Brest 2008

Brest 2008 – an international melting pot of maritime heritage

• 17/07/08
• Communiqués

The reference for maritime events around the world.

The departure of boats is always laced with nostalgia but when it consists of nearly 2,000 craft, each with their own maritime heritage, culture and tradition, amidst an atmosphere resounding with sirens and horns in thanks to the whole of Brest for its warm welcome, the emotion as they cast off for new horizons is tangible. It is warm though, with blue skies and fluffy clouds to provide the procession with enough breeze to tease them out to sea. As they disappear from view under the flags of around 30 countries, perhaps one of the most intriguing things about the Brest Maritime Festival is that you can really appreciate the significance and the privilege of what it is to play host to international maritime heritage.

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They’re off…

• 17/07/08
• Brèves

All around the harbour and dotted along the beautiful wild coastline of Brest on the NW coast of France, the crowds are out in force to bid farewell to the 2,000 boats participating in Brest 2008. Big and small, old and new, they cast off amidst a fanfare of horns and sirens to thank the town of Brest and its 4,000 volunteers for their incredibly warm welcome. The fleet is being accompanied out of the harbour by around 500 local craft who are on the water to give them a proper send off. A third of the fleet are now heading off to the nearby Douarnenez Wooden Boat Festival, a number of the tall ships are heading to Liverpool, UK for the big tall ship festival and the others will slowly wend their way home, eager to return to Brest in 2012.

A round the world stamp

• 17/07/08
• Brèves

During the stopover by the Marion Dufresne survey ship in Brest, the Territories of the South and the French Antarctic (Taaf) edited a stamped addressed envelope marking the event. This postal souvenir will travel on the Marion Dufresne between Brest and Crozet passing via the Suez Canal and the Réunion Islands. It will be postmarked at the Crozet Islands and will then head up to the Réunion Islands via Kerguelen and Amsterdam prior to integrating the classic postal service and being sent to an address of your choice.

This stamp has been designed by Serge Marko,  a painter from the French Navy.

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Save the schooner Tho Pa Ga

• 16/07/08
• Brèves

The Majorcan schooner Tho Pa Ga sank on July 8th off Ile de Sein as she was heading to Brest 2008. The 9 crew members escaped unharmed following the rapid intervention by the French coastguard, the Navy and Brittany Ferries’ Pont Aven. Today, the 1924 schooner, classified a historical monument, and one of the jewels of Spanish maritime heritage, is lying 116 metres down in an area to the SW of Ile de Sein. An association “Sauvez la goélette Tho Pa Ga” (Save the schooner Tho Pa Ga) has been created in Brest 2008.

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WWF-Columbus at Brest 2008

• 16/07/08
• Brèves

Columbus, France’s World Wildlife Fund, ambassador ship for the WWF-France under every circumstance

The brand new ambassador ship for the NGO, the WWF-Columbus performs missions at large events to increase awareness about the maritime world and also serves as a platform for scientific missions in order to increase knowledge about the marine ecosystems.

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The inspiration of the Brest Maritime Festival reaches Tasmania

• 16/07/08
• Actualités

THE maritime event of the year in France, Brest 2008 is greatly appreciated nationally as well as internationally. The various projects presented at the event and the event in itself have proved to be an inspiration world wide.

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Today’s programme on the water for Brest 2008

• 16/07/08
• Brèves

This morning the large yachts are just taking to the water for their daily jaunt, the sun struggling to overpower the clouds.

With today being Galicia day, this pretty fleet will be performing manoeuvres around the inner harbour, together with the coastal cruisers of the sixties from 1130 to 1300 hours. Off the Digue Sud, the sailboats with oars, the small pleasure craft, the dinghies from the sixties and the adventure yachts will be tacking about the bay.

From 1400 to 1600 hours the Irish contingent will be showing off their curraghs as the fleet, which took to the water in the morning, head back out into the harbour accompanied by a running commentary of the manoeuvres.

