Having your own boat for sailing
François arrived in Brittany to build boats in shipyards, but also to make them. He had been here for 10 years when he realized that to sail, even with friends who had their own sailboat, having your own boat was ultimately the best solution. Wishing to stay within a limited budget, he had the experience of having participated in a Cap Corse national with a friend 15 years earlier. So it was finally on an ad for this sailboat signed by the renowned Jean-Jacques Herbulot, the naval architect who signed the lines of the famous Caravelle or Corsaire, that he fell for it in 2017. He explains: "I had a converted van before, and in the end it stays with the same idea of being able to do ultralight camping, but by boat. I bought the sailboat back from La Roche Bernard, a Cap Corse with a fiberglass hull and plywood deck, amateur-built in 1976."
A very big job
Right from the start, François knew that the bridge was rotten and had to be rebuilt. He cut it out, but not without first making templates so that he could build a new bridge. But a few surprises awaited him, and the renovation, peppered with stoppages due to hand problems, took 4 years to complete. He explains: "There had been some seepage. In the end, I only kept 2 bulkheads and part of the deck barrots. There was osmosis at the top of the hull planks, which I had to treat entirely. As for the rigging, the purchase of a new mast was planned from the outset. I spent a season with the old mainsail before changing it, optimized the fittings a little, changed the boom and spinnaker pole, and bought a new spinnaker. I bought the boat for ?1,500 with a trailer and an old mast, but I had to put back almost ?5,000."
A boat that's easy to manoeuvre and go anywhere
But François has no regrets. His Cap Corse meets the specifications of a boat he wanted to be easy to handle. "At just 550 kg, the Cap Corse is easy to tow behind a car. Launching is simple. You can mast it without a crane and be ready to sail in less than an hour. Once underway, it's easy to sail solo. You can do everything from the cockpit, including pitching from the companionway. And you can get to the islands of Glénan from Concarneau, Houat and Hoedic in a jiffy. With the crutches and only 50 centimetres of draft, the centerboard is up, and we're getting close to the beach."
Each Cap Corse has its own roof and fittings. Materials also evolve, but the hull remains the same.
Having modified his own, François prides himself on its simplicity, with a kitchen box for meals, a coffin berth transformed into technical storage, and a Breton bed extended to 1.80 m in length: "We can sail as a couple, with a child and all the gear. The structure of the deck means we don't need a sponge, and makes life inside easier."
A small sailboat from the 1970s
François concedes a few faults with his Cap Corse, most of which are inevitable for boats of his size and generation: "It's still a small, light boat, so it waddles a bit at anchor. We're low on the water, so it gets wet, and in the absence of chine, with a round stern, it's rolly downwind under spinnaker. There's also a bit of varnishing to do in winter."
All these shortcomings are quite acceptable for an affordable yacht with undeniable seductive potential, whose class has no shortage of enthusiasts.
