New in 2020, ENSTA Bretagne has acquired a beautiful live aboard sailboat. With its shiny yellow hull, the Half Tonner, the “Ar Reder Mor” offers the students and staff the possibility to go on sailing trips of several hours or several days. The regatta boat is well equipped, easy to handle and gives an enjoyable sailing experience to all those who are on board.
© Loïse Barbé / ENSTA Bretagne
In September 2019, Colin and Mathéo, 2nd year student engineers presented their project to ENSTA Bretagne’s board : buy a live aboard sailboat to complete the range of nautical sports on offer to students. Colin:
We wanted an alternative to competition sailing : a leisure option which is complementary to the regatta option proposed by ENSTA Bretagne Sailing Team. The objective is to enable students and staff at the school to learn how to sail, without having to master the finer points of regatta racing, and offer half day, day and even week outings.
Their project impressed the board which rapidly gave the go-ahead to buy the boat.
© Loïse Barbé / ENSTA Bretagne
Finding a mooring in the port was difficult at first: the waiting time is long (2 years on average” but as luck would have it, a place became free at the end of the year.
At the beginning of 2020, the students found several vessels that seemed to fit the bill in a broker’s catalog. The sailboat they were looking for had to fulfill several criteria
- be able to take a minimum of 4 people on board
- be in excellent condition (no major work)
- be well fitted out
- be within budget
When there, the students examined the boats for sale and rapidly the « Ar Reder Mor » (which means « Wanderer of the Seas ») stood out. The sailboat is in excellent condition. It had had a total refit in 2011 and had sailed little since then. It is extremely well appointed. It can take up to 6 people on board and has 4 berths.
It is a Half Tonner regatta sailboat and only 2 examples were made at the beginning of the 80s. It could be used for pleasure trips (it’s main vocation) but from time to time it could also take part in regattas such as the Half Ton Cup.
After the lockdown, the students sailed the boat round to the port of Brest. Since then, many trips have been organized.
Right from the start in September 2020, through the ENSTA Bretagne Cruise Association, we want to propose outings on Thursday afternoons, the weekend and holiday weeks. What we want to do is to train a group of skippers who could take it in hand and train the sailors.
© ENSTA Bretagne
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