conquered beyond the shores of the English Channel, and was endorsed in 2003 by the ISAF which manages world sailing (World Sailing since 2015). Today, the UNCL manages with the RORC, the IRC rules at the world level.
More than 7500 boats are measured annually, in about fifty countries, spread over all continents. The IRC measurement formula has always remained secret, known only by a Frenchman from the UNCL and a Britishman from the RORC, in order to avoid over-optimization of boats.
Provision of logistics to clubs
Today, the UNCL supports more than 50 clubs in France, spread all over the territory. It provides these clubs with technical, legal and logistical resources that enable local players to organize IRC regattas. It is on the basis of all these IRC regattas that the Union organizes, each year, a championship which is declined in two versions: Mediterranean and Channel-Atlantic.
Today, the UNCL remains the most representative French yacht club for ocean racing, both nationally and internationally, both by the dynamism of its members in the organization and promotion of this sport, and by the ardor of these same members on the many starting lines where their bows point.
Several clubs on the Channel, Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts have adopted the IRC rule in their regattas, which literally boosts regatta entries, leading regatta owners to seek the best compromise in equipment and improvements for their boats, with the desire to improve their performance, sharpening their competitive spirit, to obtain the best sporting results. This is great for sailing, and for everyone involved in sailing!
Knowledge sharing & workshops
The association relies on a network of active and expert members. This pool of skills enables it to offer a "knowledge exchange", notably through its website, which encourages, supports and accompanies innovations.
Finally, it offers workshops open to all. The themes of these workshops cover fields as diverse as the functioning of the IRC rules, the preparation of a boat for ocean racing or the use of the Adrena software.
Organization of regattas
Organizer and host of regattas, the UNCL offers, directly or through its network of members, more than a hundred regattas each year. The program is prestigious, with renowned competitions such as the Spi Ouest-France or the Cowes-Dinard.
Each year, during the Night of Ocean Racing at the Paris Boat Show in December, the UNCL awards trophies and prizes to the sailors and partners who have distinguished themselves during the year. Not only sporting distinctions, the human attitude is also highlighted during a ceremony that is as festive as it is nautical.
New presidency
At the end of 2020, the association elected Anne de Bagneaux-Savatier as President. Previously Secretary General of UNCL, and member of the Steering Committee for over 20 years, Anne is the second woman to head UNCL (after Catherine Pourre, President from 2014 to 2015).