From 1830–1930 there will be a “Hommage under sail” for the Galician craft

At 2300 hours there will be parade of the traditional Galician dornas and the small classic yachts.

Today is Galicia day at Brest 2008

• 16/07/08
• Magazine

Benvida Galicia!

Brest 2008 is also playing host to a traditional fleet of some 25 varieties of boats from the shores of Galicia including Gamelas from Da Garda and La Coruña, Dornas and Bucetas from southern Galicia, Galleons and Lighters (Lanchas xeiteiras) from the area of Mouros, a mixture of craft from Vigo, Cesantes, Ribadeo and Caril and even a 1966 steamship and a schooner from 1918. The fleet has been brought together by the Federacion Galega Pola Cultura Maritima e Fluvial, a massive programme to promote the area's abundance of maritime heritage as well as the vitality of its institutions and economy, and its rich musical and gastronomic input, all of which are geared towards the sea. Benvida Galicia!

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Initial reactions from Thomas Coville on his new Atlantic record

• 15/07/08
• Brèves

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Today, 15th July is also children’s day at Brest 2008 with "La Chasse au Trésor" or a "Treasure Hunt"

• 15/07/08
• Brèves

Beginning at 10 am a treasure hunt has been organized all around the various quarters of Brest.

At 1400 hours, 400 children and 50 youth leaders will gather together in the Cours d'Ajot, and will then enter the festival, accompanied by the "Carnavaleurs" and music.

An hour long jaunt around the harbour will take place at 1500 hours with a prize giving at 1630 hours with the Mayor of Brest at the Cabaret du Château, where tea will be served.

Today’s programme of events

• 15/07/08
• Actualités

With the large yachts already sailing around the harbour this morning, the fleets from Croatia and the Mediterranean will take to the water, along with the small pleasure craft from the sixties, whilst the skiffs, gaff rigs and old gaffers sail off the Digue Sud.

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Brand new record breaker due into Brest 2008 between 1630 and 1900 hours

• 15/07/08
• Brèves

Thomas Coville has just snatched the solo North Atlantic record! In a pea-souper fog, Thomas Coville and his 32 m maxi trimaran Sodeb'O crossed the finish line this morning at 09 hours 17 minutes and 40 seconds. With a time of 5 days, 19 hours, 29 minutes and 20 seconds, a time which is yet to be approved by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC), Thomas Coville and Sodeb'O are the new holders of the solo North Atlantic crossing record. The previous record, held by Francis Joyon since 2005, was 6 days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 37 seconds. 

Sodeb’O and Thomas Coville are due into Brest between 1630 and 1900 hours this evening and the plan is for the entire 2000 strong fleet (old and new) will go out onto the water to greet him.

This 15th July is Croatia Day at Brest 2008

• 15/07/08
• Actualités

Croatia, or 'the Mediterranean as it once was' as the local tourist board refer to the area, has the honour of counting among the guest countries at Brest 2008. Croatia’s pristine beaches stretch enticingly along the Adriatic Coast amidst a myriad of pretty islands and beguiling villages brimming with history.

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Pomp and ceremony at Brest 2008

• 14/07/08
• Communiqués

Swept by around 5-8 knots of WSW’ly, Brest 2008 has proved particularly popular this Bastille Day. Naturally, given this commemoration of the French uprising, today’s guest of honour at this maritime extravaganza is the French Navy and what better opportunity to bring out the big guns? For this fifth edition of the event the modern day racing craft have also been invited to join in with the festivities for the first time and the spectacle of old and new on the water amongst the pomp and ceremony is a sight to behold.

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Centenary for an exceptional boat, Viola

• 14/07/08
• Actualités

The pureness of her lines and the quality of her various sections: an elm keel, an oak bow, a mahogany companion hatchway, teak deck, etc. Everything is the height of elegance. “It’s a boat of friends” says Yvon Rautureau, her third owner.

