Old rigs are the stuff of dreams when we see them sailing along our coastlines. Loaded with history, they tell us about lives in the past, while still inventing pages of adventure today. Fleur de Lampaul is one of them, still sailing for us all to enjoy.
The first life of the Fleur: an hourglass career
Fleur de Lampaul is a gabare built in Camaret, Finistère, by the Keraudren shipyard. Launched in 1948, she was designed to extract and transport sand from the abers of Brittany for the reconstruction of cities like Brest, ravaged by the Second World War. She takes her name from the town of Lampaul-Plouarzel, near the Aber Ildut, where her first captain lived.
The Fleur could load up to 100 tonnes of sand into its hold. At ebb tide, she would run aground on sandbanks. Then, when the tide was out, she would load the sand, using a bucket at the end of the boom, directly into her hold from an opening in the deck.
A few years later, supplanted by the development of motor cargo ships, the Fleur was forced to change careers.
From sand haulage to produce
Still owned by the Le Guen family, Fleur de Lampaul began transporting early fruit and vegetables by sail to Brittany and England. La Fleur sailed the Finistère islands of Sein, Molène and Ouessant, as well as the Channel Islands and the south coast of Great Britain.
When the last two Le Guen brothers retired in 1975, the sailboat was sold and returned to her original profession as an hourglass for a few years, before being beached on a mudflat at the bottom of an aber and left to decay.
After primeurs, sharing books
Recovered by an association, the Fleur was refurbished to become a traveling library. With a collection of over 15,000 books, the sailboat travels the coastline from the Noirmoutier peninsula to Normandy, offering book lending services.
At the end of the 80s, the boat was classified as a historic monument. It was taken over by another association for a new lease of life.
La Fleur, a sail training ship
Reconverted into a cruise ship, the Fleur became a school ship in the 90s. She takes children on voyages around the world. Ten years of adventures and discoveries gave rise to a series of reports and books. La Fleur went on to fame, making many children dream in front of their TV screens.
The Flower at nature's service
In the early 2000s, the Nicolas-Hulot Foundation bought the yacht. She became an oceanographic vessel. The Foundation completely restored the boat. The wood from hundred-year-old oak trees from Versailles, which had fallen during the storm of 1999, was used to renew almost 70% of the Fleur's structure.
A blue water cruiser
In 2010, the Fleur was sold by the Foundation. Bought by the Bernard shipyard that had restored her, she once again embarks on a new career. From Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue in Normandy, she sets off on cruises as far as Norway.
Then, in 2021, it was bought out by its captain and a partner. Their objective: " to continue sailing Fleur de Lampaul, a jewel of our maritime heritage, and to inspire its passengers through maritime adventures as part of a more sustainable form of tourism". Whether docked or underway, you can come aboard the Fleur.
Long live the Fleur!
