A high-tech racing boat
At the time of its construction in 1893, Vétille was an extremely innovative boat. It was the fruit of the imagination of the naval architect Hummel, an engineer at the Dubigeon shipyard, one of the great shipbuilders of Nantes, on the banks of the Loire, in the Chantenay district. He designed a dinghy made of galvanized iron sheets, a material that was almost absent at the time in yachting, which was still entirely made of wood. Welding was complex, so hot riveting was used to join a skeleton structure made of angle iron to 4 sheets of only 2 millimeters thick.
Designed for racing by its owner, Jules Levesque, Vétille, which means "to have the bug" in Nantes language, respected the rules in force at the time. The sailboat was quite light for its time with 1.35 tons for 225 kilos of iron centerboard and a waterline length of 9.95 meters. With a width of 2.05 meters, she only holds 40 centimeters of daggerboard up and 1.20 meters at the deepest draft. With 40 m2 of sail area, including 28.5 m2 of mainsail, and very flat shapes, it has good speeds. Its mast on binoculars allows it to be tilted to pass under the many bridges of Nantes.
From victory to abandonment
With an extremely active racing calendar at the time on the Loire and the Erdre, its tributary in Nantes, Vétille soon became successful. He distinguished himself at the Trentemoult Regatta, but also at sea in Southern Brittany.
In 1909, Vétille was transformed to receive a wooden roof and a small cabin, protecting in particular a Dion 8 horsepower engine. She still raced, but as she no longer met the latest racing standards, she was gradually retired.
Renaissance of the heritage
Found in a mudflat in 1981 in Noirmoutier, Vétille was restored at the Dubigeon shipyard in 1982, then exhibited at the CNIT boat show in Paris. Vétille was classified as a historical monument on April 28, 1994. The sailboat is placed under the aegis of the Amerami association. The association Erdre Voile Passion is now in charge of her maintenance and sailing. New works took place in 1997 and then in 2010 for 2 years.
