If the metro station " Créteil pointe du Lac "It is not a coincidence that the city is named after this place. It offers access to a lake of more than 42 hectares, at the foot of the Val-de-Marne prefecture. The lake, which was established naturally on deep pools of a gypsum and gravel quarry, is fed by two rivers. The Seine, first, in its west. Then comes the Marne, in its eastern part, which has two docks a few kilometers away.
Dangerous bathing therefore prohibited
Deep of 3 to 6 meters The lake has a sand and gravel bottom, which is extremely unstable. The nature of the bottom of the lake means that swimming is prohibited. Add to this the fact that the various springs that feed this lake provide water of extremely different temperatures, the risks of hydrocution are therefore important within this body of water.
This swimming ban contributes to the particularly wild character of the lake of Créteil. There is no beach, but a swimming pool to which access is not free. No beach restaurant or paved walkway either, the choice to leave the lake in as natural a state as possible has been made and is assumed. The leisure island, the name of the lake's recreational water space, offers many water sports activities, especially in summer:
- Windsurfing
- Kayak
- Paddle
- Canoe
- Wave pool and water slide
US Créteil Voile offers the following sailing activities
like many aquatic structures in multiple management ( association, municipality, partnership agreement ), water sports activities are only one of the users of the water body and often have to work hard to obtain slots to use the water body.
This is what the president of US Créteil Voile, Mikaël Cozic, confirms: " The recreational activities on the water are managed by the Leisure Island which delegates us slots for sports practices. It is during these slots that we use the slipway on the one hand, the beach on the other hand " begins the president. He explains " We represent a modest club which nevertheless embarks a third of the people who practice dinghy sailing in Ile de France. For this practice, the Ile de loisirs has recently provided us with premises to house the equipment (Editor's note: this was not the case before) and we are confident that we will have more slots to allow local practitioners to enjoy the amazing character of Lake Creteil. "
Moreover, the urban lake of the prefecture does not lack surprises. Built in the middle of the city, it requires a precise study before sailing in it: " Bordered by buildings, the lake enjoys a very surprising wind regime. The streets leading to the lake generate air currents that can disappear in a few meters. The 2 or 3 regattas that we organize each year on the lake require participants to be well prepared, or risk being left behind! "
Popular club for a popular lake
The president of the yacht club insists on the popular character, in the noble sense of the word, of its water body and of the club he leads: " The lake of Créteil is open to everyone. Our environment is urban and made up of people who do not have a priori an attraction for the nautical domain. With the support of the Departmental Committee, we propose activities aiming at bringing young and old to water sports. For example, they went to Le Havre to visit the starting village of the Transat Jacques Vabre and, during the next departure, a themed afternoon with a fry mould will be proposed. "
A laudable objective to introduce children to sailing who would not have gone by default.
There is no shortage of activities for Cristoliennes and Cristoliens - that's the kind of inhabitants of Créteil - who are interested in the liquid element. " In September, Paul Meilhat came to spend a day with the children on the lake to accompany them in the discovery of navigation. And, during their visit to Le Havre, the children were able to visit his boat "explains the club president.
Selection regatta for the French championship
Ardent lover of his lake, the president of the sailing club talks about it. " I love the water because it is vast, accessible and we have some great regattas. We organize 2 or 3 a year for the moment, but the new conditions that the Ile des Loisirs grants us let us foresee the possibility to elaborate some others. We are a family club with a fleet of 12 optimists and 12 lasers, which does not prevent us from proposing, each year, a selection regatta for the French championship "ends Mikael.
New section in sight
Among its members, the US Voile Créteil counts Romain Billy, a young sailor who ranked 3rd in the French Optimist championship in 2017. The President of the Club tells us about a project he would like to carry out with Romain's participation: " We plan to create a habitable section with open 5.7s. To achieve this, we will need the support of the Ile de Loisirs on the one hand to have new slots and, also, volunteers who can help us to supervise the activity" .
Call for goodwill, both political and volunteer, to help this club carry out its project!
Lake open to navigation
Until recently reserved for the boats of the Ile de loisirs on the one hand, and of the Nautical Club on the other hand, navigation on the lake of Créteil has recently been opened to all, on payment of a temporary right of use. Here again, an effort has been made to allow everyone to take advantage of the lake at an extremely low price. Count on 5 euros for one day use and 60 euros for one year whole.
Boaters who wish to navigate on the lake with their own boat will be able to use the available slipway.
An urban lake above all
The Lake of Creteil is an urban lake that suffers the disadvantages of its status. It is undoubtedly not the place to spend a whole weekend on the water, but it does provide the possibility of jumping off the metro to take a boat. Residents, sailing club, practitioners and users of the lake work together to ensure that the haven of peace it offers in the heart of an agglomeration of more than 320,000 inhabitants remains both a safe and peaceful place to practice. This is the reason why there are few facilities for water sports on the lake.
No club house or crane, if the lake is open to boaters, it remains above all intended for the population.