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15 Hillyards were registered for Brest 2008 this year and today will see them putting on a show in the inner harbour from 1130 to 1300 hours

• 14/07/08
• Actualités

If you are a serious bluewater sailor and would consider sailing around the world on a wooden boat whose seaworthiness and seakindliness are legendary then the British designed Hillyard is about as sturdily built as they come.  “A well constructed timber boat with one inch planking on oak frames which are spaced at six inch intervals. The longitudinal timbers are of considerable size which must lend great strength to the whole shape and the keel and keelson are massive timbers” in the words of the late Bill Finnis, who circumnavigated the globe for six years and made numerous long distance offshore passages with his wife on their 12 tonne Hillyard (Didycoy) during their retirement.

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The Rescue of a 1938 Romanian tall ship

• 14/07/08
• Brèves

On 26th November 1965, a violent storm was blowing off Finistere. The main victim of these very strong gusts was the Mircea, a Romanian tall ship with three masts travelling from the Baltic to the Black Sea, with around a hundred sailors aboard.

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This Bastille Day, Monday 14th July is also ‘French Navy Day’ at Brest 2008

• 14/07/08
• Actualités

The Bastille Day festivities will commence with the large yachts heading out into the inner harbour from the commercial port at 1000 hours. At 1130 hours the boats from the French Navy, small classic pleasure boats, Dundee working boats and gaff rigs will also set sail. Meantime the sixties coastal cruisers from the Digue Sud of the outer harbour will sail around midday along with the sailboats with oars.

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Around the world in a week!

• 13/07/08
• Communiqués

A melting pot of boats, cultures and maritime heritage from all around the world, the quaysides and the numerous craft open to the public are absolutely heaving with people at Brest 2008. The maritime event of the year in France today welcomes Norway as its guest of honour, whose eye-catching village and fleet of Faerings, Geit Bats (Goat boats), Powling boats, cutters, trawlers, lifeboats and coastal steamers, were officially inaugurated by the Norwegian ambassador this afternoon. Also in the spotlight today is the scientific polar yacht Tara, recently returned from a voyage of discovery in the Arctic Ocean in the interests of environmental studies. Over three and a half thousand visitors had the privilege of being taken out on the water to see the action in the bay, while the quaysides were alive with 19th century sea rescue methods, the launching of a Le Havre cutter, demonstrations, acrobatics, musicians and dancers.

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Building a Dhow in Zanzibar as part of the "Conquering Brittany with a Dhow and an Oselvar" project

• 13/07/08
• Brèves

‘We will not conquer land, but attitudes’. A dhow from Zanzibar and an oselvar from Hordaland will be rowing together to Brest. The journey will place the focus on traditional boat building as a global common culture, and hopes to establish it as a part of the intangible cultural heritage in connection with UNESCO.

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Today, Sunday 13th July, is Norway Day at Brest 2008, with the official opening of the Norway village in the presence of the Norwegian Ambassador.

• 13/07/08
• Magazine

Norway’s proximity to the sea and its long coastline are the distinguishing characteristics of the country's geography and people. The abundance of resources from the oceans meant that a number of settlements were established along the coast in the latter part of the 19th century and much of the work and transportation was centred around boats and the sea. A large part of the population there made a living through agriculture mixed with coastal occupations such as sailors, fishermen, tradesmen, or taking a job in shipbuilding, rope-making or sail-making fields.

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Today Sunday 13th July is ‘Norway Day’

• 13/07/08
• Actualités

The day out on the water will kick off with the large yachts heading out into the bay, followed by a ‘mass exodus’ from the commercial port. Within the inner harbour the Norwegian fleet of Oselvars and other Nordic yachts and sea skiffs will perform a series of manoeuvres.

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From Ireland to Madagascar in an afternoon…

• 12/07/08
• Communiqués

The inner harbour is a kaleidoscope of sails as the small craft dart about in every direction, with ‘pirogues’ and ‘dhows’ from Madagascar, Galician ‘Bucetas’ and ‘Dornas’, Vietnamese ‘junks’ and ‘dragon boats’, ‘whale boats’ from the Azores, Norwegian ‘Oselvars’ and even a Japanese ‘hocchero’ made of paper, alongside dinghies and classic pleasure craft from the sixties. The outer harbour is a vision of splendour with massive three and four-masters with every sail hoisted aloft and gliding effortless across the bay despite their cargo of visitors to Brest 2008.

