The student club ENSTA Bretagne Sailing Team has had an excellent end of season 2023/2024, scooping 1st place in two French university championships: a fleet racing event (Trophée de l’Île Pelée) and a match racing event. The ENSTA Bretagne Sailing Team shone at both these competitions which bring together the best student sailing crews in France.
ENSTA Bretagne Sailing Team, the largest sailing club for students
Every year, some one hundred ENSTA Bretagne students, doing a range of degree courses, make the most of the opportunity to learn how to sail or to improve their sailing skills through the club. Practice sessions in a J/80 sailboat are organized in Brest harbor every Thursday afternoon.
The club is run by seven student volunteers, with financial assistance from ENSTA Bretagne and the school’s sports association. It is supported in terms of equipment and logistics by the Club nautique de la Marine de Brest, whose skipper Périg Donnard provides coaching.
Enjoy sailing at an unbeatable price
By becoming a member of the school’s sports association (for €45), you can go sailing every Thursday afternoon. Regattas are paid for by the association. The only out-of-pocket expenses you’ll have to pay if taking part in regattas are for your travel and refreshments.
Zacharie Louis, Club President in 2023/2024:
We’re so lucky to be able to give so many students the chance to experience the atmosphere of regattas – this is a real benefit of the school.
A clean sweep of trophies
Every season, the student club ENSTA Bretagne Sailing Team registers one or more crews in:
- the University Championship organized by the French University Sports Federation (FFSU) and
- regattas organized by French Sailing Federation (FFV) clubs, such as Spi Ouest France or Grand Prix de l’École Navale
This year, the students sailed to victory at the FFSU French Championship, in both the fleet racing event (ten crews competing on the water) and match racing event (two competitors going head-to-head).
During the championship, we were fortunate to have a highly skilled helmsman – a student doing a Specialized Advanced Master at the school who had already participated several times in the FFSU French Championship and done well. Around him, we gathered an outstanding crew of male and female sailors who each had a deft grasp of their particular role on board. There were students in their 1st, 2nd or 3rd year, and although they had never competed together before, each of them knew the boat and their assigned position inside out, so during the championship, they all worked brilliantly together and put in a sterling performance.
The university regatta season has come to an end, but there are still more events to come on the federal calendar: the Sailing Team will be competing in the Grand Prix de l’Ecole Navale on May 8-11 and the J/80 World Championship on July 6-13 in La Rochelle.
We are thrilled with how this season has gone and our performances! The club’s management team has just been renewed, but the objectives remain the same: to give all ENSTA Bretagne students the opportunity, if they wish, to practice sailing, to participate in the various championships and to win as many regattas as they can!
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