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Tonight’s entertainment

• 12/07/08
• Brèves

On the water: This evening the national lifeboat association (SNSM) are due to put on a fantastic demonstration including airlifting by helicopter, air-sea rescue, an on-the-water display of Madagascar craft such as the dhows and pirogues. The evening will draw to a close as the ‘Professionals of the Sea’ go for a brief jaunt around the harbour before returning to port.

Along the quaysides: Music from all around the world from the various countries represented at Brest 2008, including Brazilian drumming and Madagascan sounds from Rodobe; acrobatics around the castle and dancing from the Compagnie Metisse.

On the water programme for Saturday 12th July

• 12/07/08
• Communiqués

Last night, to the great delight of all the crews and the public, the day’s festivities were rounded off with the first of two fantastic fireworks displays with musical accompaniment.

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The curtain opens

• 11/07/08
• Communiqués

Today marked the opening of Brest 2008 in the presence of the Port Admiral François Cuillandre and notorious French sailor Olivier de Kersauson, who rang in the fifth edition of the maritime extravaganza on the bell of the 1938 Romanian three-master Mircéa. They were answered by the siren of the tugboat Abeille, the water jets from the nearby fireboat and all the bells and sirens from the surrounding boats.

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The Matthew

• 11/07/08
• Brèves

Representing the United Kingdom in the line of large sailboats registered for Brest 2008 are the Earl of Pembroke, a 48 m three-mast square rigger; Kaskelot, a 47 m three-master; Kathleen & May, a 39 m schooner from 1900; Matthew a replica 24 m 19995 caravel, Phoenix a 37 m brig from 1929 and a 30 m Thames barge from 1925 known as Will.

The Kruzhenstern

• 11/07/08
• Brèves

The immense four-masted Russian sailing ship the Kruzhenstern arrived in port shortly before 10 am this Friday morning, just in time for the grand official opening of Brest 2008. It measures 114 m and was built back in 1926. It is open to the public today and tomorrow.

A taste of Vietnam

• 11/07/08
• Actualités

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam in South East Asia spans 329,566 sq. km (128, 527 square miles) and has a population of over 80 million made up of 85% ethnic Vietnamese, 3% ethnic Chinese, also Khmer, Cham (a remnant of the once great Indianised Champa Kingdom) and members of some 55 ethno-linguistic groups. There are a wide range of languages used which range from Vietnamese, French, Chinese, English and a variety of Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian local dialects. Buddhism is the principal religion but there are also sizeable Taoist, Confucian, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Muslim and Christian minorities. Vietnam has a coastline measuring 3,260 km with a wealth of offshore islands and coral reefs extending from the cool waters of Halong Bay in the north, through to the warmer waters off Nha Trang and Phu Quoc, to the remote Con Dao Islands in the south. Paddyfields and vast delta areas such as the Mekong with its intricate patchwork of canals mean that water and hence boats are an essential part of Vietnam, past and present.

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Programme for 11th July

• 11/07/08
• Brèves

Friday 11th July pays homage to its first guest of honour, Vietnam. Vietnam Day begins at 10 am with the large yachts doing a tour of the ‘rade-abri’ (sheltered harbour) and the flotillas cast off from the commercial port.

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Let Festivities Commence

• 10/07/08
• Actualités

A hub of maritime tradition in NW France as traditional boats arrive in Brest from all around the world for a week of festivities - Five guest countries – Croatia, Galicia, Madagascar, Norway and Vietnam present their boats, their history, their culture and their gastronomy- Classic watercraft from every corner of Britain’s coast invade France including ten Curraghs from all along the Irish coast, around 15 English Hillyards of all sizes and ages and a whole fleet of traditional lifeboats.

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